Relational mobility predicts social behaviors in 39 countries and is tied to historical farming and threat

International audienc

Relational mobility predicts social behaviors in 39 countries and is tied to historical farming and threat

Biologists and social scientists have long tried to understand why some societies have more fluid and open interpersonal relationships and how those differences influence culture. This study measures relational mobility, a socioecological variable quantifying voluntary (high relational mobility) vs. fixed (low relational mobility) interpersonal relationships. We measure relational mobility in 39 societies and test whether it predicts social behavior. People in societies with higher relational mobility report more proactive interpersonal behaviors (e.g., self-disclosure and social support) and psychological tendencies that help them build and retain relationships (e.g., general trust, intimacy, self-esteem). Finally, we explore ecological factors that could explain relational mobility differences across societies. Relational mobility was lower in societies that practiced settled, interdependent subsistence styles, such as rice farming, and in societies that had stronger ecological and historical threats

Correction to Supporting Information for Thomson et al.:Relational mobility predicts social behaviors in 39 countries and is tied to historical farming and threat

Correction to Supporting Information for which was first published June 29, 2018; 10.1073/ pnas.1713191115 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:7521\u20137526). The authors wish to note the following: \u201cIn the supplemental materials, the original paper used a measure of indigeneity to represent historical ethnic diversity and mistakenly labelled this heterogeneity. The updated supplemental materials correctly label this indigeneity and add a different measure of historical diversity\u2014the number of source countries for the AD 1500 population. Data from Palestine was left out of the earlier analysis because the source data combined it with Israel. The new analysis adds Palestine. New results show that historical indigeneity remained a nonsignificant predictor of relational mobility (r = 120.19, P = 0.240), while the number of historical source countries predicted higher relational mobility (r = 0.55, P < 0.001).\u201d As a result of this, the authors have updated the section 1.10.1 Historical Ethnic Diversity in the SI Appendix, page 23. The SI Appendix has been corrected online

Relational mobility predicts social behaviors in 39 countries and is tied to historical farming and threat

Biologists and social scientists have long tried to understand why some societies have more fluid and open interpersonal relationships and how those differences influence culture. This study measures relational mobility, a socioecological variable quantifying voluntary (high relational mobility) vs. fixed (low relational mobility) interpersonal relationships. We measure relational mobility in 39 societies and test whether it predicts social behavior. People in societies with higher relational mobility report more proactive interpersonal behaviors (e.g., self-disclosure and social support) and psychological tendencies that help them build and retain relationships (e.g., general trust, intimacy, self-esteem). Finally, we explore ecological factors that could explain relational mobility differences across societies. Relational mobility was lower in societies that practiced settled, interdependent subsistence styles, such as rice farming, and in societies that had stronger ecological and historical threats