J Relig Health DOI 10.1007/s10943-015-0015-8 ORIGINAL PAPER

Religious Dissociation and Economic Appraisal in Brazil H. J. Franc¸ois Dengah II

 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Abstract Research on the association between religion and health often neglects to provide an explicit theoretical mechanism of influence between faith and well-being. This research posits that dissociative behaviors, such as glossolalia, may provide a biological pathway that influences both physiological and psychological health. This paper argues that religious dissociation acts as a moderator between economic stressors and psychobiological appraisal. Brazil, with its economic inequality and preponderance of religious dissociative rituals, provides an ideal context to examine religious dissociation as a moderator of stress. Utilizing data from a cross section of Brazilian faiths, this paper examines: (1) Whether individuals with low socioeconomic status preferentially participate and experience religious dissociative states and (2) whether dissociative states are correlated with greater psychological appraisal of status. Keywords Dissociation
Stress
Brazil
Religion
Health
Glossolalia
Protestant
Pentecostal

Introduction Latin America is experiencing a religious revival. The Catholic monopoly that characterizes much of Central and South America is faltering as indigenous faiths are revived, African diasporic religions become institutionalized, and Evangelical Protestantism makes in-roads among the urban poor. Nowhere is this trend more apparent than in Brazil, where, in the largest Catholic country on earth, the Catholic Church may be, or has already has, lost its majority status (Chesnut 1997; Lugo 2007). Indeed, between 1960 and 1985, the Protestant population of Brazil has quadrupled, attracting large swaths of acolytes from

H. J. Franc¸ois Dengah II (&) Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-0730, USA e-mail: [email protected]

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Catholic ranks (Stoll 1990). With Catholicism weakening its influence over the masses, religions are increasing competition with one another; the Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios (IURD or The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God) exercises Candomble´ and Umbanda spirits, and the Catholic Church ‘‘borrows’’ Pentecostal rituals in their Charismatic congregations (Birman and Leite 2000; Chesnut 1997). Acolytes are now given access to a more diverse religious market, where they have a literal ‘‘buffet’’ of religions, beliefs, and rituals from which to choose. With more options available, each faith must aggressively market themselves to the masses. Religions must ‘‘produce and offer specialized goods and services that allow for differentiation in the increasingly crowded Latin-American market of faith’’ (Chesnut 2007: 72). As specific goods are either marketed to or differentially consumed by segments of the population, demographic differences between faiths emerge. This paper, in part, analyzes demographic differences among religious denominations in Brazil in order to understand the choice of religious conversion and participation. Specifically, are members of lower socioeconomic groups seeking specific religions not necessarily for their theology or doctrine, but rather for the ritualized goods they offer? Ritualized dissociation among religious faiths has long been conceptualized as providing social solidarity, identity transformation, empowerment, stress reduction, and even healing (Boddy 1994; Bourguignon 2004; Seligman 2005; Snodgrass 2002). Further, ritualized dissociation appears in many forms among Brazilian faiths—such as Umbanda and Candomble´ spirit possession and Pentecostal glossolalia. Thus, do some individuals seek out and experience ritualized dissociations more than others? And what is the effect of such dissociative behaviors on acolyte’s well-being? This article, utilizing both recent field insights and a re-examination of Pew Research data, hypothesizes that because low socioeconomic status (SES) corresponds with increased psychosocial stress (Dos Santos et al. 2001; Dressler 1993, 1996; McLeod and Kessler 1990; Pincus and Callahan 1995) and dissociative states provide a means of combating psychosocial stress (Dorahy and Lewis 2001; Lynn 2005; Grossman et al. 2004; McClenon 1997; Seligman 2005), membership in faiths that doctrinally acknowledge dissociative states will be more prevalent among lower SES groups. Further, individuals who experience more religious dissociation in the form of prophecy, healing, possession, or glossolalia (speaking in tongues) will have better psychological appraisals of their status in life. In analyzing these hypotheses, this article first briefly outlines the existing trends and findings of the religion–health connection. Included in this section is a discussion of the role dissociative states have influencing psychological and physiological well-being. Following, this article provides background and methods of a reanalysis of the Pew Research Center’s data on religious trends in Brazil. Finally, a discussion integrates this research’s findings with the larger questions of religion, health, and well-being.

