Cultural differences among societies depend on ecological factors
07/06/2023
by The Conversation
07-06-2023 15:23
in Culture
Cultural differences among societies depend on ecological factors.
In some parts of the world, the rules are strict; in others they are far more lax. In some places, people are likely to plan for the future, while in others people are more likely to live in the moment. In some societies people prefer more personal space; in others they are comfortable being in close quarters with strangers. Why do these kinds of differences exist? There are a number of theories about where cultural differences come from. Some social scientists point to the role of specific institutions, like the Catholic Church.
--
ALSO READ: Sea life: new recent discoveries by researchers
Others focus on historical differences in philosophical traditions across societies, or on the kinds of crops that were historically grown in different regions. But there's another possible answer. In a growing number of cases, researchers have found that human culture can be shaped by key features of the environments in which people live. Just how strong is this ecology-culture connection overall? In a new study, our lab, the Culture and Ecology Lab at Arizona State University, set out to answer this question.
How does ecology shape cultural practices? Ecology includes basic physical and social characteristics of the environment - such factors as how abundant resources are, how common infectious diseases are, how densely populated a place is, and how much threat there is to human safety. Variables like temperature and the availability of water can be key ecological features. What impact does a dry climate have on the culture of the people who live in it? Peter Adams/Stone via Getty Images
--
ALSO READ: Protecting the ocean: essential reads on threats to sea life
The three examples of cultural differences we started with illustrate how this can work. It turns out that the strength of social norms in a given culture is linked to the amount of threat, from such factors as war and disasters, a society faces. Stronger rules may help members of a society stick together and cooperate in the face of these dangers. Places with less access to water tend to be more future-oriented. When fresh water is scarce, the thinking goes, there is more need to plan so that it doesn't run out.
ALSO READ: SA's massive sardine run leads fish into an ecological trap
--
And in places with colder temperatures people feel less need for lots of personal space in public, perhaps because there tend to be fewer germs, or maybe from an impulse, on some basic level, to keep warm. All of these examples show that cultures are shaped, at least in part, by the basic features of the environments people live in. And in fact, there are many other examples in which researchers have linked particular cultural differences to particular differences in ecology.
Quantifying the connection For over 200 societies, we gathered comprehensive data on nine key features of ecology - such as rainfall, temperature, infectious disease and population density - and dozens of aspects of human cultural variation - including values, strength of norms, personality, motivation and institutional characteristics. With this information, we created the open-access EcoCultural Dataset. Using this data set, we were able to generate a range of estimates for just how much of human cultural variation can be explained by ecology.
ALSO READ: Sea life: new recent discoveries by researchers
We ran a series of statistical models looking at the relationship between our ecological variables and each of the 66 cultural outcomes we tracked. For each of the cultural outcomes, we calculated the average amount of the cultural diversity across societies that was explained by this combination of nine different ecological factors. We found that nearly 20% of cultural variation was explained by the combination of these ecological features. Importantly, our statistical estimates take into account common issues in cross-cultural research. One complicating factor is that societies that are close to each other in space will be similar in ways beyond the variables measured in any particular study.
ALSO READ: Overstrand fire: Still active and causing ecological devastation
In the same way, there will likely be unmeasured similarities between societies with shared historical roots. For example, cultural similarities between southern Germany and Austria may be accounted for by their shared cultural and linguistic heritage, as well as similar climates and levels of wealth. Twenty percent may not sound impressive, but in fact this is several times larger than the average effect in our field of social psychology, in which typically up to around 4% or 5% of the variation in an outcome is explained.
More left to discover In testing over 600 relationships among features of ecology and culture, we identified a number of intriguing new relationships. For example, we found that the amount of variation over time in levels of infectious disease was linked to the strength of social norms. This link suggests that it's not just places with high levels of threat from germs, but also places where that threat varies more over time, such as India, that have stricter social rules. There's also a growing body of research suggesting that as the ecology of a place changes, so too does the culture. For example, a general decline in rates of infectious disease in the U.S., up until the current pandemic, is correlated with a loosening of social norms over the past century.
ALSO READ: Rand Water boss hikes bonuses amid the rising ecological disaster at Vaal River
Similarly, increases in
LINK: | https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/nearly-20-of-the-cultural-diff... |
See more stories from thesouthafrican |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
25/04/2024
Qurate Launches The Big Dish on The Roku Channel
WEST CHESTER, Pa. Video commerce provider Qurate Retail Group has launched The Big Dish, a new culinary-themed FAST channel on The Roku Channel....
