Authors explore the problem of data quality control, systematic error and spurious correlations possibly caused by systematic errors in global cross-cultural studies. They offer a solution (the use of control variables investigating potential sources of systematic error) and apply the technique to a cross-cultural study of the substantive correlates of societal organization and modes of marriage.

This study tests a broad hypothesis that alcohol is employed to relieve anxiety and feelings of powerlessness. Frequency of drunkenness and drunken brawling were associated with several variables, including supernatural beliefs, political systems, settlement patterns, and division of labor.

This paper examines three measures of cultural complexity: Naroll’s (1956) social development index, Freeman’s (1957) Guttman scale of folk-urbanism, and Carneiro and Tobias’ (1963) Guttman scale of cultural complexity. The authors find significant associations between these three measures, suggesting that their strong validity. When used together, these measures account for a culture’s urbanization, organizational ramification, occupational specialization, and cumulative informational content of culture.

This study investigates the relationship between agriculture and fixed settlement patterns. The authors intend to examine the effects of sampling strategies and Galton’s problem on empirical findings. Neither of these factors affected the statistical relationship between agriculture and mobility.

This study tests cross-cultural hypotheses that predict the variables that lead to drunkenness. Previous hypotheses are reviewed and retested and control tests attempt to ascertain the adequacy of the cross-cultural method.

This article offers a detailed analysis of neuropsychopsiological processes involved in altered states of consciousness (ASC) in order to design and evaluate a psychophysiological model of trance states. Cross-cultural hypotheses concerning ASC are tested.

The authors examine the relationship between magico-religious practitioner type and socioeconomic variables in order to present a typology of magico-religious practitioners. Three bases for magico-religious practitioners are discussed in terms of selection procedures and activities. Several hypotheses are empirically tested, and descriptive generalizations derived from analyses are presented.

The author builds upon previous research (Winkelman 1998) to further elucidate the cross-cultural predictors of institutionalized human sacrifice. The author considers a range of ecological factors and political variables, particularly geopolitical dynamics and intra- and inter-group relations. Other factors were explored, including social complexity and social structures. The author identifies the lack of an effective superordinate political authority as a main determinant in similar behaviors contemporarily (e.g. suicide bombers, beheadings, public brutality in civil war).

While it is widely accepted that there are a multitude of variables that contribute to a society’s level of democracy, the authors of this study argue that the prevalence of consanguinity is one that is often overlooked. Using a sample of 70 nations, they tested the relationship between consanguinity (defined as marriage and subsequent mating between second cousins or closer relatives) and level of democracy (defined by both the Polity IV scale and the EIU Index) and found a significant negative relationship. Similarly, when controlled for a host of different variables in multiple regression analysis, the significant relationship between consanguinity and level of democracy held true.

This article explores ecological, religious, and social correlates of human sacrifice and cannibalism in a cross-cultural sample. Support is found for associations between human sacrifice and population density, population pressure, war for land and resources, and a low hierarchical focus of religion. Human sacrifice among Aztecs is given particular attention.