Cross-Sex Patterns of Kin Behavior: A Comment

Abstract

Murdock's recent analysis of standardized behavior associated with pairs of cross-sex kin emphasizes the "nearly identical distribution" throughout the world. While recognizing the broad similarities, the authors point to certain differences between continental areas that are related to specific social factors, including the structure of descent groups and the nature of marriage arrangements.George Peter Murdock has recently analyzed (1971) the behavior between close kin and affines of the opposite sex. This subject, which has interested many anthropologists, covers the fields of formal interpersonal behavior-usually categorized as avoidance, respect, joking, and license. Looking at the data recorded from a world sample, Murdock finds a &dquo;nearly identical distribution of the behavior patterns for each of the nine pairs of relatives in all the world regions&dquo; (1971: 364). This &dquo;unique&dquo; distribution, he argues, appears to invalidate diffusionist and functionalist explanations; for example the evidence fails to confirm Tylor's plausible hypothesis that mother-in-law avoidance was associated with matrilocal residence, the situation where a husband is living with the kin of his wife (i.e. uxorilocally).