Starvation and famine: Cross-cultural codes and some hypothesis tests
Abstract
This article provides a set of codes that rate the starvation and famine experiences of societies in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. The codes are used to test several theoretical generaliza tions regarding the underlying cultural causes of famine. The results indicate that several changes arising from world systems involvements increase the likelihood of famine. They suggest fur ther that the extent to which societies experience famine depends on cultural definitions of property and exchange rights. In addition, results confirm the understanding that famine is especially prone to break out in environments of chronic hunger and recurrent starvation.
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The 4-item famine index has Cronbach's alpha = .90.
“for the 4-item scale, Cronbach’s alpha = .90”
From Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013) · cites this paper as [47]
In that same multiple regression analysis, threat of famine was a unique predictor of authoritarian governance (β = .34, p<.005).
“Pathogen stress and the threat of famine were unique predictors of authoritarian governance (β's = .36 and .34 respectively; p's<.005).”
From Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013) · cites this paper as [47]
Famine uniquely predicted 8 of the 12 individual variables, such that greater threat of famine was associated with greater authoritarianism.
“In addition, famine uniquely predicted 8 of the 12 variables, such that greater threat of famine was associated with greater authoritarianism.”
From Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013) · cites this paper as [47]
Malnutrition uniquely predicted 1 of the 12 individual variables (greater malnutrition was associated with the perception of leaders as less powerful).
“Malnutrition uniquely predicted 1 of the 12 variables (greater malnutrition was associated with the perception of leaders as less powerful).”
From Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013) · cites this paper as [47]
The threat of famine correlated positively with authoritarian governance (r = .26, p = .01).
“In addition, the threat of famine also correlated positively with authoritarian governance (r = .26, p = .01).”
From Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013) · cites this paper as [47]
Malnutrition was not significantly associated with authoritarian governance.
“Neither malnutrition nor warfare was significantly associated with authoritarian governance.”
From Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013) · cites this paper as [47]
The 3-item malnutrition index has Cronbach's alpha = .63.
“for the 3-item scale, Cronbach’s alpha = .63”
From Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013) · cites this paper as [47]
In that same multiple regression analysis, threat of famine was a unique predictor of authoritarian governance (β = .36, p<.001).
“Results revealed that both pathogen prevalence and the threat of famine were unique predictors of authoritarian governance (β's = .47 and .36, respectively; p's<.001).”
From Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013) · cites this paper as [47]
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Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism
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- Authors
- Dirks, R.
- Affiliations
- Illinois State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dirks, Robert
- ORCID
- Dirks, Robert
- Venue
- Cross-Cultural Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1993-02
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 28-69
- ISSN
- 0094-3673 (ISSN-L)
- 1069-3971
- 1552-3578
- OpenAlex
- W2073980097
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cross-Cultural Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Security and Socioeconomic Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Cross-Cultural and Social Analysis
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › World Systems and Global Transformations
- Keywords
- famine, starvation, cross-cultural comparison, Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, world-systems theory, property rights, chronic hunger
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