Patterns of Cultural Diffusion: Analyses of Trait Associations Across Societies By Content and Geographical Proximity

Abstract

While the possibility of cultural diffusion is certain, the relationship be tween the trait content and the diffusion process is not sufficiently un derstood. The current research relies upon general systems as a dynamic, interpretatiLe model to achieve some further empirically-based explication of cultural diffusion. The approach of this study was to structure ethno graphic data for correlational comparisons which would show diffusion tendencies of various culture dimensions over a world sample of societies. Previous research using the "Ethnographic Atlas" had coded and scaled 65 culture traits over a sample of 863 societies. From these data, a new data set was constructed by a computer-scanning procedure which intercepts for each society those neighboring societies that lie within a certain geo graphical radius. Intercorrelations were then computed for each trait over societies paired with their neighbors of various radii. The principal finding was a confirmation of the general hypothesis that societies are not passive receivers of traits, but rather that the extent of diffusion is purposive and influenced by trait content. The implications of these and other findings were discussed with reference to unresolved theoretical and methodological issues in anthropology.