Explaining Distributions of Spirit Concepts and Spirit Possession
The Mind Possessed October 1, 2007 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323351.003.0009
Summary
Spirit concepts and possession practices vary across cultures, with women often participating more than men in possession cults. This chapter examines how environmental and other factors can enhance or inhibit the cognitive mechanisms that give rise to spirit concepts, building on earlier chapters. It explores why these concepts spread unevenly, considering the role of social and ecological conditions in shaping their distribution and relevance.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Environmental and other factors can enhance or inhibit the cognitive mechanisms that produce spirit concepts, explaining their variable distribution and the high degree of women's participation in possession cults. |
Abstract
AbstractChapter 9 tackles questions concerning the apparently variable distribution and relevance of spirit concepts and possession (e.g. the high degree of women's participation relative to men's participation in possession cults). Taking some of the necessary cognitive mechanisms for the emergence and spread of spirit concepts described in chapters 6–8, this chapter considers what environmental and other factors may enhance or inhibit the natural output of these mechanisms.