25/04/2024
HPA Opens Submissions for 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association has announced that submissions for the 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards are now being accepted. This re...
25/04/2024
DV Earns MRC Accreditation for CTV Viewability
NEW YORK The digital media measurement and analytics firm DoubleVerify has announced that it has received Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for Video Vie...
25/04/2024
DAZN FAST Channels to Launch on Tubi
SAN FRANCISCO Fox Corp.'s ad-supported streaming service Tubi has announced a licensing agreement with the sports platform DAZN that will see DAZN Ringside ...
25/04/2024
IAB Makes Three Appointments to Its Leadership Team
NEW YORK In the runup to the 2024 IAB NewFronts, the IAB has announced three key appointments to its leadership team....
25/04/2024
Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.4 with new Motion Design Mode, Unreal VCam for Android, and more
Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.4 with new Motion Design Mode, Unreal VCam f...
25/04/2024
Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux
Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux Andy Marken April 24, 2024 0 Comments My empathy is creeping towards what I would de...
25/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting Company to Air Carolina Panthers Games on Triangle's Strongest Broadcast Signal
The Carolina Panthers and Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) announced they have...
25/04/2024
Berklee Student Riko Sasaski Named 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist
Berklee Student Riko Sasaski Named 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist The accomplished saxophonist secured a spot among the elite winners of this year's ...
25/04/2024
Local News Close-Up: St. Louis Born and Bred
Stations everywhere take pride in having a main anchor who comes from the market they represent. That applies in St. Louis, too, but it also pertains to general...
25/04/2024
Edward Moody Joins WBTW Myrtle Beach Anchor Team
Edward Moody is joining the WBTW Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, anchor crew, and will anchor the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts alongside Trish Williford. He comes f...
25/04/2024
MTV Moving VMAs To New UBS Arena in New York
MTV said the 2024 Video Music Awards will return to New York and take place at the new UBS Arena....
25/04/2024
Offbeat Comedy The Outlaws' Returns to Prime Video Next Month
Season three of comedy The Outlaws premieres on Prime Video May 31. Stephen Merchant co-created the show, and stars. There are five episodes....
25/04/2024
Bidders Interested in Buying Bounce, Says Scripps CEO Adam Symson
The E.W. Scripps Co. is evaluating offers for Bounce, its multicast channel for African-American viewers, according to a report from CNBC....
25/04/2024
Paramount Plus Renews Dora'
Paramount Plus has ordered a second season for Dora, the animated preschool show based on Dora the Explorer. The show, featuring Dora on a rainforest adventure ...
25/04/2024
AI-assisted optronics: an unprecedented European project to increase combat perception capabilities
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn The European Commission signed the Grant Agreeme...
24/04/2024
UKTV's pay TV channel Alibi joins forces with S4C and All3Media International for new legal crime drama series Mudtown
Cast set to star include Erin Richards and Tom Cullen Wednesday 24 April 2024 ...
24/04/2024
K-Hip-Hop's Biggest Names Take Center Stage on KrOWN X HAN 2024'
This month marked the return of Spotify's HAN, our collaborative program that brings the unique sounds and culture of Korean hip-hop to the world through ex...
24/04/2024
RADAR Italy Returns With 6 Artists Transforming the Country's Music Landscape
As Spotify's program to spotlight rising talent from around the world, RADAR...
24/04/2024
Spotify Partners With Les Flammes Music Awards To Celebrate French Rap
Spotify is once again teaming up with Les Flammes, the only music awards dedicated to rap, R&B, Afrobeats, and popular culture in France. Spotify helped create...
24/04/2024
Taylor Swift's THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' Becomes Spotify's Most-Streamed Album in One Week
Records smashed. History made. It's been just five days since Taylor Swift u...
24/04/2024
SBS marks Earth Day as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw becomes first Australian show to have its carbon footprint validated through SSA
SBS marks Earth Day as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw becomes first Australian show ...
24/04/2024
Save money every day with SBS's Ricardo Gonalves and Peggy Giakoumelos on new Cost of Living Secrets podcast
Save money every day with SBS's Ricardo Gon alves and Peggy Giakoumelos on n...
24/04/2024
Authentic Perspectives
The first feature film from writer-director Shaun Seneviratne, Ben and Suzanne: A Reunion in 4 Parts depicts the struggle between love and duty as Ben (Sathya S...
24/04/2024
Melanie Georgieva Joins Panalux as Long Form Sales Director
LONDON, England (24 April 2024) Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision'...
