A Cross-Cultural Examination of Ritual as a Signaling and Solidarity-Building Strategy
Kate J. Stockly, Stephanie Arel, Megan K. DeFranza, Damian Ruck, Luke Matthews
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Vol. 14, No. 1
August 2020
Abstract: Prior research indicates that ritual can be a source of social solidarity by signaling trustworthiness and group commitment. A separate line of research expects domestic violence against women to be more common in societies with post-marital residence at the husband’s birthplace (i.e. patrilocality). Thus, we hypothesized that when wives are able to construct strong bonds with the female members of their communities through solidarity-building rituals, they gain social support capable of inhibiting violence, leading to lower overall levels of domestic violence–especially in patrilocal societies. Results indicated that certain types of women-centered rituals were associated with lower levels of sexual and domestic violence; however, we found inconsistent effects according to patrilocal residence. Women-centered rituals were not found to be associated with beliefs about the husband’s prerogative to punish and dominate his spouse, and patrilocality did not contribute to the effects we found.
