Found 4659 Hypotheses across 466 Pages (0.006 seconds)
  1. Broad supernatural punishments will be positively associated with the evolution of political complexity.Gray, Russell D. - Cultural macroevolution matters, 2017 - 2 Variables

    Researchers sampled 106 Austronesian societies from the Pulotu database to study the way political complexity evolves in relation to religious beliefs and practices. Specifically, they attempt to test the causal theory that supernatural punishment played a causal role in the emergence of large, complex societies. They use phylogenetic models to control for Galton's Problem in testing the supernatural punishment hypothesis in an effort to demonstrate the effectiveness of utilizing cross-cultural datasets in evaluating evolutionary change in human social organization.

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  2. Social Stratification will be positively associated with the evolution of political complexity.Gray, Russell D. - Cultural macroevolution matters, 2017 - 2 Variables

    Researchers sampled 106 Austronesian societies from the Pulotu database to study the way political complexity evolves in relation to religious beliefs and practices. Specifically, they attempt to test the causal theory that supernatural punishment played a causal role in the emergence of large, complex societies. They use phylogenetic models to control for Galton's Problem in testing the supernatural punishment hypothesis in an effort to demonstrate the effectiveness of utilizing cross-cultural datasets in evaluating evolutionary change in human social organization.

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  3. High political complexity has coevolved with moralizing high gods (2, 5)Watts, Joseph - Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolu..., 2015 - 2 Variables

    The authors investigate whether moralizing high gods and, more generally, supernatural punishment precede, sustain, or follow political complexity. The cultural traits at hand are mapped onto phylogenetic trees representing the descent and relatedness of 96 Austronesian cultures.

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  4. The presence of moralizing high gods facilitates and sustains high political complexity (2, 5).Watts, Joseph - Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolu..., 2015 - 2 Variables

    The authors investigate whether moralizing high gods and, more generally, supernatural punishment precede, sustain, or follow political complexity. The cultural traits at hand are mapped onto phylogenetic trees representing the descent and relatedness of 96 Austronesian cultures.

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  5. High political complexity has coevolved with broad supernatural punishment (2, 5).Watts, Joseph - Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolu..., 2015 - 2 Variables

    The authors investigate whether moralizing high gods and, more generally, supernatural punishment precede, sustain, or follow political complexity. The cultural traits at hand are mapped onto phylogenetic trees representing the descent and relatedness of 96 Austronesian cultures.

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  6. Belief in broad supernatural punishment facilitates and sustains high political complexity (2, 5).Watts, Joseph - Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolu..., 2015 - 2 Variables

    The authors investigate whether moralizing high gods and, more generally, supernatural punishment precede, sustain, or follow political complexity. The cultural traits at hand are mapped onto phylogenetic trees representing the descent and relatedness of 96 Austronesian cultures.

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  7. Moralizing high gods are most likely to be found in ecologically inhospitable and unpredictable environments, in politically complex societies, in societies near (or linguistically related to) other societies with high gods, and in societies with animal husbandry and/or agriculture.Botero, Carlos A. - The ecology of religious beliefs, 2014 - 8 Variables

    Belief in moralizing high gods (MHGs) has been theorized as a response to unfavorable environments, as a way to normalize behavior. In this study, researchers test the theory by creating a model for predicting the distribution of MHGs. They run many alternative models, testing the effects of resource abundance, climate stability, and pertinent social factors on the occurrence of belief in MHGs. Based on the ten most supported models, they create an average model that predicts MHGs within cultures with “excellent” accuracy.

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  8. The "moralizing high gods" variable underestimates the prevalence of moralizing gods in ethnographic societies.Lightner, Aaron D. - Moralistic supernatural punishment is probably not associated with social co..., 2022 - 2 Variables

    This paper examines the relationship between moralizing gods (gods that impose moral rules or punish those who break them) and social complexity. The authors argue that previous research, which relied on the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample's "moralizing high gods" variable as a proxy measure for the presence of moralizing gods, may have underestimated the presence of moralizing gods in societies. This is because the criteria used to define "moralizing high gods" are not relevant to whether a god is moralistic or punitive. The authors argue that this leads to a false positive association between moralizing gods and social complexity, and that ethnographic evidence suggests that moralizing gods are actually more prevalent in small-scale societies than had previously been thought. Future researchers, therefore, need to be careful about making assumptions about the moralizing gods of small scale societies based on "moralizing high gods", and find other ways to identify whether moralizing gods are present.

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  9. The presence of moralizing gods is underestimated in societies with less social complexity.Lightner, Aaron D. - Moralistic supernatural punishment is probably not associated with social co..., 2022 - 2 Variables

    This paper examines the relationship between moralizing gods (gods that impose moral rules or punish those who break them) and social complexity. The authors argue that previous research, which relied on the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample's "moralizing high gods" variable as a proxy measure for the presence of moralizing gods, may have underestimated the presence of moralizing gods in societies. This is because the criteria used to define "moralizing high gods" are not relevant to whether a god is moralistic or punitive. The authors argue that this leads to a false positive association between moralizing gods and social complexity, and that ethnographic evidence suggests that moralizing gods are actually more prevalent in small-scale societies than had previously been thought. Future researchers, therefore, need to be careful about making assumptions about the moralizing gods of small scale societies based on "moralizing high gods", and find other ways to identify whether moralizing gods are present.

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  10. Individual cooperation will be positively correlated with societal belief in invisible supernatural agents (High gods, theories of spirit aggression, and warning).Bourrat, Pierrick - Supernatural punishment and individual social compliance across cultures, 2011 - 2 Variables

    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.

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