Magico-religious practitioner types and socioeconomic conditions

Cross-Cultural Research • Vol/Iss. 20(1-4) • Sage • • Published In • Pages: 17-46 •
By Winkelman, Michael James

Hypothesis

"Priest practitioners were present only in sedentary societies with a major reliance upon agriculture or pastoralism"(37)

Note

In a multiple regression with variables including political integration, agriculture, and classes, the presence of Priest practitioners was only significant with agriculture and political integration. No significant diffusion effects (37)

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
Autocorrelation multiple regressionSupportedp<.001Multiple r=.75UNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
AgricultureIndependentAgriculture
Political IntegrationIndependentCommunity Structure
Magico-Religious practitioner typeDependentShamans And Psychotherapists, Magicians And Diviners
ClassesIndependentClasses

Related Hypotheses

Main AuthorHypothesis
Winkelman, Michael James"If a Shaman is present, there are generally no other practitioner types present". (34)
Winkelman, Michael James"Societies with a single practitioner type were generally hunting and gathering societies; while those with two practitioner types always had agriculture as a major mode of subsistence. The societies with three practitioner types present had agricultural or pastoral economies and, with one exception, political integration beyond the local level. Those societies with four practitioner types present had agriculture and political integration beyond the local level and, with one exception, the p...
Winkelman, Michael James"All of the Shamans were in nomadic or seminomadic societies, which generally has hunting and gathering economies" (36)..."However, all of the Shaman/Healers were found in societies with agriculture, and almost all of the Healers were found in societies with political integration beyond the local level" (36)
Winkelman, Michael James"the nature of the selection procedures for magico-religious roles is strongly related to the activities in which practitioners engage" (33)
Winkelman, Michael JamesPolitical integration and the presence of classes are correlated with the presence of Malevolent Practitioners