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An existential perspective on the psychological function of shamans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2018

Simon Schindler ,
Jeff Greenberg  and
Stefan Pfattheicher
Simon Schindler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Kassel, 34127 Kassel, Germany. schindler@uni-kassel.dehttp://www.uni-kassel.de/fb01/institute/psychologie/sozialpsychologie/dr-simon-schindler.html
Jeff Greenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721. jeff@email.arizona.eduhttp://psychology.arizona.edu/users/jeff-greenberg
Stefan Pfattheicher
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Ulm, 89069 Ulm, Germany. stefan.pfattheicher@uni-ulm.dehttps://www.uni-ulm.de/en/in/psy-soz/team/stefan-pfattheicher/
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Abstract

Shamans deal with events that involve the threat of death. They help buffer death anxiety because, through their claimed supernatural abilities, they can provide both hope for averting death and evidence for existence of a spirit world offering continuance beyond death. Thus, managing the threat of mortality probably played a major role in the development and maintenance of shamanism.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e85
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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