Witchcraft beliefs and the erosion of social capital: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa and Beyond

Journal of Development Economics Vol/Iss. 120 Elsevier Amsterdam Published In Pages: 182-208
By Gershman, Boris

Hypothesis

Witchcraft beliefs will be negatively associated with the inculcation of pro-social traits (trust, honesty, and generosity) among children

Note

Significant, negative relationships were found for trust and honesty, but not generosity

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
OLSSupport for 2 of 3 variables - see note for directionp<0.1Multiple r valuesUNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Witchcraft BeliefIndependent variableSorcery
Inculcation of TrustDependent variableSocialization
Inculcation of honestyDependent variableSocialization
Inculcation of generosityDependent variableSocialization