Editing Initiation (section)

==Characteristics==
[[William Ian Miller]] notes the role of ritual [[humiliation]] in comic ordering and testing.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Miller
 | first1 = William Ian
 | author-link1 = William Ian Miller
 | year = 1995
 | title = Humiliation: And Other Essays on Honor, Social Discomfort, and Violence
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a6GIohQF_BMC
 | series = Cornell paperbacks : essays, sociology
 | edition = reprint
 | location = ithaca, New York
 | publisher = Cornell University Press
 | publication-date = 1995
 | page = 164
 | isbn = 9780801481178
 | access-date = 27 July 2019
 | quote = The humiliation of initiation rituals borrows from the world of comic ordering, the shaming rituals from tragic ordering. The initiation ritual conceives of humiliation as a test, a rite, prior to and indeed allowing for the attainment of honor as a group member of good standing.
}}
</ref>

[[Mircea Eliade]] discussed initiation as a principal religious act by classical or traditional societies.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Eliade|1958}}</ref> He defined initiation as "a basic change in existential condition", which liberates man from profane time and history.  "Initiation recapitulates the sacred history of the world.  And through this recapitulation, the whole world is sanctified anew... [the initiand] can perceive the world as a sacred work, a creation of the Gods."

Eliade differentiates between types of initiations in two ways: types and functions.

===Reasons for and functions===
* "this real valuation of ritual death finally led to conquest of the fear of real death."
* "[initiation's] function is to reveal the deep meaning of existence to the new generations and to help them assume the responsibility of being truly men and hence of participating in culture."
* "it reveals a world open to the trans-human, a world that, in our philosophical terminology, we should call transcendental."
* "to make [the initiand] open to [[Spirituality|spiritual]] values."

===Types===
[[File:George Catlin - The Cutting Scene, Mandan O-kee-pa Ceremony - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|The {{lang|mhq|[[Okipa]]}} ceremony was a test for young [[Mandan]] men to prove themselves as warriors. The ceremony as witnessed by [[George Catlin]], circa 1832]]
* [[Puberty]] rites: "collective rituals whose function is to effect the transition from childhood or adolescence to adulthood."  They represent "above all the revelation of the sacred."
* Entering into a [[Secret Society]]
* [[Mystical]] [[vocation]]: "the vocation of a [[medicine man]] or a [[shaman]]." This is limited to the few who are "destined to participate in a more intense religious experience than is accessible to the rest of the community."
These can be broken into two types:
* [[puberty]] rites, "by virtue of which adolescents gain access to the sacred, to knowledge, and to sexuality-- by which, in short, they become human beings."
* specialized initiations, which certain individuals undergo in order to transcend their human condition and become protégés of the Supernatural Beings or even their equals."

===Psychological===
In the study of certain social forms of initiation, such as hazing in college fraternities and sororities, laboratory experiments in psychology suggest that severe initiations produce [[cognitive dissonance]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Aronson | first1 = E. | last2 = Mills | first2 = J. | year = 1959 | title = The effect of severity of initiation on liking for a group | journal = Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology | volume = 59 | issue = 2| pages = 177–181 | doi= 10.1037/h0047195| citeseerx = 10.1.1.368.1481 }}</ref> Dissonance is then thought to produce feelings of strong group [[Interpersonal attraction|attraction]] among initiates after the experience, because they want to justify the effort used.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Festinger | first1 = L | year = 1961 | title = The psychological effects of insufficient rewards | journal = American Psychologist | volume = 16 | issue = 1| pages = 1–11 | doi= 10.1037/h0045112}}</ref>

[[Reward system|Rewards]] during initiations have important consequences in that initiates who feel more rewarded express stronger group identity.<ref>Kamau, C. (2012). What does being initiated severely into a group do? The role of rewards. ''International Journal of Psychology'', {{doi|10.1080/00207594.2012.663957}}</ref> As well as group attraction, initiations can also produce [[conformity]] among new members.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Keating | first1 = C. F. | last2 = Pomerantz | first2 = J. | last3 = Pommer | first3 = S. D. | last4 = Ritt | first4 = S. J. H. | last5 = Miller | first5 = L. M. | last6 = McCormick | first6 = J. | year = 2005 | title = Going to college and unpacking hazing: A functional approach to decrypting initiation practices among undergraduates | journal = Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice | volume = 9 | issue = 2| pages = 104–126 | doi= 10.1037/1089-2699.9.2.104| citeseerx = 10.1.1.611.2494 | s2cid = 43240412 }}</ref> Psychology experiments have also shown that initiations increase feelings of [[Need for affiliation|affiliation]].<ref>
{{cite journal
 | last1 = Lodewijkx | first1 = H. F. M.
 | last2 = van Zomeren | first2 = M.
 | last3 = Syroit | first3 = J. E. M. M. | year = 2005
 | title = The anticipation of a severe initiation: Gender differences in effects on affiliation tendency and group attraction
 | journal = Small Group Research
 | volume = 36 | issue = 2
 | pages = 237–262 | doi= 10.1177/1046496404272381
| s2cid = 146168269
 }}
</ref>