Religion and Health Research The role of religion buffering against stressors has long been a hypothesis in psychiatric epidemiology (Durkheim 1951/1897; Sapolsky 2004). Despite the flourishing of religion– health research in the last several decades, there are still methodological and theoretical issues that prevent the development of a clear model of religion–health interaction. For the last part of the previous century, religion–health research focused on whether religion and health are correlated, and forwent how they are correlated. That is, until very recently, few studies provided empirical testing of the mechanism connecting religion and health. As

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such, religion was, and continues to be interchangeably conceived as an independent variable, a moderator, and a mediator for well-being through post hoc explanations. Often ex post facto attributed to ‘‘coping,’’ ‘‘diet,’’ and ‘‘social networks,’’ explanations without direct measurements provide meaningless conclusions. Some researchers (e.g., Baumeister 2002) critique an atomized approach to religion, believing that subsuming it under other psychological and physiological processes, religions lose its unique, phenomenological status. However, treating religion or spirituality as a novel and separate phenomena fails to empirically test how religion affects bodies. Despite such methodological problems that befall religion–health research, several key mechanisms have emerged as likely mediators of the religion–health association (George et al. 2002). Health behaviors, in the form of dietary restrictions and taboos, may provide the clearest mediator between religion and well-being. Repeated studies show that active religious participation lowers the rate of drug and alcohol use (Burkett 1993; Perkins 1987), domestic violence (Gallagher and Rita 1987), tobacco use, and risky sexual behaviors (Elifson et al. 2003). Known for their strict doctrinal taboos concerning drinking, smoking, and sexual activity, Seventh-Day Adventists and Mormons are often the focus of such religious behavioral research. These studies suggest that ‘‘Mormons and Seventh-Day Adventists have cancer rates about one-half to two-thirds those of persons of the general population’’ (Koenig et al. 2001: 317), and greater life expectancies (4–7 years) than comparison groups (Enstrom 1998; Simmerman 1993). There is, however, debate concerning whether health behaviors are a valid mechanism for a religion–health interaction. While some scholars, such as Sloan et al. (2000), argue that this is an example of a confounder, this paper follows Levin (1994), in that the specific theological and cultural beliefs may directly lead to specific health–behaviors. In other words, ‘‘the conceptual compartmentalization of certain behaviors as ‘religious’ or ‘health-related’ may be artificial’’ (Levin 1994: 1478). Accordingly, religious systems should be conceived as cultural systems which promote not only shared experiences in the divine, but social networks, food taboos, and other related behaviors. As more fully discussed below, ritualized dissociative states—including glossolalia and spiritual healing—may be considered examples of religiously influenced health-related behaviors. Religious dissociation necessitates that health–religion models consider religion (and accompanying religious behaviors) as moderating the influence of stressors on well-being. That is, the interactive effect of religion buffers the appraisal or impact of stress. Several studies find that religious involvement diminishes the effects of stress on depression (Maton 1989; Williams et al. 1991), while Brown et al. (1992) ‘‘found that higher levels of religious involvement… exacerbated the effects of chronic economic strain on depression’’ (in George et al. 2002: 197). While the literature testing this buffering effect is sparse, it appears to be a promising avenue of inquiry. I further explore the role of religious dissociation in the remainder of this article.

Religion and Dissociation Dissociation, in its more ‘‘exotic’’ forms as altered states of consciousness and shamanistic flight, has long been associated with ‘‘primitive’’ religions. Conversely, within biomedicine, dissociation has until recently been linked with psychopathology. It was not until the latter half of the twentieth century that dissociative practices in Western religions received serious scholarly focus (e.g., Bourguignon 1973; Goodman 1972). Dissociation, however, is not a dichotomous state, but a multidimensional, biological, and sociocultural process

