Population growth, society, and culture: an inventory of cross-culturally tested causal hypotheses

HRAF Press • New Haven, CT • Published In • Pages: 126 •
By Sipes, Richard G.

Abstract

This book examines population growth rate and its correlates by testing 274 hypotheses (derived from multiple theories) with an 18-society sample. Forty-one of these hypotheses were significant at the .05 level, leading the author to accept these relationships as reflective of the real world. The 274 hypotheses are grouped into 51 broader hypotheses, and marked by (*) where relationships are significant as designated by the author or by significance p < 0.05.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
OtherResearcher's own20 preindustrial, non-literate, agricultural, fishing, or herding societies, with relatively homogenous culture, which have experienced a reduction in mortality as a result of exposure to modern medicine and other technology.

Hypotheses (51)

HypothesisSupported
Neolocality will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (56).Not Supported
Polygyny will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (56).Not Supported
Importance of inheritance will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (56).Not Supported
Usefulness of children to parents will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (56).Not Supported
Adverse results of illegitimacy will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (56).Not supported*
Prohibitive child labor laws will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (58).Not Supported
Favorability of childrens' attitude toward parents will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (58).Not Supported
Favorable attitude of young toward the old will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (58).Supported*
Sociality of care for the aged will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (58).Not Supported
Amount of care for the aged will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (58).Not Supported
Individual achieved versus ascribed status will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (58).Not Supported
Sex-based role and behavior differences will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (58).Not Supported
Presence of extended kin groups will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (60).Not Supported
Economic contribution of children to the family will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (60).Supported
General importance of the family will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (60).Not Supported
Preference for particular sex of child will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (60).Not Supported
Equality of women with men will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (60).Not Supported
Desire to keep women home will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (60).Not supported*
Social drawbacks of the unmarried state will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (62).Not Supported
Parental marriage arrangement will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (62).Not Supported
Difficulty of marriage will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (62).Not Supported
Older ages for males at first marriage will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (64).Not Supported
Percent of males never married will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (64).Not Supported
Divorce frequency for males will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (64).Not Supported
Ease of divorce will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (64).Not Supported
Desire to limit children will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (64).Not Supported
Viewing pregnancy as onerous will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (64).Not Supported
The connection between having children and sex identity will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (64).Not Supported
Permissive attitude toward terminating reproduction is negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (66).Not Supported
Conditions requiring abstinence and periods of abstinence are negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (66).Not Supported
Adolescent sex knowledge will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (66).Not Supported
Discussion of sex in mixed company will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (68).Not Supported
Inability to resist advances of opposite sex will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (68).Not Supported
Acceptability of nonmarital sex will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (68).Not supported*
Moral decay of society will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (68).Not supported*
Sex seen as recreation rather than procreation will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (68).Supported*
Attribution of Ego's Misfortunes to Other Persona will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (68).Not Supported
Influence of deceased kin on living descendants will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (70).Supported
Influence of living kin on deceased ancestors will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (70).Not Supported
Need for male or female heir for performance of religious rituals will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (70).Supported*
A religious rather than secular orientation will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (70).Not Supported
A fatalistic attitude toward the future will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (70).Not Supported
Linkage of individual action and economic status will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (70).Not Supported
Aspiration and achievement goals are negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (72).Not supported*
Subjective time horizon is negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (72).Supported*
Rationality of western economic behavior will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (72).Not Supported
Following of an industrial model will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (72).Not Supported
Status from education will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (72).Not Supported
Interaction at a distance will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (72).Supported*
Desire to educate children will be negatively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (74).Supported*
Value of children to parents will be positively associated with Population Growth Rate (PGR) (74).Supported*
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: Amelia Piazza  Tahlisa Brougham  jack.dunnington