Why Do Rituals Work? A Dual-Pathway Account of Perceived Efficacy

Authors

• James Houran, Integrated Knowledge Systems, Meridian, ID, USA
• Brian Laythe, Institute for the Study of Religious and Anomalous Experience, Charlestown, IN, USA
• Todd L. VanPool, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
• Damien J. Houran, Institute for the Study of Religious and Anomalous Experience, Bedford, TX, USA
• Christine S. VanPool, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Human ritual practices—including devotional prayer, contemplative meditation, and magical invocations—are widespread and often experienced as efficacious. We introduce the Dual-Pathway Ritual Efficacy (DPRE) model, a major theory-driven synthesis integrating ritual competence, placebo research, embodied cognition, and attributional bias to explain how rituals generate immediate affective relief and sustain longer-term efficacy beliefs. DPRE advances parsimony by collapsing overlapping accounts into two pathways and adding temporal resolution through “anticipation–enactment–reflection” dynamics. The affective-procedural pathway emphasizes predictability, embodied rhythms, and emotional regulation, while the cognitive-confirmation pathway highlights expectancies that orient attention, memory, and attribution. By incorporating empirical literatures on apophenia, flow, and luck, DPRE sharpens predictions, clarifies boundary conditions for belief updating, and outlines translational applications.

Recommended Citation

Houran, James; Laythe, Brian; VanPool, Todd L.; Houran, Damien J.; and VanPool, Christine S., "Why Do Rituals Work? A Dual-Pathway Account of Perceived Efficacy" (2025). International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive. 121.
https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/advance-archive/121