Rethinking Secrecy in Religion: Cognition and the Intimacy of Secrecy

Secrecy is often studied as a social phenomenon in which certain information is concealed from a targeted audience out of fear of the repercussions, if this information were to fall into the wrong hands. It is therefore surprising that people are relatively willing to share their secrets with others...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Method & theory in the study of religion
Main Author: MacGillavry, David William (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2018]
In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Religion / Privacy / Secret / Kognitive Religionswissenschaft
RelBib Classification:AA Study of religion
AE Psychology of religion
AG Religious life; material religion
Further subjects:B Religion
B Cognition
B Secrecy
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Description
Summary:Secrecy is often studied as a social phenomenon in which certain information is concealed from a targeted audience out of fear of the repercussions, if this information were to fall into the wrong hands. It is therefore surprising that people are relatively willing to share their secrets with others. Traditionally, this behaviour has been explained on the bases of the assumption that people are naturally inclined to reveal their secrets. However, new evidence from the cognitive sciences and social psychology calls this assumption, and thus the theories of secrecy which rely on it, into question. In this article I present a re-interpretation of secrecy in light of this new evidence and evaluate what implications this holds for the study of secrecy in religion.
ISSN:1570-0682
Contains:Enthalten in: Method & theory in the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341430