Restrepo Ochoa Nicolas, Moya Cristina
Anthropology, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
R Soc Open Sci. 2025 Sep 10;12(9):250077. doi: 10.1098/rsos.250077. eCollection 2025 Sep.
Pilgrimage has received long-standing scholarly attention, but most theoretical work focuses on how these rituals can be maintained, rather than the bigger puzzle of how they emerge. Using empirical inspiration from a new pilgrimage in Peru, we address this gap by outlining a theoretical framework more capable of accounting for how these phenomena get off the ground. We contend that the framework of an assurance game (a type of coordination game) captures the challenge of a collective ritual like pilgrimage emerging. By combining this assurance game with a model of Bayesian learning under uncertainty we illustrate how pilgrimage can be institutionalized on occasion. We further argue that our approach sheds light on the relationship between rituals and uncertainty, without having to make strong assumptions about individuals' psychological needs.
朝圣长期以来一直受到学术关注，但大多数理论研究都集中在这些仪式如何得以维持上，而非它们如何产生这一更大的难题。借助来自秘鲁一项新朝圣活动的实证启发，我们通过勾勒一个更能解释这些现象如何兴起的理论框架来填补这一空白。我们认为，确信博弈（一种协调博弈）的框架抓住了像朝圣这样的集体仪式兴起所面临的挑战。通过将这种确信博弈与不确定性下的贝叶斯学习模型相结合，我们阐明了朝圣有时是如何制度化的。我们进一步认为，我们的方法揭示了仪式与不确定性之间的关系，而无需对个体的心理需求做出强硬假设。
