Rituals, social sharing, silence, emotions and collective memory claims inthe case of the Guatemalan genocide

In this article we will review both theory and data pertaining to the emoti onal effects of collective remembering by means of social sharing and funer al rituals. Data is based on the experience of Guatemalan Mayas, who were v ictims of a genocide during the nineteen eighties. Results show that that M ayan subjects did not report lower levels of subjective and emotional react ions compared to the Latino community. A finding which contradicts the idea that this is a less expressive and emotional culture. Rituals had a more i mportant buffer effect for Mayas in comparison to Ladino communities. Mater ial losses did not imply, and affect, both groups in the same way. Commemor ation activities were most important for those subjects who had been affect ed by collective massacres. Silence was an adaptive form of coping in the p ast, although that may not be the case at the present moment.