Does Art Bring Us Together? An Empirical Approach to the Evolutionary Aesthetics of Ellen Dissanayake

Biological Theory • Vol/Iss. 15 • Springer • London • Published In • Pages: 188-195 •
By Fullerton, Brady

Abstract

In this study, the author empirically tests a formulation of Ellen Dissanayake's evolutionary theory of art, which argues that art evolved to promote group cohesion. The hypotheses derived from this theory and tested in this study specifically focus on ritual art and its relationships to various proxies for group cohesion such as community conflict and internal warfare. Results show that the presence of ritual art is significantly higher where certain measures of group cohesion are also higher (including lower internal warfare, lower conflict between communities of the same society, and lower frequency of violent conflict between groups within local communities).

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
eHRAF World CulturesResearcher's ownRitual art
Standard Cross Cultural Sample (SCCS)Other researchersGroup cohesion

Hypotheses (6)

HypothesisSupported
Lower conflict between communities of the same society will be correlated with more ritual art.Supported
Lower frequency of internal war will be correlated with more ritual art.Not supported
Frequency of internal warfare involving non-territorially organized groups with a unit of maximal political authority will be positively correlated with ritual art.Not supported
Frequency of internal warfare (between local communities within a unit of maximal political authority) will be negatively correlated with ritual art.Supported
Frequency of violent conflict between groups within local communities will be negatively correlated with ritual art.Supported
Intercommunity marriage will be negatively correlated with ritual art.Not supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: anj.droe