Group singing is globally dominant and associated with social context

Royal Society Open Science • Vol/Iss. 10 • The Royal Society • • Published In • Pages: ??•
By Shilton, Dor, Passmore, Sam, Savage, Patrick E.

Abstract

This study explores the prevalence of group singing and its relationship with changes in social organization's participatory dynamics, precisely community size and social differentiation. The authors use two samples: 1) 5776 audio recordings from 1024 societies and 2) 4709 ethnographic texts from 60 societies. There is significant support that group singing is more prevalent than solo singing. The results also show that community size predicts group singing in only one of the samples (GJB). However, there is no significant support for social differentiation as a predictor of group singing.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Natural History of Song EthnographyResearcher's own4709 coded ethnographic texts from 60 societies
Global JukeboxResearcher's own5776 song recordings from 1024 cultures

Hypotheses (4)

HypothesisSupported
Group singing will be more prevalent than solo singing.Supported
Group singing will be related to social context.Supported
Group singing will be related to community size.Partially supported
Group singing will be related to social differentiation.Not supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: stefania.becerralavado