Supernatural explanations across 114 societies are more common for natural than social phenomena

Nature Human Behavior • Vol/Iss. Online only • Nature • • Published In • Pages: 1-14 •
By Jackson, Joshua Conrad, Dillion, Danica, Bastian, Brock, Watts, Joseph, Buckner, William, DiMaggio, Nicholas, Gray, Kurt

Hypothesis

Supernatural explanations will be more common for natural phenomena than social phenomena.

Note

96% of societies in the sample had common supernatural explanations for disease, 92% for natural causes of food scarcity and 90% for natural hazards. By contrast, 67% of societies had common supernatural explanations of warfare, 82% for murder and 26% for theft.

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
Phylogenetically adjusted two-tailed paired samples t-testsSupportedp<.0.001UNKNOWNUNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Supernatural explanations of social phenomenaDependentDisasters, Religious Beliefs
Supernatural explanations of natural phenomenaDependentDisasters, Religious Beliefs