Ecology, Culture and Psychological Differentiation

Abstract

A model which examined interrelationships among ecological setting, cultural adaptation and psychological differentiation was proposed. Details of each element of the model were discussed, and behavioural predictions were made. Specifically, hunters and gatherers, who were migratory and low in population density and food accumulation were expected to exhibit high levels of psychological differentiation in perceptual, social and affective areas of psychological differentiation. Conversely, sedentary peoples who were higher in population density and food accumulation were expected to exhibit lower levels of differentiation, while those peoples who were ecologically intermediate were expected to exhibit moderate levels. Sampling in Amerindian communities, and comparing these new data to previous African, Australian, and Eskimo data, led to the conclusion that higher levels of differentiation in perceptual, social and affective domains do indeed characterize hunters and gatherers. However, such differences within a single culture area were minimal. An examination of the cross-cultural stability of the concept of psychological differentiation suggested greatest internal consistency for hunters and gatherers, and less for sedentary peoples; constant relationships with socialization emphases were found, while variations in sex differences were related to features of socio-cultural stratification.

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