Explaining Male Initiation Ceremonies: New Cross-Cultural Tests and a Catalytic Model

This cross-cultural study compares two different explanations of male initiation ceremonies: John Whiting and colleagues’ theory that initiation rites function to resolve psychological conflict and Melvin Ember’s theory that male initiation ceremonies provide basic army training in nonstate societie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of cross-cultural psychology Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 605 - 616
Main Authors Ember, Carol R., Ember, Melvin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2010
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Armed forces
Armies
Ceremonies
Colleagues
Conflict
Cross cultural studies
Cultural differences
Emotional abuse
Graduations & commencements
Initiation
Initiation rites
Males
Men
Non-state actors
Psychological factors
Psychological theories
Residence
Rites & ceremonies
Rites of passage
Secondary school students
Training
Warfare
psychological conflict
rites of passage
male initiation
warfare
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Summary:This cross-cultural study compares two different explanations of male initiation ceremonies: John Whiting and colleagues’ theory that initiation rites function to resolve psychological conflict and Melvin Ember’s theory that male initiation ceremonies provide basic army training in nonstate societies. Although bivariate results suggest support for John Whiting’s, but not Ember’s, theory, a reconsideration of Beatrice Whiting’s theorizing about the importance of cultural setting suggested to the authors that psychological conflict might more strongly predict male initiation in the presence of the following catalysts: nonmatrilocal residence, nonstate political organization, and warfare. The ability to predict male initiation ceremonies is strikingly improved when these catalysts are considered.
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ISSN:0022-0221
1552-5422
DOI:10.1177/0022022110362628