A new cross-cultural study of drunkenness

Society, Culture and Drinking Patterns • New York • Published In • Pages: 48-74 •
By Field, Peter B.

Abstract

This book chapter builds on Horton's 1943 psychoanalytical study of drunkenness. The author tests an overall theory that drunkenness, which facilitates personal and uninhibited interactions, is more acceptable, and therefore prevalent, in societies with loose, rather than rigid, social relationships. Indicators of social rigidity, such as strict socialization or male dominance through patrilocality, are tested for relationships to drunkenness.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
OtherOther ResearchersHorton's (1943) sample of 56 tribal societies.

Hypotheses (11)

HypothesisSupported
Drunkenness is related to overt or latent homosexuality (68)Not Supported
Drunkenness will be related to sex anxiety (67)Not Supported
". . . there is a . . . relation between the presence of a bride price and the absence of extreme drunkenness" (62)Supported
". . . as the community approaches an exogamous clan organization, drunkenness decreases" (61)Supported
"Absence of drunkenness . . . appears to be associated with male dominance reflected in patrilocal . . . residence (59)Supported
"Viewed in relation to the presence or absence of unilineal kin groups so defined [matrilineal and patrilineal descent], degree of drunkenness yields a strong negative correlation of -.67 which is highly significant" (55)Supported
". . . Tribes with very primitive hunting and gathering economies tend to have more drunkenness than tribes with more advanced herding and agricultural economies" (52)Supported
A tribe's extent of drunkenness is related to its level of fear (52)Not Supported
"Indulgence during childhood correlates significantly with drunkenness" (66)Supported
There will be a relationship between drunkenness and the following measures of orality: age of weaning, oral socialization anxiety, oral satisfaction, oral explanations of illness, oral therapies, food taboos during pregnancies, feasts or food taboos during mourning" (69)Not Supported
There will be a lower degree of drunkenness in village settlements than in nomadic societies (64).Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: mas  Amelia Piazza  Tahlisa Brougham