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  1. Universal cognitive mechanisms explain the cultural success of bloodlettingMiton, Helen - Evolution and Human Behavior, 2015 - 3 Hypotheses

    Authors test three explanations as to why bloodletting is such a near-universal therapeutic cultural practice in "the west." Using references from HRAF's database which are then re-coded for colocalization, practitioner, and cultural explanation, they find that bloodletting is practiced therapeutically by many unrelated cultures worldwide; it is heterogeneous in both form and cultural significance across the globe while still fairly ubiquitous in general. Authors posit that the widespread propensity toward bloodletting in human populations is explained by the universality of affecting/affected cognitive mechanisms. After analyzing cultural data in eHRAF, authors incorporated experiments and modeling that further supported this conclusion.

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  2. The learning of valuesWhiting, John W.M. - People of Rimrock: a study of values in five cultures, 1974 - 3 Hypotheses

    Building on comparative study of the Mormons, Texans, and Zuni in the Rimrock area of Southwestern U.S., the authors cross-cultural test some hypotheses cross-culturally.

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  3. Residential variation among hunter-gatherersEmber, Carol R. - Behavior Science Research, 1975 - 7 Hypotheses

    This study explores predictors of variation in two dimensions of marital residence patterns among hunter-gatherers: 1) the tendency toward patrilocality versus matrilocality and 2) the tendency toward unilocality versus bilocality.

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  4. Our better nature: Does resource stress predict beyond-household sharingEmber, Carol R. - Evolution and Human Behavior, 2018 - 3 Hypotheses

    The present research investigates food sharing and labor sharing practices of 98 nonindustrial societies. The aims are to: 1) document the frequency and scope of sharing, and 2) test the theory that greater sharing is adaptive in societies subject to more resource stress (including natural hazards).

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  5. Disease and diversity in long-term economic developmentBirchenall, Javier A. - World Development, 2023 - 2 Hypotheses

    This article uses the Standard Cross-Cultural Samples to test the relationship between disease and economic growth among sub-Saharan African societies. The authors suggest that a higher disease prevalence limits social integration and economic development since pre-colonial times. The variable measuring economic growth is the complexity of large or impressive structures. The hypotheses are that 1) pathogen stress is negatively correlated to the presence of complex buildings, and 2) pathogen stress is positively correlated to increased ethnic diversity. The results support both hypotheses, and there are additional results, like 1) the negative correlation between pathogen stress and current income per capita and 2) the negative correlation between the increased ethnic diversity and current income per capita. Overall, this article shows the robust relationship between disease and economic development.

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  6. Inculcated traits and game-type combinations: a cross-cultural viewRoberts, John M. - The Humanistic and Mental Health Aspects of Sports, Exercise and Recreation, 1976 - 1 Hypotheses

    This study relates the type of games present in a society to the level of cultural complexity. Authors use a "game-type combination scale" that categorizes societies as having: 1) games of physical skill only; 2) games of physical skill and games of chance; and 3) games of physical skill, games of chance, and games of strategy. Results show a relationship between the game-type combination scale and indicators of cultural complexity.

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  7. Modernization as changes in cultural complexity: new cross-cultural measurementsDivale, William Tulio - Cross-Cultural Research, 2001 - 2 Hypotheses

    This article considers the consequences of modernization. Factor analysis is used to identify four stages of modernization: 1) changes in education, government, and trade; 2) changes in health, technology, and transportation; 3) changes in family, religion, and toilet; and 4) changes in behavior. The authors then consider five trends they expect to be associated with modernization and test whether they develop over the course of the four stages. Results indicate that these 5 trends—increased cultural complexity, female status, pacification, suicide, and social stress—are associated with only the first and fourth stages.

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  8. Altered states of consciousness within a general evolutionary perspective: a holocultural analysisBourguignon, Erika - Cross-Cultural Research, 1977 - 1 Hypotheses

    This article investigates a cultural patterning of altered states of consciousness. The authors use an ordinal variable for a society's trance type; its four levels are 1) trance, 2) trance and possession trance, 3) possession trance, and 4) neither type. Results suggest that trance type is associated with measures of societal complexity and subsistence economy. Regional differences and the effects of diffusion are also examined.

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  9. Societal complexity or production techniques: another look at udy's data on the structure of work organizationsNorr, James L. - American Journal of Sociology, 1977 - 3 Hypotheses

    This study asserts that the structure of work organizations is affected more by production techniques than societal complexity. Empirical analysis suggests two trends: 1) production techniques that increase the importance of workers will influence rationality in work organizations, and 2) production techniques that increase the importance of workers and societal complexity will affect the bureaucratic elements of work organizations approximately equally. These findings challenge Udy’s (1970) thesis that complex peasant societies face more challenges than less complex societies in transitioning to modern industrial work forms.

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  10. Entailment theory and method: a cross-cultural analysis of the sexual division of laborWhite, Douglas R. - Behavior Science Research, 1977 - 3 Hypotheses

    This article discusses constraints on role behavior that affect the division of labor, focusing on women’s childcare responsibilities, the nature of production sequences, and occupational specialization. The authors employ entailment analysis to examine 50 activities; results suggest three findings: 1) men are more likely to be assigned tasks that require travel and exposure to danger, 2) men are more likely to perform tasks that are early in the production sequence, and 3) if women perform a task at an early stage of production, they are more likely to perform subsequent tasks.

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