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).

This article retests several hypotheses from Swanson’s (1960) study on the origins of religious belief. The author finds support for an association between high gods and large communities, multiple levels of political hierarchy, and social differentiation. No support is found for Swanson’s other hypotheses concerning polytheism, ancestral spirits, reincarnation, the soul, witchcraft, and morality and their relations to social, political, and economic variables.

This article offers a critique of Stover and Hope (1984). Gray challenges their findings and suggests that a third variable, sovereign groups, explains the correlation between monotheism and gender status.

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.

This article investigates material and social predictors of belief in a high god. The author introduces a new variable, the inertness of subsistence raw materials, to be compared with Swanson’s (1960) variable representing the number of sovereign groups. Both variables were significant predictors of belief in high gods. Relevant theory is discussed.

Examines the cross-cultural correlates of belief in a high god or supreme creator. The results are compared to and found to be inconsistent with the theoretical perspectives of Swanson (1960) and Durkheim (1912).

This study examines correlates of trance and possession in pre-industrial societies. Results suggest that the presence of trance/possession is associated with subsistence, number of jurisdictional levels, and community decision-making.

This chapter examines the presence of oaths and autonomic ordeals in relation to various socioeconomic variables. Several hypotheses are presented, all are supported.

The complex set of beliefs and practices in which the cult of the guardian spirit consisted is examined.

A response to Gray's critique of Hope and Stover's original paper "Monotheism and gender status: a cross-societal study" (1984). The authors address questions regarding their methods. They also counter the suggestion that social complexity acts as an overriding variable to explain the relationship originally found between gender status and religious belief.