Working Paper: NBER ID: w29250
Authors: Yiming Cao; Benjamin Enke; Armin Falk; Paola Giuliano; Nathan Nunn
Abstract: According to the widely known ‘culture of honor’ hypothesis from social psychology, traditional herding practices are believed to have generated a value system that is conducive to revenge-taking and violence. We test this idea at a global scale using a combination of ethnographic records, historical folklore information, global data on contemporary conflict events, and large-scale surveys. The data show systematic links between traditional herding practices and a culture of honor. First, the culture of pre-industrial societies that relied on animal herding emphasizes violence, punishment, and revenge-taking. Second, contemporary ethnolinguistic groups that historically subsisted more strongly on herding have more frequent and severe conflict today. Third, the contemporary descendants of herders report being more willing to take revenge and punish unfair behavior in the globally representative Global Preferences Survey. In all, the evidence supports the idea that this form of economic subsistence generated a functional psychology that has persisted until today and plays a role in shaping conflict across the globe.
Keywords: Culture of Honor; Herding; Conflict; Revenge; Ethnographic Data
JEL Codes: N00; Z10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Herding practices (C92) | Culture of honor (Z13) |
| Culture of honor (Z13) | Contemporary conflict (D74) |
| Herding practices (C92) | Contemporary conflict (D74) |
| Herding practices (C92) | Violence, punishment, and retaliation (K42) |
| Herding backgrounds (C92) | Inclination to take revenge and punish unfair behavior (D63) |
| Herding practices (C92) | Number of conflict events (D74) |
| Herding practices (C92) | Intensity and duration of conflicts (F51) |