Case report
Biocultural Linkages – Cultural Consensus, Cultural Consonance, and Human Biological Research
Jim Bindon
Abstract
Cultural consensus analysis tests for shared models of behavior in various cultural dimensions. Cultural consonance
is used to assess the degree to which individuals behave in a way that is consistent with these cultural models. Results
are presented from two studies using cultural consensus and consonance analysis (CCCA) on health risk in an African
American population and on diet in a mixed sample from West Alabama. In the African American case study, cultural
consonance in lifestyle and social support are demonstrated to have a significant effect on blood pressure. In the diet
study, significant differences in cultural consonance on the health dimension of diet between groups espousing different
dietary preferences were demonstrated in spite of all groups sharing the same model of healthy foods. These studies are
used to argue that more sophisticated measures of culture in human biological research are readily available and accessible
for most studies.
Keywords
biocultural; cultural consensus; cultural consonance; KAP models
Hrčak ID:
27282
URI
Publication date:
4.1.2007.
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