This study tests for an association between displays of aggression and socialization techniques in preindustrial societies. Analysis suggests there is no relationship between discipline techniques and homicidal or suicidal behavior.

This paper tests for a relationship between practices of mutilation and self-torture and the incidence of suicidal behavior in preindustrial, nonliterate societies. Several hypotheses are tested but none supported.

This study tests for potential correlates of the fear of death in non-literate societies. Significant associations were found between the use of love-oriented techniques for punishment and a fear of death and a high need to achieve and a fear of death.

Factor analysis is employed to examine variables related to alcohol consumption. Hypotheses related to the integration of drinking, inebriety, aggression while intoxicated, and quantity of drinking are examined.

This book chapter tests new and pre-existing theories (Horton, Field, Bacon et al.) for the cause of variation in drinking across cultures. Folktale content is used to test psychological variables more directly than has been done previously. Folktale content is analyzed programmatically with an acknowledged error level of up to one-third. Results lend support to Field's 1962 theory that loose social organization facilitates drinking.

This study examines sex differences in alcohol consumption, suggesting that they are related to a nomadic or rural settlement, low accumulation of food resources, and strong child training pressure toward achievement. The authors suggest that societal norms often limit drunkenness in women because women's responsibilities (such as childcare) would deter incapacity due to intoxication.

This study investigates possible relationships between the need for achievement and power (as measured in folktales) with rates of suicide and homicide in preindustrial societies. Analysis suggests that homicide is not associated with either the need for achievement or power, but suicide is positively associated with the need for power.

This article investigates variables related to suicide in preindustrial societies. Bivariate analyses indicate associations between rates of suicide and religion, kinship, political and economic integration, expression of emotions, and importance of pride. Multiple regression identifies three key predictors of suicide: the major economic activity, rules concerning the expression of emotions, and the importance of pride and shame.

The authors of the present study investigate the psychological correlates of heavy drinking by using thematic content of folktales as a reflection of the cognitive processes of people in a given society. Subsequently, thematic variables are compared to ethnographic ratings in order to better understand how and if thought and reality correlate. Results are examined in the context of previous findings by other researchers, namely D. Horton (1943).

This article examines a hypothesis that associates alcoholism with the structure and quality of social norms related to drinking. Analysis yields little support for this hypothesis, but the amount of alcohol consumed by members of the society emerges as an important predictive variable. A new theory of alcoholism that takes this variable into account is discussed.