This chapter reviews various ethnographic and psychological studies of dreaming and hypothesizes about the relationship between institutionalized forms of trance and the use of dreams. Results show that societies with institutionalized forms of trance are more likely to use dreams to seek and control supernatural powers.

This book investigates possession and possession-trance. While the author focuses on a case study of Haiti, there are also a handful of cross cultural tests performed. Results suggest that societal complexity is associated with belief in possession-trance, rather than possession alone.

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 study seeks to investigate the little-understood intermediate region between farming and foraging subsistence strategies. The authors seek to evaluate the extent to which such "middle-ground" subsistence methods actually exist, whether there is any geographical patterning to them, and if different crop assemblages/dependencies make middle-ground subsistence strategies more or less likely. They find that agro-pastoral, cereal-based societies in Africa and Eurasia are more likely to be dependent on farming (defined here as including both cultivation and animal husbandry), whereas societies in North America and those reliant on root crops and arboriculture in the wet tropics incorporate both farming and foraging. They conclude that there is likely more of a "middle-ground" between foraging and farming than has typically been allowed for in the literature.

The main premise of the present study is to investigate the relationship between monotheism and dependence nurturance during early childhood and adulthood. Terry notes the human need to explain and understand the world, and theorizes that this understanding derives from personal experience, learned information, and supernatural explanation. Terry tests the hypothesis that supernatural explanations (monothestic beliefs) will be formulated if individuals cannot depend on their own experiences and/or others to reduce uncertainty (a result of independence training).

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

The expressed purpose of the present publication is to provide a typology of institutionalized dissociational states on a world-wide basis, using biological, situational, and cultural parameters. The study is comprised of field work, literature review, ethnographic research, and cross-cultural statistical analysis. The researchers use these findings to aid in the construction of cross-cultural theory, and to provide a platform for further work on dissociational states to continue.

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

This article explores the association between father-son relationships and bridewealth. Bridewealth becomes an instrument through which male parents impose their will on their male offspring. The hypotheses are supported by the results presented.

This study examines correlates of possession trance among cultures in sub-Saharan Africa. Several variables were tested (including community organization, marriage form, family form, and settlement pattern) but only a few were related to possession trance. Results indicate that the presence of slavery, stratification, and role and structure differentiation are significantly associated with possession trance.