Musiikilliset vuorovaikutusrituaalit uusissa uskonnollisissa yhteisöissä

Collective emotions experienced in the presence of others have received little attention in the study of religion, even though they play an essential role in the functioning of new religious communities. The driving force of group solidarity lies in micro-level social interactions and the collective emotions they generate. I interpret collective emotions in accompanied devotional singing among yoga and guru movements in Finland through Randall Collins’s theory of interaction rituals. I address the question of how the collective emotions that arise in musical interaction rituals contribute to the cohesion of these movements and to participants’ experiences of meaningfulness. The data for this article consist of 112 interviews evaluated using content analysis. The findings show that interaction rituals generate a collective feeling of unity and help sustain communities. The results demonstrate how recurring collective emotions can transform challenging emotions into collective and individual resources.