contain more features of OCD than did other activities acrossfifty-two
cultures (Fiske & Haslam, 1997, p. 219). According to Dulaney and Fiske
(1994, p. 274), rituals are based on the human tendency to rely on simplifica-
tion and contrast to reorder the world; OCD, in turn, develops when these
natural psychological tendencies malfunction. It has to be noted that this
explanation of the similarities between OCD and rituals is radically different
from Freud’s approach, inasmuch as it does not identify anything“compul-
sive”in proper rituals; it is only the malfunctioning of ritual tendencies that
results in compulsive behavior. Rituals, according to Fiske & Haslam (1997,
p. 212) have intentional control, social coordination, and meaning. They
suggest that people have an evolved tendency to perform and transmit rituals
because they provide valid mechanisms for creating and transforming social
relationships and statuses (p. 212)—a feature of rituals that we will discuss in
more detail at a later point.
More recently, Pascal Boyer and Pierre Liénard found inspiration in Freud’s
theory for developing a cognitive theory of rituals (Boyer & Liénard, 2006;
Liénard & Boyer, 2006). In particular, Boyer and Liénard identify action
ritualizationas the topic of their study; ritualization has been an influential
concept based on the comparative study of animalandhuman behavior (cf.
Stephenson, 2015, pp. 5–21). According to Boyer and Liénard (2006, p. 598),
the main characteristics of (human) action ritualization are compulsion,
rigidity (adherence to a script), goal-demotion, and internal repetition (and
redundancy); ritualization is an aspect of many but not all rituals (p. 595).
Three of these characteristics coincide more or less with the features of rituals
discussed by Freud and Fiske and probably do not need further explanation,
but goal-demotion is a new concept that plays a central role in Boyer and
Liénard’s theory and we will discuss it in more detail below. Boyer and Liénard
locate the origins of ritualization in the so-calledhazard-precaution system,a
cognitive system that evolved to detect signs of potentialthreats to the
individual’sfitness and trigger precautionary behavior against them (Boyer
& Liénard, 2006, p. 595; Liénard & Boyer, 2006, p. 818). Potential threats
handled by the system include reproductive risk (e.g., mating with low-quality
or unfaithful partners), predation (e.g., failing to detect predators), contamin-
ation by pathogens, resource scarcity (e.g., failing to anticipate seasons), and
social harm (e.g., ostracism or reduced cooperation) (Boyer & Liénard, 2006,
p. 602). The potential of such threats causes intrusive thoughts and anxiety
and motivates people to perform behaviors including washing and cleansing,
checking and rearranging their environment, and vigilance (Boyer & Liénard,
2006, p. 602; Liénard & Boyer, 2006, pp. 820–1).^2
(^2) Note, however, that the recentDiagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
(American Psychiatric Association, 2013, ch. 6) dropped anxiety from the definition of OCD.
92 Cognitive Science and the New Testament