Violence in the ethnographic record: results of cross-cultural research on war and aggression

Troubled Times: Violence and Warfare in the Past • Published In • Pages: 1-20 •
By Ember, Carol R., Ember, Melvin

Abstract

This paper reviews the results of the author's cross-cultural studies of war and aggression and their implications for prehistory.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Standard Cross Cultural Sample (SCCS)Researchers OwnCodes from Ember and Ember (1992b)

Hypotheses (7)

HypothesisSupported
Foragers will have less warfare than societies with other subsistence strategies (6).Supported
Non-pacified foragers will be less likely to have unpredictable natural disasters than non-pacified food-producers (10).Supported
Non-pacified foragers are less likely to socialize for mistrust than non-pacified food-producers (11).Partially supported
When included in a model testing the relationship between frequency of warfare, natrual disasters, and socialization for mistrust, food producing will be a significant predictor of frequency of warfare (11).Not Supported
When included in a model testing the relationship between several variables and frequency of internal warfare, food production will be a significant predictor of internal warfare frequency (12).Not Supported
Frequency of homicide and assault will be related to subsistence type (14).Not Supported
In a multiple regression analysis comparing the strongest predictors of violence, warfare will be a significant predictor of homicide/assault (15).Not Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: Jessie Cohen  Megan Farrer