Mauro Balieiro | Universidade Paulista (original) (raw)
Papers by Mauro Balieiro
Ethos
Cultural consonance, the degree to which individuals incorporate cultural models into their own b... more Cultural consonance, the degree to which individuals incorporate cultural models into their own beliefs and behaviors, is associated with lower depressive symptoms. A number of studies examining potential mediators of the association of cultural consonance and depressive symptoms (including socioeconomic status, perceived stress, and gene-environment interactions) have found that cultural consonance is the more proximate correlate of mental health and hence the more likely mediator of the association of those other factors with mental health. The aim of this paper is to extend this line of research by examining cultural consonance as a mediator of the associations of both individuals’ sense of personal agency and their socioeconomic status in relation to depressive symptoms. Data come from a multi-method study of depressive symptoms in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Measures of cultural consonance in five cultural domains were combined into an index of cultural consonance in life goals. A measure of personal agency combined scales of locus of control and frustration tolerance. Results were consistent with cultural consonance mediating the association of both personal agency and socioeconomic status with depressive symptoms. These results have implications for the conceptualization of culture and its role in mental health, and for the influence of psychological factors on culture.
Frontiers in psychology, 2017
Describing the link between culture (as a phenomenon pertaining to social aggregates) and the bel... more Describing the link between culture (as a phenomenon pertaining to social aggregates) and the beliefs and behaviors of individuals has eluded satisfactory resolution; however, contemporary cognitive culture theory offers hope. In this theory, culture is conceptualized as cognitive models describing specific domains of life that are shared by members of a social group. It is sharing that gives culture its aggregate properties. There are two aspects to these cultural models at the level of the individual. Persons have their own representations of the world that correspond incompletely to the shared model-this is their 'cultural competence.' Persons are also variable in the degree to which they can put cultural models into practice in their own lives-this is their 'cultural consonance.' Low cultural consonance is a stressful experience and has been linked to higher psychological distress. The relationship of cultural competenceand psychological distress is less clear. I...
Journal of Anthropological Research, 2017
Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate, in their own beliefs and beha... more Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate, in their own beliefs and behaviors, the prototypes for belief and behavior encoded in cultural models. Low cultural consonance is associated with higher psychological distress. Cultural consonance also converges across some cultural domains. Cultural consonance in different domains may converge because of an individual's access to socioeconomic resources, or cultural consonance in multiple cultural domains may occur because these domains are in turn meaningfully-or culturally-organized. These possibilities were investigated in two linked studies conducted in urban Brazil, using mixed methods. A cultural domain analysis indicated that several cultural domains are organized around a broader concept of "goals in life." Cultural consonance in these cultural domains in turn forms a single factor of "cultural consonance in life goals," which is associated with lower depressive symptoms. The implications of these results for the further study of cultural consonance, and for a better understanding of culture, are discussed.
Social science & medicine (1982), Jul 1, 2016
Research on gene-environment interaction was facilitated by breakthroughs in molecular biology in... more Research on gene-environment interaction was facilitated by breakthroughs in molecular biology in the late 20th century, especially in the study of mental health. There is a reliable interaction between candidate genes for depression and childhood adversity in relation to mental health outcomes. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of culture in this process in an urban community in Brazil. The specific cultural factor examined is cultural consonance, or the degree to which individuals are able to successfully incorporate salient cultural models into their own beliefs and behaviors. It was hypothesized that cultural consonance in family life would mediate the interaction of genotype and childhood adversity. In a study of 402 adult Brazilians from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, conducted from 2011 to 2014, the interaction of reported childhood adversity and a polymorphism in the 2A serotonin receptor was associated with higher depressive symptoms. Further analysis showed ...
