A Preliminary Study of Cross-Sexual Joking Relationships in Primitive Society

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to apply the methods of cross-cultural research and statistical correlation in the investigation of an anthropological-psy chological phenomenon, the joking relationship. Stated briefly in question form, our problem is: Given the same social conditions, an institutionalized potential marriage relationship, will individuals standing to each other in this relationship, tend universally to manifest joking behavior patterns? In other words, is the joking behavior a function of the potentiality of marriage between the individuals concerned?

Four categories of relationship fulfilling these conditions were studied from this point of view: the sororate, the levirate, and the two cross-cousin relationships. A sample of 220 societies was examined, and correlations were established between the marriage rules and behavior patterns for each of these categories. The results show a definite tendency, despite exceptions, for a relationship between these factors to occur.

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