Abstract
Physical cleansing, such as bathing or washing hands, is at the core of many religious rituals, suggesting that physical cleansing ceremonies can purify the soul. The present research examines the association between physical and moral purity by the semantic priming paradigm on which the participants made a lexical decision task. There is an interaction effect between the prime word (cleaning related vs. non-cleaning related) and target word (moral related word vs. non-word) which shows a significant priming effect. Thus, we think that physical cleansing would not only associate with moral transgression in memory stage, but also the sense of high moral character in perception stage.
Highlights
Baptism has existed as a significant ritual in many religions such as Christianity, Mandaeanism, Judaism, and Sikhism for thousands of years
The simple effect analysis indicated that the reaction time was faster in cleaning related word priming condition compared to non-cleaning related word priming condition when the target word was moral purity word [F(1, 38) = 10.79, p < .01]
We found an obvious priming effect indexed by RT and ACC
Summary
Baptism has existed as a significant ritual in many religions such as Christianity, Mandaeanism, Judaism, and Sikhism for thousands of years. The prevalence of this practice suggests a psychological association between bodily purity and moral purity. The Dai people splash water on one another to vanquish the devil and symbolically express the wish for better times ahead, singing the song “Ode to Dripping Water” in order to wash away all their worries and misfortunes, cleanse them of their selfishness and greediness, and keep them safe and sound forever. When young couples get married, the old man who presides over the wedding ceremony will sprinkle water on them to wish a happy time and a good future. Chinese are sure about that physical cleansing ceremony can purify the soul
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