Dataset Information

Pulotu: Database of Austronesian Supernatural Beliefs and Practices.

ABSTRACT: Scholars have debated naturalistic theories of religion for thousands of years, but only recently have scientists begun to test predictions empirically. Existing databases contain few variables on religion, and are subject to Galton's Problem because they do not sufficiently account for the non-independence of cultures or systematically differentiate the traditional states of cultures from their contemporary states. Here we present Pulotu: the first quantitative cross-cultural database purpose-built to test evolutionary hypotheses of supernatural beliefs and practices. The Pulotu database documents the remarkable diversity of the Austronesian family of cultures, which originated in Taiwan, spread west to Madagascar and east to Easter Island-a region covering over half the world's longitude. The focus of Austronesian beliefs range from localised ancestral spirits to powerful creator gods. A wide range of practices also exist, such as headhunting, elaborate tattooing, and the construction of impressive monuments. Pulotu is freely available, currently contains 116 cultures, and has 80 variables describing supernatural beliefs and practices, as well as social and physical environments. One major advantage of Pulotu is that it has separate sections on the traditional states of cultures, the post-contact history of cultures, and the contemporary states of cultures. A second major advantage is that cultures are linked to a language-based family tree, enabling the use phylogenetic methods, which can be used to address Galton's Problem by accounting for common ancestry, to infer deep prehistory, and to model patterns of trait evolution over time. We illustrate the power of phylogenetic methods by performing an ancestral state reconstruction on the Pulotu variable "headhunting", finding evidence that headhunting was practiced in proto-Austronesian culture. Quantitative cross-cultural databases explicitly linking cultures to a phylogeny have the potential to revolutionise the field of comparative religious studies in the same way that genetic databases have revolutionised the field of evolutionary biology.

SUBMITTER: Watts J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4580586 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Pulotu: Database of Austronesian Supernatural Beliefs and Practices.

Watts Joseph J Sheehan Oliver O Greenhill Simon J SJ Gomes-Ng Stephanie S Atkinson Quentin D QD Bulbulia Joseph J Gray Russell D RD

PloS one 20150923 9

Scholars have debated naturalistic theories of religion for thousands of years, but only recently have scientists begun to test predictions empirically. Existing databases contain few variables on religion, and are subject to Galton's Problem because they do not sufficiently account for the non-independence of cultures or systematically differentiate the traditional states of cultures from their contemporary states. Here we present Pulotu: the first quantitative cross-cultural database purpose-b ...[more]

PMID: 26398231

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Project description:Objectives: International studies suggest that males may be less likely to adhere to SARS-CoV-2 transmission mitigation efforts than females. However, there is a paucity of research in this field in the United States. The primary aim of this study was to explore the relationship of binary gender identity (female/male) with beliefs, attitudes, and pandemic-related practices in the early stages of the pandemic. Methods: This study is based on a cross-sectional, voluntary response survey. Patients who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 between March 5 and June 7, 2020 were invited to participate. All patients were tested within a large community healthcare system that serves patients through eight hospitals and hundreds of clinics across Washington State. Bivariate associations between gender and various demographics were tested using Chi-squared and Student's t-tests. We examined associations between gender and pandemic-related beliefs, attitudes, and practices using multivariable logistic regression, accounting for potential confounding factors. Results: Females were more likely than males to agree that they (aOR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.14-2.00) or their families (aOR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.31-2.33) were threatened by SARS-CoV-2, or that their own behavior could impact transmission (aOR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.49-3.15). Similarly, females were more likely to agree that social distancing (aOR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.19-2.46), handwashing (aOR = 3.27, 95% CI 2.06-5.21), and masking (aOR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.02-1.94) were necessary to slow SARS-CoV-2 spread. Females were significantly less likely to visit outside of their social distancing circle (aOR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.47-0.81), but among those who did, practices of social distancing (aOR = 1.41, 95% CI 0.89-2.23), remaining outdoors (aOR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.56-1.40), and masking (aOR = 1.19, 95% CI 0.74-1.93) were comparable to males, while females practiced handwashing more than males (aOR = 2.11, 95% CI 1.33-3.34). Conclusions: Our study suggests that gender disparate beliefs, attitudes, and practices existed in the early stages of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Efforts should be tailored to encourage males to engage with mitigation efforts in ongoing pandemic-related public health campaigns.

Dataset Information

Pulotu: Database of Austronesian Supernatural Beliefs and Practices.

Publications

Pulotu: Database of Austronesian Supernatural Beliefs and Practices.

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