The impact of socio-economic status on the nature of religious ritual participation
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | In January of 2014, our research team set out on an expedition to the island of Mauritius to collect data on the annual religious festival, celebrated by the local Tamil community - the Thaipusam Kavadi. On the day of the ceremony, thousands of devotees and spectators gather in the city of Quatre Bornes to commemorate the defeat of the demonic forces by Murugan, god of war. The ritual ordeals of the adherents symbolize the mythical victory through body (cheeks, tounges, skin) piercings with skewers and needles. Most men also carry kavadis on their shoulders, which are heavy (<30 kg) decorated structures, while others drag big chariots instead, attached to their hips and backs with hooks. The celebration culminates with a procession under the burning tropical mid-summer sun, with attendees walking to the temple barefoot on hot asphalt roads. Our data show that men with lower socio-economic status (SES) have more piercings, bigger kavadis, and spend more time preparing them, compared to men with higher SES. Furthermore, regular temple attendance predicts participation only for men with higher SES. In light of the costly signaling theory, we see these behaviors as costly signals of religious devotion with different predictions for the costs involved relative to SES. Whereas high SES participants invest in status maintenance (paying relative lower costs) and low SES participants invest in status achievement (paying relative higher costs). Thus, religious ritual participation may function as a strategy for status management with implications for inclusive fitness of participants. |
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