 He explained how the heightened state of emotional energy achieved during totemic rituals transported individuals above themselves giving them the sense that they were in the presence of a higher power, a force, that was embedded in the sacred objects that were worshipped.These feelings of exaltation, he argued, ultimately lead people to believe that there were forces that governed sacred objects.In the 1990s, sociologists focused on different aspects of specific emotions and how these emotions were socially relevant.