The Ritual Effect

We may think often about changing our habits. But habits automate us. Rituals -- ordinary practices that are imbued with symbolic meaning -- animate us. Once we know how, we can identify existing rituals and make them more effective - as well as create new ones to help improve our lives. Using cutting-edge research, Harvard professor Michael Norton shows that our rituals - from blowing out birthday candles to the traditions that your family have kept up for decades - are transformative. They help us achieve our goals as individuals, in relationships, at work and in society. The impact of rituals is clear from science. In one of Norton's own experiments, those who performed an unwrapping chocolate ritual spent 50% more time savouring it, and people singing karaoke performed better after enacting a ritual -- even when they didn't believe they would. Even one of the most cliché of all group rituals --- the trust fall - has been proven to have a positive effect on those involved. The Ritual Effect is one of those rare books that completely changes the way you see your everyday life. Professor Norton shows memorably how rituals, like a Swiss Army knife, can produce whatever emotional effect we need, and how shifting from a habitual to a ritual mindset can enhance our daily pleasures and deepen our relationships.

In the bestselling tradition of Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit and Angela Duckworth’s Grit, a renowned social psychologist demonstrates the power of small acts—and how a subtle turning of habits into rituals can add purpose and pleasure to life. Our lives are filled with repetitive tasks meant to keep us on track—what we come to know as habits. Over time, these routines (for example, brushing your teeth or putting on your right sock first) tend to be performed automatically. But when we’re more mindful about these actions—when we focus on the precise way they are performed—they can instead become rituals. Shifting from a “habitual” mindset to a “ritual” mindset can convert ordinary acts from black and white to technicolor. Think of the way you savor a certain beverage, the care you take with a particular outfit that gets worn only on special occasions, the unique way that your family gathers around the table during holidays, or the secret language you enjoy with your significant other. To some, these behaviors may seem quirky, but because rituals matter so deeply to us on a personal level, they imbue our lives with purpose and meaning. Drawing on a decade of original research, Norton shows that rituals play a role in healing communities experiencing a great loss, marking life’s major transitions, driving a stadium of sports fans to ecstasy, and helping us rise to challenges and realize opportunities. Compelling, insightful, and practical, The Ritual Effect reminds us of the intention-filled acts that drive human behavior and create sur­prising satisfaction and enjoyment.

‘Fascinating . . . lively storytelling and cutting-edge science, The Ritual Effect sticks with you' Charles Duhigg In this ground-breaking and inspiring guide, a renowned Harvard psychologist demonstrates how turning everyday habits into rituals can improve our work, our relationships and our lives. Think of the quirky traditions that you keep up with your friends. Or the unusual ways that you and your family mark special occasions. Or the gifts that your partner gives – and what you’d think if they’d bought the same for an ex. These are rituals: practices that are imbued with symbolic meaning. And they have the power to turn black-and-white moments into technicolour. Along the way, Norton shares stories from sporting superstars (Serena Williams always bouncing the ball five times before her first serve), million-dollar companies (Zipcar urging staff to destroy their old desktops with sledgehammers) and ordinary people (inventing their own “ritual signatures”), who reimagine everyday moments, build camaraderie, and spark joy. Rituals can help us to forge winning teams, heal families experiencing grief and encourage us rise to challenges, big or small. Now it’s time to create yours.

If you think money can’t buy happiness, you’re not spending it right. Two rising stars in behavioral science explain how money can buy happiness—if you follow five core principles of smarter spending. If you think money can’t buy happiness, you’re not spending it right. Two rising stars in behavioral science explain how money can buy happiness—if you follow five core principles of smarter spending. Happy Money offers a tour of new research on the science of spending. Most people recognize that they need professional advice on how to earn, save, and invest their money. When it comes to spending that money, most people just follow their intuitions. But scientific research shows that those intuitions are often wrong. Happy Money explains why you can get more happiness for your money by following five principles, from choosing experiences over stuff to spending money on others. And the five principles can be used not only by individuals but by companies seeking to create happier employees and provide “happier products” to their customers. Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton show how companies from Google to Pepsi to Crate & Barrel have put these ideas into action. Along the way, the authors describe new research that reveals that luxury cars often provide no more pleasure than economy models, that commercials can actually enhance the enjoyment of watching television, and that residents of many cities frequently miss out on inexpensive pleasures in their hometowns. By the end of this book, readers will ask themselves one simple question whenever they reach for their wallets: Am I getting the biggest happiness bang for my buck?

'Fascinating . . . lively storytelling and cutting-edge science, The Ritual Effect sticks with you' Charles Duhigg A leading Harvard professor shows how rituals help give us meaning and achieve our goals - as individuals, in relationships, at work and in society We may think often about changing our habits. But habits automate us. Rituals -- ordinary practices that are imbued with symbolic meaning -- animate us. Once we know how, we can identify existing rituals and make them more effective - as well as create new ones to help improve our lives. Using cutting-edge research, Harvard professor Michael Norton shows that our rituals - from blowing out birthday candles to the traditions that your family have kept up for decades - are transformative. They help us achieve our goals as individuals, in relationships, at work and in society. The impact of rituals is clear from science. In one of Norton's own experiments, people singing karaoke performed better after enacting a ritual -- even when they didn't believe they would. Even one of the most cliché of all group rituals --- the trust fall - has been proven to have a positive effect on those involved. The Ritual Effect is one of those rare books that completely changes the way you see your everyday life. Professor Norton shows how shifting from a habitual to a ritual mindset can enhance our daily pleasures and deepen our relationships.

Designed for both academic and lay audiences, this book identifies the characteristics of ritual and, via multiple examples, details how ritual works on the human body and brain to produce its often profound effects. These include enhancing courage, effecting healing, and generating group cohesion by enacting cultural—or individual—beliefs and values. It also shows what happens when ritual fails.

In this book, Veronika Rybanska explores how ritual participation affects the cognitive abilities of children. Rybanska argues that, far from being a simple matter of mindless copying, ritual participation in childhood requires rigorous computation by cognitive mechanisms. In turn, this computation can improve a child's 'executive functioning': a set of cognitive skills that are essential for successful cognitive, social and psychological development. After providing a critique of existing literature on religion and ritual, Rybanska presents a new interdisciplinary approach that draws from anthropology, psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Using cross-cultural examples, including a comparison between Melanesian culture and Western culture, Rybanska shows that some of the most socially important effects of rituals seem to be universal. The implications of this research suggest that we should rethink multiple aspects of child-rearing and educational policy, and shows that the presence of some form of ritual during childhood could have positive evolutionary benefits.