American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, Nov 30, 2016
To replicate a previously identified gene-environment interaction between a genetic polymorphism ... more To replicate a previously identified gene-environment interaction between a genetic polymorphism in the serotonin 2A receptor and cultural consonance in family life in relation to depressive symptoms (Dressler et al., 2009). A sample of 402 individuals in a sample drawn from four different economic strata in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil was interviewed and genotyped. Cultural consonance in family life has an inverse association with depressive symptoms (beta = -0.439, P < 0.001) and with high depressive symptoms (OR = 2.36, P < 0.001), but the interaction with genotype was not statistically significant. The previously identified gene-environment interaction was not replicated. Limitations of the study are discussed. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A influência da cultura como variável independente associada a processos de sofrimento fisiológic... more A influência da cultura como variável independente associada a processos de sofrimento fisiológico e psicológico tem sido apontada com freqüência na literatura. Os principais problemas desse tipo de estudo referem-se a questões de ordem conceitual e metodológica. O conceito de consonância cultural tem sido proposto como alternativa a esses problemas. Consonância cultural se refere ao grau em que cada indivíduo aproxima seu próprio comportamento ou suas crenças e pensamentos do protótipo de crenças e comportamentos codificados em modelos culturais compartilhados. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar as correlações entre consonância cultural e depressão, avaliadas em dois períodos de tempo distintos, com intervalo de dois anos entre a primeira e a segunda aplicação. Foram examinados em um primeiro momento, 271 sujeitos, distribuídos entre quatro bairros estratificados sócio-economicamente de uma cidade do interior do estado de São Paulo. Todos os sujeitos foram novamente convidados a participar da pesquisa dois anos após a primeira aplicação, e 210 concordaram, perfazendo este o total de sujeitos da segunda amostra, o que equivale a 77,5% de participação no estudo de seguimento. Escalas de consonância cultural de quatro domínios culturais foram aplicadas nos dois períodos de tempo, estilo de vida (CCEV, CCEV2), suporte social (CCSS, CCSS2), vida familiar (CCVF, CCVF2) e características nacionais (CCCN, CCCN2), além de uma escala de depressão, também aplicada nos dois períodos (CES-D, CES-D2). Com o intuito de controlar os efeitos de consonância cultural sobre depressão foi incluído no seguimento uma medida de eventos vitais. Os resultados obtidos por intermédio da análise de correlação de Pearson demonstraram correlações entre todas as escalas de consonância cultural CCEV x CCEV2 (r = ,815), CCSS x CCSS2 (r = ,569), CCVF x CCVF2 (r = ,647), CCCN x CCCN2 (r = ,604), todas estas correlações apresentaram um nível de significância de p<0,01. A correlação entre CES-D x CES-D2 (r = ,622) apresentou um nível de significância de p<0,01. Encontramos correlações entre consonância cultural e depressão nos dois períodos de tempo. Quando considerados os domínios culturais de estilo de vida, suporte social e vida familiar, a direção nos apontou para o entendimento de que quanto maior a consonância cultural nestes domínios, menores os valores para depressão. Em outro sentido, quando o domínio cultural estudado foi o de características nacionais, os resultados apontam para outra direção, indicando que quanto maiores forem os valores de consonância cultural neste domínio, maior será também os valores para depressão. Controlando os resultados por eventos vitais importantes observou-se um efeito de consonância cultural sobre depressão nos domínios culturais de estilo de vida (r =-,355), vida familiar (r =-,308) e características nacionais (r = ,250), com níveis de significância para estilo de vida e vida familiar de p<0,01 e para características nacionais de p<0,05. Um fator geral de consonância cultural foi calculado e sua correlação com depressão, controlando por eventos vitais, verificada (r =-,267) com nível de significância de p<0,05. Estes resultados sugerem a consonância cultural como uma variável independente associada à depressão na comunidade (r 2 = ,071), podendo explicar entre 5% e 10% desta distribuição. O modelo teórico e empírico de consonância cultural se apresenta como alternativa profícua para estudos na comunidade e se insere de forma importante na agenda de estudos sobre a relação entre cultura e depressão. Palavras-chave: Consonância cultural Depressão. Cultura.
American Journal of Human Biology
Field Methods
A valid and reliable anthropological measurement must be culturally appropriate for a particular ... more A valid and reliable anthropological measurement must be culturally appropriate for a particular social setting. Justifying the appropriateness of a measurement often depends on the skill of the researcher in describing the ethnographic setting. This has resulted in valuable research, but it is difficult to systematize and lacks transparency. Here the authors present a measurement model for anthropology that links structured ethnographic methods-cultural domain analysis and cultural consensus analysis-to the assessment of individual behavior and personal beliefs. These procedures are illustrated with the concept of cultural consonance, or the degree to which an individual approximates in his or her own behavior or belief the shared cultural model in some domain. The concrete steps taken to develop measures of cultural consonance in four domains (lifestyle, social support, family life, and national characteristics) are described, and the reliability and validity of these measures are evaluated. This describes a measurement model for anthropology.