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that is constantly taking place (Lynn 2005). Indeed, dissociative states of varying intensity are likely selected adaptations toward complex cognitive and behavioral tasks. In other words, in addition to the more striking and extreme forms of dissociation, such as trance, spirit possession, or shamanistic flight, dissociation is a part of ‘‘normal’’ cognitive processing, where thoughts and behaviors become increasingly compartmentalized or automated outside of or peripheral to conscious awareness and memory recall (Ludwig 1983). For instance, as I write this sentence, I am unaware of the exact motion of my fingers or the location of the keys necessary for typing. In fact, focusing on these actions—that is, bringing them to conscious awareness—makes typing difficult and interrupts my internal narrative. This example of ‘‘automatization of behaviors,’’ according to Ludwig (1983), enables the enactment of habitual and learned behaviors with minimal cognitive effort, thus allowing for a complex integration of multiple such behaviors. Other selective benefits of dissociative states include: an increased focus on a single stimuli, ‘‘allowing the individual to bring a single-minded dedication to a task… [by compartmentalizing] confounding or superfluous information,’’ or what athletes often call ‘being in the zone’ (Ludwig 1983: 96); and the resolution of cognitive dissonance. The minimization of cognitive dissonance decreases stress and anxiety by facilitating simultaneously antithetical or irreconcilable thoughts (e.g., minimally counterintuitive ideas). Such resolution may have been important for developing religious rituals through the suppression or altered perception of reality. Further, dissociation likely provides increased group cohesion by altering sense of self and minimizing the prevalence of the ego, thereby promoting a sense of universal or group connectivity (Ludwig 1983). Given the theoretical adaptive importance of dissociation, it is little wonder that religions of all types integrate intense forms of dissociation in central aspects of sacred rituals: Prayer, meditation, and trance have been variously described and studied as dissociation (Bourguignon 1973; Lynn 2005; Seligman 2005). Fortunately, since dissociative states manifest readily, particular forms such as prayer and meditation have been studied in laboratory settings (Newberg et al. 2001). In general, EEG and MRI imaging suggest that individuals in dissociative states experience parasympathetic dominance of the autonomic nervous system, including low-wave frontal cortex and hippocampal–septal area activity, decreased cortical excitation, and increased hemisphere synchronization (McClenon 1997). Hence, dissociation is a state diametrical to sympathetic arousal that is characterized by the stress response. Although the available literature is limited, there are reasons to believe that continuous activation of the parasympathetic nervous system results in a resetting of the stress allostasis set point (MacLean et al. 1997). In other words, continuous dissociation may result in an autonomic nervous system baseline that directs toward subtle but chronic parasympathetic activation. As such, dissociative states may lead to decreased stress response (sympathetic activation) to external stressors. Briefly, an appraisal of stress activates the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA axis), releasing glucocorticoids, epinephrine, and norepinephrine into the blood stream. These chemicals, in turn, increase heart rate, bronchial dilatation, and provide a dump of energy to muscle groups (McEwen 1998). The stress response is extremely adaptive to short-term stressors. Increasing heart rate, oxygen intake, and energy conversion provides the means of the fight or flight or stress response. However, stressors of modern life are rarely of a short-term, fatal nature. Rather, social relations, economic status, and other life events exert a chronic stress state on individuals. The stress response in duration is costly to the body. Otherwise known as allostatic load, chronic or inefficient activation of the sympathetic nervous system results in the wear and tear of bodily systems, diminished capacity to adjust to further stressors, and susceptibility

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to disease and system failure. More specifically, chronic stress has been shown to diminish immune system functioning, increase hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, and increase risk of obesity, sexual and reproductive dysfunction, digestive disorders, and memory impairment (Korte et al. 2005; McEwen and Wingfield 2003; Sapolsky 2004). Interestingly, dissociative states may be activated by stressors. Under normal functioning, the parasympathetic nervous system acts as an off-switch to sympathetic arousal. That is, one system is balanced by the response of the other. ‘‘However, under intense stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, reciprocity breaks down and a collapse of the system into a state of parasympathetic dominance occurs’’ (Winkelman 1986: 177). Acute stress and trauma are well-known triggers of altered states, such as in post-traumatic stress disorder. Other stress states, including self-induced stress and ‘‘exposure to excessive or extremely low levels of stimulation,’’ also precipitate dissociative states (Lynn 2005: 27). For example, rhythmic auditory or visual stimuli can induce a drive state, wherein the stimulus literally imposes an electrical synchronization on an individual’s brain (Winkelman 1986). Thus, rituals and behaviors that produce an acute activation of the sympathetic nervous system can be overcompensated by a hyper-parasympathetic response—leading to dissociative states. These states, it is hypothesized, may lead to increased physical and psychological wellbeing by blunting chronic sympathetic arousal (Winkelman 1986). To reiterate, this paper examines whether religious faiths that doctrinally acknowledge dissociative states are more prevalent among lower SES groups and whether individuals who experience more religious dissociation in the form of prophecy, healing, possession, and/or glossolalia have an altered appraisal of their life and economic status. It is well established that low SES corresponds with increased social and economic stress (Adler and Ostrove 1999). Therefore, among an array of religious options, impoverished individuals will seek faiths that provide ritual mechanisms to increase their well-being.

