| This study provides a cross-cultural examination of F. L. K. Hsu's Dominant Dyad hypothesis. A principal component analysis of variables measuring childhood socialization provides a nine-point socialization scale. The lowest-third and highest-third scores, labelled as Low (Permissive) and High (Restrictive) Socialization, are combined with parental disciplinarian to identify four primary dyads: (1) Father-Son (Paternal Disciplinarian, Restrictive Socialization); (2) Mother-Son (Maternal Disciplinarian, Permissive Socialization); (3) Father-Daughter (Paternal Disciplinarian, Permissive Socialization); (4) Mother-Daughter (Maternal Disciplinarian, Permissive Socialization).;A subsample of 130 societies from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample was coded for type of ancestor beliefs. This is used to replicate earlier studies of ancestor beliefs and to test the Dominant Dyad hypotheses about the relationships between childhood socialization, dyadic relations and ancestor beliefs.;The findings show: (1) ancestor beliefs are positively associated with subsistence base and with corporate lineages, and (2) socialization scores and dyads show positive association with inheritance of property, polygyny, and post-marital residence. Results with dyad measures are mixed. Father-Child dyads show positive associations with inheritance of property, polygyny, and post-marital residence. Mother-Child dyads fail to achieve statistical significance in any of the tests. The proposed relationship between dyads and ancestor beliefs is not supported. The findings imply that the Dominant Dyad hypothesis possesses considerable potential and would profit from revision: to reflect (1) the importance of the Father-Daughter dyad especially in societies with collateral inheritance or unstable food supply, and (2) the interaction among the dyadic structures, e.g., that a Father-Son dyad also implies a restrictive Mother-Daughter socialization.;Further research should explore the importance of a second dimension in parental agency, adding the effect of parental educator. This allows both positive and negative effects of socialization to be examined jointly. |
