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Structural balance and clustering in bushmen kinship relations
Author(s) -
Hage Per
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 0005-7940
DOI - 10.1002/bs.3830210106
Subject(s) - kinship , cluster analysis , balance (ability) , ideal (ethics) , sociology , social psychology , epistemology , psychology , computer science , anthropology , artificial intelligence , philosophy , neuroscience
This paper presents some cross‐cultural data bearing on the theory of structural balance, or more generally clustering, in social relations at the level of the group. The theory is used to predict the culturally defined ideal combinations of negative avoidance relations and positive joking relations in the G/wi Bushmen kinship system. The analysis also shows the limits of the tendency toward clustering in this system and relates these limits to intergenerational and interband system and suprasystem requirements. Further applications as well as limitations of the clustering model in the analysis of anthropological data are discussed.