This paper builds upon previous studies that have identified many factors that contribute to prejudice, including situational and personality factors. However, thus far there has been no...Show moreThis paper builds upon previous studies that have identified many factors that contribute to prejudice, including situational and personality factors. However, thus far there has been no investigation whether individual differences in threat sensitivity can interact with political ideology to predict a person’s degree of prejudice. This work seeks to fill in this gap by examining this relation. It was hypothesized that the relation between threat sensitivity and prejudice would be moderated by political ideology. Specifically, individuals would show greater prejudice against groups holding an opposing worldview, and this would be amplified for people with a higher (versus lower) threat sensitivity. This hypothesis was tested in an online survey, with British participants (N = 200). Contrary to our prediction, the results indicate no significant interaction effect of threat sensitivity and political ideology on prejudice. Further research on threat sensitivity and political ideology is needed to investigate whether and how it may affect prejudice.Show less
In this thesis I have applied 2 theoretical frameworks to the Vlaardingen Culture: the material engagement theory and the notion of a Neolithic mind-set. The Vlaardingen Culture is an...Show moreIn this thesis I have applied 2 theoretical frameworks to the Vlaardingen Culture: the material engagement theory and the notion of a Neolithic mind-set. The Vlaardingen Culture is an archaeological culture that takes part in the Neolithisation process of the Netherlands, which can be summarized as the transformation into the Neolithic period. I have chosen to combine the two mentioned theoretical frameworks in order to analyse the different world-views of the Mesolithic and the Neolithic. The Vlaardingen period (3400-2500 BCE) is considered to be an intermediate phase in the Neolithisation period, where people are neither fully Mesolithic or Neolithic. This group is characterized by the fact that their food economy and their degree sedentism share traits of a Mesolithic and a Neolithic way of life.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
The field of analyzing the ritual traditions found in societies around the globe has long been an area of fruitful study in both archaeology and anthropology. Besides reflecting on some significant...Show moreThe field of analyzing the ritual traditions found in societies around the globe has long been an area of fruitful study in both archaeology and anthropology. Besides reflecting on some significant reconceptualizations relevant to the investigation of ritual, the aim of this thesis is to approach visual imagery as a way of investigating ritual conventionality. In this effort, the compatibility of Roy Rappaport’s model of investigation will be tested on several examples from the archaeological site of Yaxchilan. Working from a theoretical framework focusing on the mental ordering of surroundings manifested in ritual forms, this thesis will explore the value of further interdisciplinary research of the system involving constructed world visions and ritual performance.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
Perception of time is a constituting pillar in the Maya worldview. The Maya calendar system, which has been in use for thousands of years, however, is currently under threat by a variety of...Show morePerception of time is a constituting pillar in the Maya worldview. The Maya calendar system, which has been in use for thousands of years, however, is currently under threat by a variety of developments. This research master thesis focuses on the contemporary practices and beliefs related to the Maya calendar in Mexican and Guatemalan Maya communities by analyzing ethnographies published between 1889 and 1982. The aims are firstly to analyze the forms in which the traditional time perception has continued over time, and secondly to examine how changes in the field of Maya research have affected the specific ethnographic investigations on the Maya calendar. The main part of this thesis includes a literature study on three entangled topics which all have influenced how scholars currently look at the Maya calendar. Firstly, a synthesis of the different ethnographic works is provided, in which the different forms of Maya calendar systems in Mexico and Guatemala are discussed. The Maya calendar has played an important role in Maya archaeology and anthropology. This thesis provides the first overview of ethnographic research since a doubtful publication dating from 1952. The goal of synthesizing the ethnographies is to provide new insights in the variety of contemporary practices and beliefs related to time among the Maya. Secondly, based on this inventory, this thesis examines the changing ethnographic approaches towards this topic. By examining the assumptions, interpretations and approaches in the light of their time, it becomes clear how we have come to our current view on the Maya calendar system. Thirdly, this thesis looks into cultural continuity and how rituals contribute to the continuation of calendar systems and their related worldviews. Due to the decreasingly traditional way of life, more research into this topic is very much needed. Additional to the literature research and a small-scale ethnographic fieldwork has been performed among the Yucatec Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, focusing on the perception of time based on environmental observations and related rituals. The empirical data that were collected during this fieldwork are presented in the final part of this thesis.Show less