Methods This paper utilizes data from the Pew Research Center, a Washington DC-based think tank that actively collects data on a variety of issues shaping worldwide social trends (PRC 2009). In 2006, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in conjunction with Princeton Survey Research Associates International conducted a 10-country survey of the religious, political, and social views of religious renewalists (i.e., Pentecostals and Charismatics). Data for this study were collected through May and September of 2006 and made publically available in December of 2007. The ten countries selected by the Pew Forum—the USA; Brazil, Chile and Guatemala in Latin America; Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa in Africa; and India, the Philippines and South Korea in Asia—represent nations of large Pentecostal or Charismatic growth. Informant sampling, while random, specifically over-sampled renewalists for statistical purposes. Interviews, with the exception of the USA, were conducted face to face by local survey firms under the direction of the Princeton Survey Research Associates International. This paper, in order to avoid over-generalization and confounding influences, reviews data collected only in Brazil. Research International Brazil conducted a random survey of 1000 adults chosen from urban areas across Brazil. Because this paper relies on a preexisting data set, analysis depends on the construction of post hoc scales. A measure of SES utilizes a principle component of employment status, income per year, and education obtainment. A proxy measure of lifetime religious dissociative experience is constructed by the aggregation of five dichotomous (yes, no) experience

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questions: Have you ever given or interpreted prophecy? Have you ever experienced divine healing? Have you ever experienced spirit possession? Have you ever received a revelation from God? Have you ever spoken in tongues (item dichotomized from 7-point Likert scale)? As a single scale of lifetime religious dissociative experience, these items have a Cronbach’s alpha of .718. A more sensitive, single-item measure of glossolalia frequency, measured on a seven-point Likert scale, provides an additional measure of religious dissociation. All statistical analyses are performed on SPSS 13.0 for Windows. Regressions excluded any individuals with missing values, yielding a final sample size of 795.

Results Analysis of religious denominations’ economic status and frequency of glossolalia parallel the findings in the literature. As Fig. 1 shows, Evange´licos, including Pentecostals, have the lowest SES among the major religious denominations. In Brazil, the vast majority of Evange´licos are Protestant Pentecostals, and nationally the terms are used interchangeably. Indeed, this data set supports the observations of many researchers (Burdick 1998; Chesnut 1997; Scheper-Hughes 1992) that these Evange´licos/Pentecostals are largely comprised of the urban poor. It is hypothesized by some that the renewalist religious identity and goods (e.g., gifts of the Pentecost) are particularly attractive to the disenfranchised and disempowered (Chesnut 1997). Catholics, as the de facto national religion, have SES slightly lower than the sample mean. Spiritism, as a popular faith among the Brazilian middle-

Fig. 1 Mean socioeconomic status of major Brazilian religions. (Error bars represent 95 % confidence interval)

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class, predictably has SES significantly higher than other denominations. Interestingly, Afro-Brazilian faiths such as Candomble´ and Umbanda have SES, respectively, higher than the mean. These faiths are popular across a wide social spectrum, indicated by the fact that overall Afro-Brazilian SES is not significantly (p \ 0.5) different than the SES of any other denomination. Results from the lifetime religious dissociate experience scale (Fig. 2) show that Evange´licos experience significantly more types (not necessarily frequency) of dissociative experiences than any other religion. This is due, in no small part, to the belief that any man, woman, or child worthy enough, can experience the gifts of the Pentecost. Thus, access to different religious dissociative experience is shared among the faithful, rather than in the hands of a few practitioners, clergy, or elites. Evange´licos also experience significantly higher frequency of glossolalia than every other faith, with multiple glossolalia experiences per year (Fig. 3). Glossolalia, for Pentecostals and other Evange´licos, provides individual and communal signaling of baptism in the Holy Spirit and thus social inclusion and religious standing. Glossolalia in other faiths does not have the level of individual institutionalization as with Pentecostals and Charismatics. Primary analysis of the data utilizes multivariate regression methods. Multiple regression analysis allows for the evaluation of linear correlations between multiple independent variables and a single dependent variable. Controlling for age and gender, there is no correlation between SES and either lifetime religious dissociative experience or frequency of glossolalia. This finding counters the initial hypothesis that individuals with low

Fig. 2 Average number of types of religious dissociation experienced by major Brazilian religions. (Error bars represent 95 % confidence interval)

