Social Practice and Shared History, Not Social Scale, Structure Cross-Cultural Complexity in Kinship Systems

Topics in Cognitive Science • Vol/Iss. . • Wiley Periodicals, Inc. • • Published In • Pages: 1-22 •
By Rácz, Péter, Passmore, Sam, Jordan, Fiona M.

Hypothesis

Bilateral or ambilineal descent systems are likely to have less complex kinship systems than patrilineal or matrilineal ones (11).

Note

Robust predictors = (-1.5>z>1.5). Z-scores listed below are in the following order: matrilineal, bilateral or quasi-lineage, duo or ambilineal, and mixed

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
UNKNOWNSupportedz-scores = -0.47, -7.2, -3.7, and -3.8UNKNOWNUNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Matrilineal DescentIndependentRules Of Descent
Complexity of kinship system DependentKinship Terminology
Bilateral or quasi-lineageIndependentRules Of Descent
duo- or ambilineal descent IndependentRules Of Descent
mixed descent IndependentRules Of Descent

Related Hypotheses

Main AuthorHypothesis
Aberle, David F."Matrilineal systems are relatively more frequent in the 'dominant horticulture' category than either bilateral or patrilineal systems, at high levels of stratification. They are more commonly in the 'dominant horticulture' category than patrilineal systems at low levels; there is no significant difference between matrilineal and bilateral systems at this level" (698)
Aberle, David F.[Descent is related] ". . . to stratification. . . . Matrilineal systems tend to have hereditary, rather than complex stratification to a greater degree than . . . patrilineal and bilateral systems" (698)
Aberle, David F."Both matrilineal and patrilineal systems tend to cluster at the 'minimal state' level by comparison with bilateral systems, which tend to appear at the extremes of political scope" (684)
Aberle, David F."If we compare 'dominant horticulture' with all [other subsistence types], we find that matrilineal systems tend to be found significantly more often in this category than either patrilineal or bilateral systems" (676)
Murdock, George Peter"Age-differentiating terms used by a brother for his sisters . . . are associated with bilateral descent" (110)