Found 671 Documents across 68 Pages (0.051 seconds)
  1. Factor analysis of a cross-cultural sampleMcNett, Charles W., Jr. - Behavior Science Notes, 1973 - 3 Hypotheses

    This study employs factor analysis to develop a settlement pattern scale of cultural complexity. Political, economic, and religious factors are identified and implications for the structure of the cultural system are discussed.

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  2. Cross-Cultural Correlates of the Ownership of Private PropertyRudmin, Floyd Webster - Social Science Research, 1992 - 2 Hypotheses

    The present study aims to assess the reliability of Simmons' (1937) database of 109 variables coded for 71 societies. Simmons' data was evaluated against matching societies and variables from Murdock's (1967) Ethnographic Atlas. The ultimate purpose of Rudmin's analysis is to identify the features of societies that are correlated with the private ownership of property. To do so, Simmons' reliable variables are tested against four measures of property ownership, two from Simmons and two from Murdock. Rudmin discusses results and speculates why certain clusters of societal variables correlate with private property ownership.

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  3. The birth of the gods; the origin of primitive beliefsSwanson, Guy E. - , 1960 - 10 Hypotheses

    This book investigates the origins of supernatural and religious beliefs. The author tests associations between various types of beliefs (e.g. witchcraft, monotheism) and various societal characteristics (e.g. mobility, class stratification). Many hypotheses are supported. Theoretical discussion is included, and the author posits that “the belief in a particular kind of spirit springs from experiences with a type of persisting sovereign group whose area of jurisdiction corresponds to that attributed to the spirit” (175).

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  4. A cross-cultural study of reincarnation ideologies and their social correlatesMatlock, James Graham - , 1993 - 33 Hypotheses

    This dissertation discusses the divided theoretical approach to how reincarnation, animism, spirits, and general religious beliefs occur within societies cross-culturally. Matlock offers evidence to support Tyler, contradicting the generally accepted Durkheimian approach, arguing that the belief about souls and spirits may originate in dreams and other empirical experiences, in turn informing and shaping social organization. Durkheim argued the opposite, claiming that religious beliefs reflect social organization such as the clan and kinship. The author states 33 quantitative hypotheses to be tested using 30 of the first 60 sample societies available in the HRAF Probability Sample.

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  5. Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolution of political complexity in AustronesiaWatts, Joseph - Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2015 - 4 Hypotheses

    The authors investigate whether moralizing high gods and, more generally, supernatural punishment precede, sustain, or follow political complexity. The cultural traits at hand are mapped onto phylogenetic trees representing the descent and relatedness of 96 Austronesian cultures.

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  6. The power of religionBentzen, Jeanet Sinding - Journal of Economic Growth, 2022 - 6 Hypotheses

    This paper seeks to understand the extent to which religion has been used to legitimize political power in the past, and the extent to which that carries into contemporary institutions. The authors seek to demonstrate that there is a strong link between the stratification of societies in the past and the presence of autocracies in many of those same areas today. They make their case by putting forward, and testing, three linked theories -- first, that stratified societies are more likely to develop religions based on moralizing high gods as a means of divine legitimization, second, that the societies that used religion for legitimacy in their past are more likely to have religion embedded in their institutions today, and third, that societies that used religion for legitimacy in the past are more likely to be autocracies today.

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  7. Shamans and other "magico-religious" healers: a cross-cultural study of their origins, nature, and social transformationsWinkelman, Michael James - Ethos, 1990 - 5 Hypotheses

    This article examines shamans and other types of magico-religious healers. Agriculture and political integration are suggested to influence the transformation of shamans into shaman/healers, healers, or possession-trance mediums.

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  8. Cross-Cultural Correlates of the Ownership of Private Property: A Look from Another Data BaseRudmin, Floyd Webster - Anthropologica, 1992 - 2 Hypotheses

    The present study builds upon Rudmin's 1992a publication by using a second data base to replicate and evaluate analyses on the cross-cultural correlates of private property ownership. Rudmin seeks to assess the reliability of Swanson's (1966) data base of 39 variables coded on 50 cultures. To do so, Swanson's data was evaluated against matching societies and variables from Murdock's (1967) Ethnographic Atlas. Swanson's reliable variables are tested against three measures of property ownership, one from Swanson and two from Murdock. Rudmin discusses results and speculates why certain clusters of societal variables correlate with private property ownership.

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  9. An ethnological analogy and biogenetic model for interpretation of religion and ritual in the pastWinkelman, Michael J. - Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2022 - 4 Hypotheses

    Expanding on the author’s previous findings, this article examines the social and economic variables that may explain the cultural evolution of religious practitioners. With a 47 society sample, the author found that subsistence activities and socio-political conditions predict magico-religious practitioner types (sorcerers/witches, priests, shamanistic healers, mediums, healers, shaman/healers, and shamans) with the strongest results being from subsistence and political organization. He then used these findings to theorize about the biogenetic bases of religion in societies.

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  10. A hologeistic study of family structure and sentiment, supernatural beliefs, and drunkennessSchaefer, James Michael - , 1972 - 12 Hypotheses

    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.

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