Documents
- The economic origins of the evil eye beliefGershman, Boris - Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2015 - 5 Hypotheses
The author analyzes 76 societies synchronically, positing that the evil eye belief functions as a useful heuristic and prosocial/cohesive element in weakly-institutionalized societies with significant wealth inequality; in particular, the evil eye belief is found to be more prevalent in agro-pastoral societies where material wealth is vulnerable and plays a dominant role in subsistence economy.
Related Documents Cite More By Author - Witchcraft beliefs and the erosion of social capital: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa and BeyondGershman, Boris - Journal of Development Economics, 2016 - 11 Hypotheses
In this article, the author seeks to understand the effect of witchcraft beliefs (both personal and regional) on various measures of social capital. Through empirical tests, the author concludes that witchcraft beliefs are robustly associated with anti-social attitudes in 19 Sub-Saharan African countries. Specifically, they find that witchcraft and other supernatural beliefs significantly affect levels of both generalized trust and trust for people of other religions. They also find that these attitudes are present among second-generation immigrants to Europe who originate from these countries. The worldwide Standard Cross-Cultural Sample is also used to examine relationships between witchcraft, mistrust, and other anti-social behaviors.
Related Documents Cite More By Author - A worldwide view of matriliny: using cross-cultural analyses to shed light on human kinship systemsSurowiec, Alexandra - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2019 - 10 Hypotheses
The study is about matrilineal systems, where descent is traced along female lines. Matrilineal systems are relatively rare in human populations, and previous research has discussed the rarity and apparent instability of matriliny. The study aims to study the evolution of descent systems on a worldwide scale. The study tests for significant associations between matriliny and numerous cultural traits that have been theoretically associated with its stability or loss, such as subsistence strategy, animal domestication, mating system, residence pattern, wealth transfer, and property succession. Additionally, by combining genetic and linguistic information to build a global supertree that includes 16 matrilineal populations, the study also performs phylogenetically controlled analyses to assess the patterns of correlated evolution between descent and other traits.
Related Documents Cite More By Author - Supernatural punishment and individual social compliance across culturesBourrat, Pierrick - Religion, Brain & Behavior, 2011 - 3 Hypotheses
Derived from the fear of supernatural punishment hypothesis, this paper explores whether the prosocial attitude of a group or individuals will increase with the threat of punishment from a high god or visible supernatural agent, such as sorcerers and witches. The author found that fear of supernatural punishment did not affect prosocial behavior and suggested that religious beliefs may give rise to institutions with the task of enforcing social compliance rather than direct control.
Related Documents Cite More By Author - Sorcery, sin and the superego: a cross-cultural study of some mechanisms of social controlWhiting, John W.M. - Cross-Cultural Approaches: Readings in Comparative Research, 1967 - 6 Hypotheses
This chapter examines how sorcery, sin, and the superego function in societies to uphold taboos and other forms of social control. The author also explores the child-rearing conditions that are necessary to produce and maintain these cultural mechanisms. Several hypotheses are tested and all are supported.
Related Documents Cite More By Author - A cross-cultural study of aggression and crimeAllen, Martin G. - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1972 - 18 Hypotheses
The relationships of aggression and crime to variables of childhood experience, adult behavior, and social structure are cross-culturally analyzed.
Related Documents Cite More By Author - Gods, rituals, and the moral orderStark, Rodney - Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2001 - 2 Hypotheses
Stark attempts to resituate Tylor's formulation of religion by calling into question Swanson's (1960) and Peregrine's (1996) findings that supernatural sanctions and moral behavior are consistently correlated in small-scale societies. Positing that Swanson's correlations were confounded by variables related to cultural complexity, Stark tests the association of presence of moralizing Gods with cultural complexity explicitly, as well as measures of morality in various nations as provided by the World Values Survey (1990-1991). The robust correlations across cultures noted below, as well as cross-national findings, provide support for the researcher's theory that it is particular conceptions of God rather than participation in rites and rituals which empower religion to sustain complex moral culture.
Related Documents Cite More By Author - A cross cultural survey of some sex differences in socializationBarry III, Herbert - Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1957 - 2 Hypotheses
This paper explores sex differences in socialization for boys and girls after describing the worldwide distribution of sex differences in five aspects of socialization; the authors explore conditions that may produce larger differences.
Related Documents Cite More By Author - A cross-cultural study of gender statusHope, Christine A. - Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology, 1980 - 1 Hypotheses
This article introduces an index containing information that is accessible, applicable to many societies, and pertinent to male/female differences associated with various aspects of life. While hypotheses are not formally presented, the names of the cultures in the index are specified as is an example of the type of status analyses that the index can be used for.
Related Documents Cite More By Author - Combination of Genetic and Humanitarian (Cross-Cultural) Methods for the Identification of Human Genes Involved in the Process of Adaptation to Evolutionary New Environmental FactorsBorinskaya, S. A. - Russian Journal of Genetics, 2015 - 7 Hypotheses
Researchers used population samples from the ALFRED database and the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP), in conjunction with 68 populations from the Ethnographic Atlas, in an attempt to identify specific genes involved in human adaptation to environmental stimuli as a result of migration. Specifically, researchers looked at the allele frequencies for four different genes typically associated with varying subsistence forms. These four included the APOE apolipoprotein E gene (lipid transport and regulation of cholesterol), LCT lactase gene (enzyme that decomposes lactose), CCR5 chemokine receptor gene (deletion mutation that decreases immunodeficiency virus propagation), and the ADH1B alcohol dehydrogenase gene (important enzyme for alcohol metabolism). The allele frequencies were then analyzed to distinguish any possible correlation to economic-culture types using a two-sided Spearman Test. Researchers also ran a similar test to analyze allele frequencies and pathogen load, however the majority of the findings were not statistically significant. The findings suggest that there is a definite relationship between the allele frequencies and type of economy of a population.
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