Social structure

Macmillan • New York • Published In • Pages: ??•
By Murdock, George Peter

Hypothesis

"In societies with endogamous demes, sibling terms tend to be extended to both cross and parallel cousins" (160)

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
Yule’s QSupportedp<.01.71UNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Endogamous DemesIndependentCommunity Structure
Kinship Terminology (sibling Terms Extended To Cousins)DependentKinship Terminology

Related Hypotheses

Main AuthorHypothesis
Murdock, George Peter"In the presence of exogamous moieties, kinship terms for WiBrWi tend to be the same as those for female parallel cousins" (170)
Murdock, George Peter"We should therefore expect a widespread tendency for sex relations to be extended to the spouse's sibling of the same sex, and for the same persons to be preferred in secondary marriages" (269-270)
Murdock, George Peter"In the presence of matrilocal or avunculocal residence, terms for primary relatives tend to be extended, within the same generation, to their collateral relatives through females" (149)
Goody, JackThe following variables are dependent upon diverging devolution (transmission of property to both males and females): greater control of womens' marriage (prohibition of premarital sex, endogamy, father's brother's daughter marriage, monogamy, alternative residence) and by extension Eskimo kinship terminology which isolates the sibling group form "cousins" (296)
Murdock, George Peter"In the presence of sororal polygyny, terms for primary relatives tend to be extended, within the same sex and generation, to their collateral relatives through females" (141)