Religious Ritual and Dissociation in India and Australia

Abstract

The Religious Ritual Scale (RRS; Maranell, 1974) and the Questionnaire of Experiences of Dissociation (QED; Riley, 1988) were administered to 402 Indian and 263 Australian university students. The Indian students had significantly higher QED scores than the Australians. The Australian men had significantly higher QED scores than Australian women, but no sex differences on dissociation were found for the Indian participants. Indians scored significantly higher than Australians on the RRS. Indian women had higher RRS scores than their male counterparts, but Australian men and women did not differ on the RRS. A modest but statistically significant positive correlation was found between religious ritual practice and dissociation. Regression analysis showed religious ritual to be a significant predictor of dissociation. Results are discussed in relation to dissociation theory and cultural factors that influence dissociative experience.