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Fig. 3 Mean frequency of self-reported glossolalia. (Error bars represent 95 % confidence interval)

socioeconomic standing will dissociate more to mitigate the psychosocial stress of their social and economic position. Further regression analysis utilizes two single-item measures of economic status appraisal, neither of which was included in the general SES measure (Table 1). First is a fouritem (poor excellent) measure of the appraisal of one’s current economic position. Controlling for age, gender, and current SES, lifetime religious dissociation significantly Table 1 Regression of lifetime religious dissociation and glossolalia on subjective economic status Appraisal of current economic position

Appraisal of future economic position

Model 1 Gender (female)

-0.049

-0.005

Age

-0.050

-0.130**

SES

0.251**

0.009

Lifetime religious dissociation

0.158**

0.077*

Model 2 Gender (female)

-0.034

-0.006

Age

-0.054

-0.121**

SES

0.245**

0.012

Frequency of Glossolalia

0.080*

0.073*

* = significant at the 0.05 level ** = significant at the 0.01 level

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predicts current economic status appraisal (B = .158, t = 4.655, p = .000). Controlling for the same items, frequency of glossolalia is also significantly correlated with economic status appraisal, however, less strongly (B = .08, t = 2.632, p = .018). The second set of regressions utilizes the appraisal of one’s future economic position, measured along a fivepoint scale. Controlling for age, gender, and current SES, lifetime religious dissociation has significant, though fairly weak correlation (B = .077, t = 2.168, p = .03), as does frequency of glossolalia (B = .073, t = 2.072, p = .039). Both series of regressions suggest that the greater an individual’s dissociative experiences, the greater the appraisal of their current and future economic position, independent of one’s actual socioeconomic status.

Discussion Latin America is experiencing its own Great Awakening. Religious revival and conversion is changing the socio-makeup of nations, which has great implications for political and social movements. This research analyzes religious and economic behaviors in Brazil. Brazil is still the largest Catholic country on earth, with nearly ’ of the population identifying as Roman Catholic (Lugo 2007). This figure is misleading, however, as some data suggest that among active acolytes, Pentecostals attract more practitioners each Sunday (Chesnut 1997), and many Catholics are now practicing a Charismatic type that bears more than a passing resemblance to Pentecostal practices. Figures concerning religious identification further do not account for the common practice of religious pluralism, where self-identified Catholics will frequent Afro-religions or Evange´licos denominations according to their spiritual needs. Indeed, ethnographic accounts of acolytes in Brazil portray them as savvy consumers of religious goods, actively seeking, for example, Candomble´ for relationship or employment help, while attending Catholic mass for their salvation (Chesnut 2007; Gooren 2007). This paper examines the intersection of religious dissociation and SES. The initial hypothesis that individuals with low socioeconomic status will preferentially seek religions with substantial dissociative rituals is not supported by the data. As stated above, this survey asked for religious identity—which has little bearing on the reality of pluralistic religious participation. Further, while there were SES differences among the faiths reported on the survey, the significant overlap between particular denominations, such as AfroBrazilian faiths and everything else, makes meaningful interpretation difficult. Indeed, the tradition of religious pluralism and the availability of dissociative ritual across faiths provide wide access to the Brazilian masses. While this study’s initial hypothesis proved erroneous, subsequent analysis supports the second hypothesis that individuals who dissociate more will experience greater mental well-being in the form of increased status appraisal. Brazilians who experience more types of dissociation over a lifetime or have a greater frequency of glossolalia have a better appraisal of their current and future economic situation, regardless of their actual socioeconomic status. While the effect of dissociation on economic appraisal is small, the significance across multiple models lends credence to its validity. Therefore, how is it that dissociation is correlated with the interpretation of one’s economic status? What does speaking in tongues or divine healings have to do with feeling economically secure? To answer these questions, we have to turn back to the research outlining the connection between dissociative states and stress states.

