Results from over
100 years of Cross-Cultural Research
A Database produced by the Human Relations Area Files
The vast anthropological record of human societies and cultures allows us to ask cross-cultural questions about human universals and differences. What cultural and societal features are universal? What features vary? And how can we explain these patterns? These are the fundamental questions asked by cross-cultural researchers. In this database, Explaining Human Culture, we provide a way for researchers to uncover the tentative answers from over 1200 cross-cultural studies by searching for topics of interest. We also include topical summaries of what we have learned from cross-cultural research, or more precisely, what we think we know, and to point out some of the things we do not yet know. These summaries are only a starting point, and we will be adding new ones in the future.
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Summaries
Status and Role of the Elderly
Growing old is part of the human life cycle, but societies differ considerably in how old age is defined and how the elderly are perceived and treated. Are they respected, valued, and cared for, or are they denigrated and treated poorly? What may account for these differences? In trying to answer these questions, it is important to consider the widest possible set of societies, ranging from smaller-scale nonindustrial societies to larger industrial and post-industrial societies.
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For the vast majority of societies in the anthropological record, kinship principles formed the basis of how human societies were organized. This module gives a general picture of what we have learned from cross-cultural research about variation in kin groups, rules of descent, kinship terminology systems, where couples live after marriage, consequences and predictors of marital residence, and why descent or residence practices may change over time.
Marriage and Family
While almost all cultures we know of have had the custom of marriage and all have families, there is tremendous cross-cultural variability in customs surrounding these aspects of social and cultural life. Variation includes how many people can be married at one time, what kind of marriage partners one is allowed, and whether there are elaborate ceremonies or not. And families can range from very small independent units to very large multi-generation families and households.
Sexuality
Sexual reproduction is part of the biological nature of humans, so it may be surprising how much sexuality varies cross-culturally. Indeed, societies vary considerably in the degree to which they encourage, discourage or even appear to fear heterosexual sex at different life stages and in varying circumstances. And societies vary widely in their tolerance and practice of homosexuality. This module explores cross-cultural patterns in sexuality and explanations of why sexual attitudes and practice may vary.
Gender
Categorizing children at birth into the binary categories of female or male is common cross-culturally. But there is also substantial variation across cultures, both in the number of gender categories and in the tolerance of switching categories. This module first explores variation in gender concepts, then turns to what we know from cross-cultural research about gender differences in division of labor, political and warrior roles, and the relative status of women and men in society.
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Nearly all societies are known to engage in practices that lead to altered states of consciousness. However the methods, functions, and cultural context vary widely between societies. One major variation is whether societies believe in possession by spirits or in one's soul fleeing or going on a journey. We summarize what we know of this variation from cross-cultural research.
Hunter Gatherers
The hunter-gatherer way of life is of major interest to anthropologists because dependence on wild food resources was the way humans acquired food for the vast stretch of human history. Cross-cultural researchers focus on studying patterns across societies and try to answer questions such as: What are recent hunter-gatherers generally like? How do they differ from food producers? How do hunter-gatherer societies vary and what may explain their variability? In this revised summary, we focus on what cross-cultural researchers have found about hunter-gatherer lifestyles.
Art
All societies have some form of art. Art is not just a way for individuals to express themselves—it is also a product of culture. Focusing on visual art, music, song, dance, and folktales, this module explores how and why art may vary, or be similar, across cultures.
Religion
Although all known societies have religious beliefs and practices, religions vary greatly from society to society. This module summarizes what cross-cultural research tells us about predictors and possible explanations of religious variation.
Adolescence
Almost all societies recognize adolescence as a stage of human development. But while there are many commonalities across cultures for this stage, there are also many differences, ranging from the length of adolescence, expectations for behavior, and the presence of special rites of passage. This module explores what may cross-culturally predict and possibly explain the similarities as well as the differences.
Childhood
The long length of human childhood gives societies enormous opportunities for shaping a child. Indeed, societies vary considerably in how children are treated and cared for, how free they are to play, and how early adult skills are expected from them. We are concerned in this module with two broad questions: How and why does childhood vary across cultures? What are the consequences of variation in childrearing?
Games and Sports
Games and sports are found in early human history and appear to be cultural universals. But types of games and sports are not randomly distributed in the world's cultures. Cross-cultural research has found that type of games and sports vary in some very predictable ways—they are related to social and political complexity, to how children are raised, and aggressive sports are related to warfare.
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What does a house tell us about peoples' social and cultural life? We know that different societies typically have very different types of houses or dwellings. Dwellings are one of the main cultural remains unearthed by archaeologists. This is one of the main reasons cross-cultural researchers have tried to predict and explain dwelling size and shape.
Documents
We have compiled reports on the results of over 850 cross-cultural studies. Document search finds reports by keywords across many different indexed fields.
