Universal systems of kin categorization

Barnard, Alan

doi:10.1080/00020187808707509

Cited by 60 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…However, for present purposes, it should be noted that it is not the nature of the kin naming system that is linked to the reduction in cognitive load but the mere existence of the understanding that people in one's network can be categorised into kin and non-kin, irrespective of how these are defined, and that this labelling is purely linguistic. In small scale traditional societies, almost everyone in the local community will be related to each other directly or indirectly by marriage (socalled Buniversal kinship^: Barnard 1978Barnard , 2008. Pedigree models with exogamy show that the community sizes of~150 that typify natural communities of this kind in fact represent the combined living descendants of an apical pair of great-great-grandparents for the current offspring generation (Dunbar 1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Kinship a Schema? Moral Decisions and the Function of the Human Kin Naming System

Machin

Dunbar

2015

Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology

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The human kinship system, and its associated terminology, bears the hallmarks of an evolutionary adaptation but its evolutionary origins have not been explored. We argue that the human kinship naming system is a schema that evolved to reduce the cognitive load of maintaining kinships, allowing the expansion of the human network and an increase in survival. We report on the results of two response time studies, using moral dilemmas as a proxy for relationship maintenance, which test the hypothesis. We find qualified support for our argument. Within the 50 layer of the social network kinships do impose less cognitive load than friendships allowing a saving in processing power and an increase in social network size beyond that seen in non-human primates. However, the result in the 150 layer is contrary to that posited by our hypothesis: kinships impose a greater load than friendships and this load is highest when refusing help to kin. We explore and discuss the influence on results within this outermost layer of the nature of response, the influence of the wider network and the temporal distance which exists between ego and alter at this level of the network.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Kinship a Schema? Moral Decisions and the Function of the Human Kin Naming System

Machin

Dunbar

2015

Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology

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“…This principle is even more true in hunter-gatherer societies than in others, because almost invariably such societies possess universal kin classification: every member of society stands in a precise kin relationship to every other (Barnard 1978).…”

Section: Cultural Structures In Kinshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Brain, Distributed Mind

Dunbar¹,

Gamble

Gowlett³

2010

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“…Barnard (1978) called kinship systems that are isomorphic with the social system "universal kinship systems" and noted that there is a strong correlation between universal kinship and what Levi-Strauss (1969) termed "elementary structures" of kinship and marriage. An elementary structure is one in which there is some form of marriage rule requiring ego to marry a person classifiable as a particular type of relative.…”

Section: Kinship Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinship Matters: Structures of Alliance, Indigenous Foragers, and the Austronesian Diaspora

Turner

2013

Human Biology

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The study of kinship systems has direct relevance for the field of human genetics and the study of microevolution in human populations. Some types of postmarital residence rules-rules requiring a married couple to live with or near relatives of the husband or wife-will have consequences for the distribution of mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome lineages. Rules that proscribe or encourage marriage with close kin will also have consequences for allele frequency. A preference for marrying at a distance, both socially and geographically, creates alliances that can have survival value for individuals and groups in an environment of periodic or unpredictable scarcity. This article considers the nature of early contact between the indigenous foraging populations of the Philippines and Austronesian speaking settlers who began arriving ~4,500-4,000 BP. It argues that when the first Austronesians arrived they brought with them a kinship system based on symmetrical exchange between descent-based groups. It considers why such a system was gradually changed into the bilateral kinship systems that characterize the various peoples of the Philippines today, "negrito" and non-negrito alike. Abstract The study of kinship systems has direct relevance for the field of human genetics and the study of microevolution in human populations. Some types of postmarital residence rules-rules requiring a married couple to live with or near relatives of the husband or wife-will have consequences for the distribution of mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome lineages. Rules that proscribe or encourage marriage with close kin will also have consequences for allele frequency. A preference for marrying at a distance, both socially and geographically, creates alliances that can have survival value for individuals and groups in an environment of periodic or unpredictable scarcity. This article considers the nature of early contact between the indigenous foraging populations of the Philippines and Austronesian speaking settlers who began arriving ~4,500-4,000 BP. It argues that when the first Austronesians arrived they brought with them a kinship system based on symmetrical exchange between descent-based groups. It considers why such a system was gradually changed into the bilateral kinship systems that characterize the various peoples of the Philippines today, "negrito" and non-negrito alike.

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Universal systems of kin categorization

Cited by 60 publications

References 11 publications

Is Kinship a Schema? Moral Decisions and the Function of the Human Kin Naming System

Is Kinship a Schema? Moral Decisions and the Function of the Human Kin Naming System

Social Brain, Distributed Mind

Kinship Matters: Structures of Alliance, Indigenous Foragers, and the Austronesian Diaspora

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