Testing the Big Gods hypothesis with global historical data: a review and“retake”
Religion, Brain & Behavior • Vol/Iss. 13(2) • Taylor & Francis Group • • Published In • Pages: 124-166 •
By Whitehouse, Harvey, François, Pieter, Savage, Patrick E., Hoyer, Daniel, Feeney, Kevin C., Cioni, Enrico, Purcell, Rosalind, Larson, Jennifer, Baines, John, ter Haar, Barend, Covey, Alan, Turchin, Peter
Hypothesis
Contrary to the Big Gods hypothesis, sociopolitical complexity precedes moralizing gods.
Note
The authors maintained this hypothesis from their retracted article since the results did not significantly change: http://192.168.10.248/documents/1225/hypotheses/4117. The authors also tested the possibility of sociopolitical complexity driving moralizing religion; while there is support, the results are incomplete since they only focus on the possibility of reciprocal causality.
| Test Name | Support | Significance | Coefficient | Tail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamic Regression Analyses | Supported | p < 0.001 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Variable Name | Variable Type | OCM Term(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Moralizing Gods | Dependent | Religious Experience, Spirits And Gods |
| Sociopolitical complexity | Independent | Classes, Form And Rules Of Government, Medium Of Exchange, Population, Settlement Patterns, Territorial Hierarchy, Writing |