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We first must interpret economic appraisal as an appraisal of economic stress. That is, regardless of SES, some individuals feel more satisfied with their current state, and more optimistic about their future positioning. Nancy Adler and colleagues (2000) conducted extensive research on the differences between actual SES and perceived SES on various health indicators, including psychological well-being, hypertension, and obesity. Their research shows that perceived economic status is at least as good, and in many cases, a better indicator of health than actual SES. Thus, the appraisal of stressors is more indicative of the stress response than simply exposure to them. How then does dissociation influence the appraisal of economic stressors? Religious dissociation within the context of communal rituals provides numerous mechanisms by which to decrease the appraisal of stressors. None of these mechanisms can be truly evaluated independently of any other, as they are synergistically integrated. However, heuristically, religious dissociation can be conceived as psychosocial or psychobiological in nature. Seligman (2005) evaluates some of these psychosocial and psychobiological mechanisms of dissociation in her analysis of Candomble´ mediumship. Mediums share similar life history narratives, particularly with regards to experiencing a high level of psychological and physical distress, often as a result of crippling poverty. Seligman (2005: 90) postulates that some mediums are ‘‘more physiologically sensitive to stress, giving them a heightened…experience and…reaction to social and psychological events—creating…a tendency toward ‘hyper-embodiment’.’’ Similarly, Dressler et al. (2009) found that a genetic marker is associated with a hypersensitive appraisal of cultural consonance. That is, individuals with this hypersensitive marker experience extremely high psychological well-being when they are culturally consonant, but extreme psychological distress when dissonant—much more than the other polymorphisms. To return back to Seligman’s study, while high stress appraisal (as a result of both genetic and socioeconomic dispositions) may lead to involvement in Candomble´, Seligman (2005: 94) found that the religion ‘‘allows them to rewrite their…self-narratives in new, more positive terms, [which] contributes to a therapeutic reduction in existential distress.’’ Thus, on the one hand, dissociative mediumship allows for increased psychosocial control and support through the creation of a new, empowered identity, with direct access to the divine, and the powers they confer. Indeed, both sense of control (Bier et al. 1987; Houston 1972) and social support (Sapolsky 2004) have been shown to influence the appraisal of stressors. On the other hand, individuals who are more biologically prone to hyper-stress appraisal benefit from the therapeutic state of trance. It is this biological mechanism to which we now turn our focus. Dissociation, as explained prior, is a state dominated by parasympathetic activation and is characterized by the partitioning of cognitive and sensory integration. The available literature is sparse, but there are reasons to believe that continuous activation of the parasympathetic nervous system results in a resetting of the stress allostasis set point (Maclean et al. 1997). In other words, continuous dissociation may result in an autonomic nervous system baseline that leads toward subtle, but chronic parasympathetic activation. Furthermore, dissociative states may result in an overall decreased stress response (sympathetic activation) to external stressors. Because both autonomic systems interact utilize neurotransmitters, overactivation of either the parasympathetic or sympathetic nervous systems influences stress appraisals. A case in point is anxiety. Anxiety is attributed to overactivation of the amygdala as a result of a chronic or hyper-reactive stress response. The sensitivity of the amygdala is developmental, as shown in rat studies (Rosen et al. 1996; Vyas et al. 2002). Thus, exposure to high and extended sympathetic activation results in a positive feedback loop, where stress increases the number of receptors for

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glucocorticoids and reduces the amount of receptors for anxiety reducing benzodiazepine, resulting in increased anxiety and increased stress appraisal (LeDoux 1998). Dissociation’s effect on the amygdala is not known, but it is not unreasonable that extensive parasympathetic activation results in reduced amygdala-anxiety activation. For this study’s findings, it appears that Brazilians who experience more dissociation in type and in frequency of glossolalia have less anxiety toward their current and future economic status. While the correlation is small, there is a real effect of dissociation on the appraisal of economic stress. It is very likely that the religious dissociative experiences provide social pathways of stress reduction through social integration, resources, empowerment, and control. Biological processes of dissociation may also result in a decreased cognitive and emotional appraisal of stressors. Because religious dissociation often takes place within the context of communal ritual, it is not possible, nor proper to parse out the differential affects of social and biological dissociation. Rather, dissociation’s moderating influence on stress and well-being is the product of both social and biological mechanisms.

Conclusion This study reviews the correlation of dissociation and socioeconomic status. Utilizing the Pew Research Center’s data on Pentecostal and Charismatic faith in Brazil, this study finds that dissociation predicts appraisal of current and future economic status. The more the dissociation by type and by frequency an acolyte experiences, the better their personal perception of economic security. This study lacks the in-depth analysis to explain how religious dissociation influences economic stress appraisal, however, several mechanisms are postulated, including psychosocial support, and biological feedback through the amygdala. Importantly, however, this study moves beyond religiosity as an abstract measure, but rather seeks to quantify a particular type of religious experience. Indeed, dissociation, for being universally observed cross-culturally and immortalized in the earliest human paintings, is still poorly understood. If dissociative states, as McClenon (1997) and Winkelman (1986) argue, represent the most primitive and foundational elements of magic and religion, more effort must be invested in this mechanism of religion–health interaction.

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