This paper examines whether exposure to information (as determined by physical and social access), or susceptibility to belief (a variety of cognitive biases underlying belief adoption) is more important in determining the distribution of food taboos in an oral society from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Matrix regression techniques are used on optimally scaled cultural similarity data to in...

ABSTRAcr.~BUzios Island is a fishing community of about 44 families located off the coast of Sao Paulo State, Braziil. This study focuses on the food taboos of the islanders from Buzios, specifically on prohibitions in the consumption of certain species of fish and lizard. Interviews and observations on food habits were made from November 1986 to December 1987. Some fish are avoided only when p...

Local belief systems such as indigenous religions and social taboos have been credited with helping to conserve animal and plant species and particular sites worldwide. Certain species and sites are protected because they are considered sacred. Although the meaning of sacred varies across cultures, religions, and languages, in general sacred entities are distinguished from the everyday world an...

OBJECTIVE To learn about myths and taboos related with motherhood and their implications in the health/disease process. METHOD Study carried out using a qualitative approach, in a natural setting, with women of poor classes who experienced motherhood. The selection of subjects was performed intentionally, and data collection was made by means of semi-structured interviews and participant obse...

Foundational principles of evolutionary theory predict that inbreeding avoidance mechanisms should exist in all species--including humans--in which close genetic relatives interact during periods of sexual maturity. Voluminous empirical evidence, derived from diverse taxa, supports this prediction. Despite such results, Fraley and Marks claim to provide evidence that humans are sexually attract...

There is widespread consensus that current climate policy for passenger transportation is insufficient to achieve significant emission reductions in line with global climate stabilization goals. This article consequently has a starting point in the notion of ‘path dependency’ (Schwanen, Banister and Anable 2011) and an observed ‘implementation gap’ (Banister and Hickman 2012), suggesting that s...

We develop a theory of moral behavior, individual and collective, based on a general model of identity in which people care about “who they are” and infer their own values from past choices. The model sheds light on many empirical puzzles inconsistent with earlier approaches. Identity investments respond nonmonotonically to recent acts or threats, and taboos on mere thoughts arise to protect be...

In two remote northern provinces of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, provincial and district teams were trained and subsequently conducted a qualitative study using a participatory approach to investigate people's knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices in relation to women's and children's nutrition. Using focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and structured observation, ...