World Distribution of Theories of Illness

Murdock, George Peter; Wilson, Suzanne F.; Frederick, Violetta

doi:10.1177/136346158001700102

Cited by 30 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…For definitions of environmental variables see Appendix B. 33 See Murdock et al (1978) and Appendix B for definitions and details on these beliefs. 34 For an excellent analysis of traditional redistributive norms in Sub-Saharan Africa see Platteau (2014).…”

Section: Production Mode Inequality and The Evil Eye Beliefmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The economic origins of the evil eye belief

Gershman¹

2015

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

JEL classification: D31 D74 N30 O10 Z10 Z13 Keywords: Culture Envy Evil eye belief Inequality Institutions Superstition a b s t r a c tThe evil eye belief is a widespread superstition according to which people can cause harm by a mere envious glance at coveted objects or their owners. This paper argues that such belief originated and persisted as a useful heuristic under conditions in which envy was likely to trigger destructive behavior and the avoidance of other people's envy, effectively prescribed by the evil eye belief, was a proper response to that threat. We hypothesize that in weakly institutionalized societies wealth differentiation and vulnerability of productive assets were the key factors enabling envy-induced destructive behavior and contributing to the emergence and spread of the evil eye belief as a cultural defense mechanism. Evidence from small-scale preindustrial societies shows that there is indeed a robust positive association between the incidence of the belief and measures of wealth inequality, controlling for potential confounding factors such as patterns of spatial and cross-cultural diffusion and various dimensions of early economic development. Furthermore, the evil eye belief is more prevalent in agro-pastoral societies that tend to sustain higher levels of inequality and where vulnerable material wealth plays a dominant role in the subsistence economy.

show abstract

Section: Production Mode Inequality and The Evil Eye Beliefmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each phenomenon is coded, based on whether it is used to explain illness, on the following ordinal scale: absence of such as cause (1); minor or relatively unimportant cause (2); an important auxiliary cause (3); predominant cause recognized by the society (4). Original source: Murdock et al (1978).…”

Section: Appendix B Variables and Descriptive Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The economic origins of the evil eye belief

Gershman¹

2015

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Various other interviews and self-report questionnaires have been devised to elicit explanatory models and symptom or illness schemas. Eisenbruch [4] developed the Mental Distress Explanatory Model Questionnaire (MDEMQ), which asks respondents to rate the potential causes of mental illness on a list of 45 causes drawn from the earlier classification of theories of illness causation by Murdock and colleagues [5]. Subsequent work has also confirmed Murdock's broad distinction between natural and supernatural causes as two clusters that are differentially associated with mental disorder, with both common and severe mental disorders often attributed to spiritual or supernatural agents or influences [6].…”

Section: Understanding and Eliciting Explanatory Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture and Mental Illness: Social Context and Explanatory Models

Kirmayer

Bhugra

2009

Psychiatric Diagnosis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is wide recognition that cultural models influence how individuals interpret the signs and symptoms of illness, including psychiatric disorders. The processes of interpreting and ascribing meaning to one's bodily sensations, thoughts, feelings and behaviour are mediated by cognitive models and social interactions with others, which in turn reflect cultural knowledge and practices. Social scientists have distinguished between the biomedical concept of disease, the patient's subjective experience of illness, and the social meanings of sickness, eachof which may be based on different explanatory models [1, 2]. However, pathophysiology, individual psychology and social responses interact. The cultural mediation of illness meaning, therefore, not only shapes the social manifestations of distress through symptom reports and help-seeking, but also influences the underlying psychophysiological processes that contribute to psychopathology and illness experience. In this chapter, we provide some examples of how social context and explanatory models influence common psychiatric conditions, including somatization, dissociation, mood, and anxiety disorders, as well as psychotic experience. Our aim is to demonstrate the important role played by explanations in the mechanisms of psychopathology as well as in clinical illness behaviour. Explanatory models are therefore an important target of research, clinical assessment, and intervention.Psychiatric Diagnosis: Challenges and Prospects Edited by Ihsan M. Salloum and Juan E. Mezzich

show abstract

“…Goldberg and Huxley's model describes how patients go through various "filters" in order to reach care, including community help, primary care and secondary mental health services 6 . In non-Western cultures supernatural beliefs about mental disorders are common and traditional or religious healing is a large part of the response [7][8][9] . Western models of treatment seeking, cannot be considered typical and cannot easily be generalised to other cultures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reactions to symptoms of mental disorder and help seeking in Sabah, Malaysia

Shoesmith

Borhanuddin

Lin

et al. 2017

Int J Soc Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: A better understanding is needed about how people make decisions about help seeking. Materials: Focus group and individual interviews with patients, carers, healthcare staff, religious authorities, traditional healers and community members. Discussion: Four stages of help seeking were identified: (1) noticing symptoms and initial labelling, (2) collective decision-making, (3) spiritual diagnoses and treatment and (4) psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. Conclusion: Spiritual diagnoses have the advantage of being less stigmatising, giving meaning to symptoms, and were seen to offer hope of cure rather than just symptom control. Patients and carers need help to integrate different explanatory models into a meaningful whole.

show abstract

World Distribution of Theories of Illness

Cited by 30 publications

References 0 publications

The economic origins of the evil eye belief

The economic origins of the evil eye belief

Culture and Mental Illness: Social Context and Explanatory Models

Reactions to symptoms of mental disorder and help seeking in Sabah, Malaysia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About