24/04/2024
Deutsche Telekom Powers New MagentaTV Service With Broadpeak's Cloud DVR Solution
April 24, 2024 -- Deutsche Telekom Powers New MagentaTV Service With Broadpea...
24/04/2024
Mundo Hispano Digital Launches MundoNow Connect
ATLANTA Mundo Hispano Digital has launched a new advertising product, MundoNow Connect, that is designed to help advertisers reach Hispanic audiences on connect...
24/04/2024
Epic Games Releases Unreal Engine 5.4
Epic Games has released a major new version of Unreal Engine, which has become a mainstay in virtual production, that includes new features and improvements to ...
24/04/2024
NAB Show Welcomes Creators to Las Vegas
The National Association of Broadcasters welcomed the industry to its annual extravaganza last month in Las Vegas. The sights and sounds were similar to previou...
24/04/2024
Chptr, Gray Television Launch on Video Obituary Platform
NEW YORK Chptr and Gray Television have announced that they are introducing a new video solution for funeral homes and communities that will allow funeral direc...
24/04/2024
Adobe Charts the Future of Creativity and AI at MAX London
Adobe Charts the Future of Creativity and AI at MAX London Brie Clayton April 24, 2024 0 Comments Adobe is taking MAX, the world's largest creativ...
24/04/2024
Curtis LeGeyt, NAB President and CEO, Extends Contract
National Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has agreed to a contract extension that keeps him at the trade association's helm throu...
24/04/2024
Jo Ann Ross Steps Down as Ad Sales Chairman at Paramount
Jo Ann Ross, the long-running queen of television advertising sales, is stepping down from her role as chairman of Paramount Advertising at the end of the month...
24/04/2024
Scripps Names James Galindo as Station Manager in Bakersfield
E.W. Scripps said it named James Galindo as station manager for KERO, the ABC affiliate in Bakersfield, California....
24/04/2024
Amazon Prime Video's Fallout' Tops TVision Power Score Rankings
Amazon Prime Video's Fallout topped TVision's Power Score rankings of shows on connected TV for the week of April 15....
24/04/2024
DoubleVerify Gets MRC Stamp for CTV Viewability Metrics
DoubleVerify said that it received accreditation from the Media Rating Council for its measurement of video viewable impressions and related metrics for connect...
24/04/2024
PlayBox Neo Highlights Latest Advances in Smart Media Pla...
PlayBox Neo reports a successful and well attended 2024 NAB Show, held in mid April at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Now in its 101st year, the event attract...
24/04/2024
MPEG-5 LCEVC Showcase at NAB 2024 demonstrates ecosystem...
MPEG-5 LCEVC ecosystem support continues to grow and includes TVs and set-top boxes, gearing up for the deployment of TV3.0 in Brazil New, never-before-seen ...
24/04/2024
Black Box and NOVO at Integrate Middle East 2024 Featurin...
At Integrate Middle East 2024 in Booth AR-F45, where the company is exhibiting along with its partner NOVO, Black Box will feature IP-based KVM and AV solution...
24/04/2024
NEP Belgium Taps manifold CLOUD in Virtual OB Setup for Live Sports
FRANKFURT, Germany Software solutions provider manifold technologies has announced that its manifold CLOUD was selected by NEP Belgium to provide a signal proce...
24/04/2024
Integral Ad Science Achieves MRC Accreditation
NEW YORK Integral Ad Science has announced that it has earned Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for its sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) filtration f...
24/04/2024
Plex Launches NFL Channel
LOS GATOS, Calif. Streaming media company Plex has announced a partnership with the National Football League that will add the NFL Channel, the NFLs 24/7 free l...
24/04/2024
NAB Extends Contract for President & CEO Curtis LeGeyt
WASHINGTON, D.C. NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at the helm of NAB through 2029, according to NAB Joi...
24/04/2024
GlobalM, scoopa Form Strategic Partnership To Enable Speedy Content Distribution
GENEVA, Switzerland Software-defined video network (SDVN) platform specialist GlobalM and broadcast-quality content distribution expert scoopa have formed a str...
24/04/2024
Screen Australia celebrates Australian projects bound for Cannes Film Festival 2024
24 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia celebrates Australian projects bound...
24/04/2024
Berklee Online to Hold 2024 Berklee Onsite Music Conference May 31-June 1
Berklee Online to Hold 2024 Berklee Onsite Music Conference May 31-June 1 The in-person conference is open to Berklee Online students and the music community ...
24/04/2024
Kargo Gives Buyers More Detail on CTV Campaigns
Kargo said it has launched a new product that gives advertisers more details about the connected TV campaigns they are buying....