Anxiety and ritualization: Can attention discriminate compulsion from routine?

Despite the wide occurrence of ritual behavior in humans and animals, much of its causal underpinnings, as well as evolutionary functions, remain unknown. A prominent line of research focuses on ritualization as a response to anxiogenic stimuli. By manipulating anxiety levels, and subsequently assessing their motor behavior dynamics, our recent study investigated this causal link in a controlled way. As an extension to our original argument, we here discuss 2 theoretical explanations of rituals—ritualized behavior and automated behavior—and their link to anxiety. We propose that investigating participant's locus of attention can discriminate between these 2 models.