Psychology of ritual
It all begins with an idea.
Project Motivation
The Shandong Bureau of Poverty Alleviation aimed to induce a shift in spending towards education and long-term investments, away from ritual expenditures. Despite these efforts, communities facing severe resource constraints continued to dedicate significant portions of their income to ritual practices. This paradox formed the heart of my ethnographic research, as I sought to uncover the cognitive and cultural mechanisms that shape seemingly irrational economic behaviors within marginalized communities.
Psychological Findings
Through immersive fieldwork in Linqu, Shandong, I used participant observation to understand how individuals navigate economic scarcity while upholding cultural traditions. My approach combined direct engagement—working alongside villagers in budgeting, farming, and ritual preparations—with in-depth interviews to capture the nuanced social obligations and emotional drivers behind these practices. By employing qualitative coding, I systematically analyzed these narratives to identify the recurring themes and environmental feedback loops that influence decision-making.
Anthropological and Psychological Insights: Honoring Truth While Promoting Change
Human actions are never truly irrational; they are deeply rooted in subjective realities shaped by cultural histories and environmental contexts. Anthropology teaches us that these diverse truths are not merely individual quirks but intricate webs of meaning—each practice is a vessel carrying collective identity, a continuity of traditions, and the embodiment of social belonging. To understand these rituals is to recognize them as the connective tissue of community, forged and reinforced by generations. Anthropology demands that we honor this complex human tapestry, detaching our assumption of normative value, and respecting the nuanced ways individuals construct their worlds and make sense of their place within them.
Psychology, conversely, offers a pathway to understanding how these constructs can evolve. It provides us with the frameworks to ethically design interventions that aim to improve well-being, acknowledging the embedded truths while seeking to induce shifts in behavior. This discipline challenges us to engage thoughtfully—how can we promote change without undermining the very foundations of cultural cohesion?
Together, anthropology and psychology form a powerful dual lens: one that respects and preserves the authenticity of lived experiences, and another that opens possibilities for behavioral evolution. By bridging these disciplines, we can pursue interventions that are not coercive but transformative, aligning cultural respect with opportunities for growth. My work contributed to understanding how social obligations, cultural narratives, and environmental constraints shape cognitive frameworks, providing insights that bridge anthropology and behavioral economics. These findings aim to inform interventions that respect and work within existing cultural structures rather than attempting to eradicate them.
Through immersive fieldwork in Linqu, Shandong, I used participant observation to understand how individuals navigate economic scarcity while upholding cultural traditions. My approach combined direct engagement—working alongside villagers in budgeting, farming, and ritual preparations—with in-depth interviews to capture the nuanced social obligations and emotional drivers behind these practices. By employing qualitative coding, I systematically analyzed these narratives to identify the recurring themes and environmental feedback loops that influence decision-making.
This research revealed that ritual expenditures, though financially burdensome, serve crucial functions in maintaining social cohesion and identity, and these practices are perceived as necessities rather than choices. My work contributed to understanding how social obligations, cultural narratives, and environmental constraints shape cognitive frameworks, providing insights that bridge anthropology and behavioral economics. These findings aim to inform interventions that respect and work within existing cultural structures rather than attempting to eradicate them.
Blog Post Title Two
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Blog Post Title Three
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Blog Post Title Four
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.