Social Science & Medicine
American Journal of Human Biology
Health disparities or health inequalities refer to enduring differences between population groups... more Health disparities or health inequalities refer to enduring differences between population groups in health status, well-being, and mortality. Health inequalities have been described by race, ethnic group, gender, and social class. A variety of theories have been proposed to account for health inequalities, including access to medical care and absolute material deprivation. Several theorists (including Michael Marmot and Richard Wilkinson) have argued that relative deprivation is the primary factor. By this they mean the inability of individuals to achieve the kind of lifestyle that is valued and considered normative in their social context. In this article, we show that the concept and measurement of cultural consonance can operationalize what Marmot and Wilkinson mean by relative deprivation. Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate, in their own beliefs and behaviors, the prototypes for belief and behavior encoded in shared cultural models. Widely shared...
Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto), 2013
Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate prototypes encoded in cultural... more Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate prototypes encoded in cultural models. Low cultural consonance is associated with higher psychological distress. Religion may moderate the association between cultural consonance and psychological distress. Brazil, with substantial variation in religion, is an important society for the examination of this hypothesis. Research was conducted in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, using a mixed-methods design. Measures of cultural consonance were derived using ethnographic methods and then applied in a survey of 271 individuals drawn from four distinct social strata. Low cultural consonance was associated with higher psychological distress in multiple regression analysis ( B = -.430, p < .001). Members of Pentecostal Protestant churches reported lower psychological distress independently of the effect of cultural consonance ( B = -.409, p < .05). There was no buffering effect of religion. Implications of these results for the...
Field Methods, 2014
ABSTRACT This paper reports the replication after ten years of cultural consensus analyses in fou... more ABSTRACT This paper reports the replication after ten years of cultural consensus analyses in four cultural domains in the city of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Additionally, two methods for evaluating residual agreement are applied to the data, and a new technique for evaluating how cultural knowledge is represented by residual agreement is introduced. We found that overall cultural consensus observed in 2001 was replicated in 2011 in four cultural domains. Significant residual agreement in all four cultural domains was observed using a technique for assessing the structure of the respondent-by-respondent agreement matrix. Analysis of loadings on the second factor from the cultural consensus analyses indicated that time period was associated with residual agreement in the domain of lifestyle, while other variables were associated with residual agreement in other domains. The variation in the configuration of elements in the cultural model of lifestyle within each time period, relative to the overall consensus, was examined using deviation scores. Implications of these results for the study of culture and the distribution and sharing of culture are discussed.
Field Methods, Nov 1, 2005
AHERN, KATHY, and ROBYNE LE BROCQUE,“Methodological Issues in the Effects of Attrition: Simple So... more AHERN, KATHY, and ROBYNE LE BROCQUE,“Methodological Issues in the Effects of Attrition: Simple Solutions for Social Scientists,” 53. BALIEIRO, MAURO C., see Dressler, WW BARRIENTOS, TOMÁS, see Ross, N. BARTHOLOMEW, MAILE, see Burton, ML BERLIN, BRENT, see Berlin, EA BERLIN, ELOIS ANN, and BRENT BERLIN,“Some Field Methods in Medical Ethnobiology,” 235.
Medical anthropology quarterly, Jun 1, 2015
In this paper we examine the distribution of a marker of immune system stimulation-C-reactive pro... more In this paper we examine the distribution of a marker of immune system stimulation-C-reactive protein-in urban Brazil. Social relationships are associated with immunostimulation, and we argue that cultural dimensions of social support, assessed by cultural consonance, are important in this process. Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals, in their own beliefs and behaviors, approximate shared cultural models. A measure of cultural consonance in social support, based on a cultural consensus analysis regarding sources and patterns of social support in Brazil, was developed. In a survey of 258 persons, the association of cultural consonance in social support and C-reactive protein was examined, controlling for age, sex, the body mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, depressive symptoms, and a social network index. Lower cultural consonance in social support was associated with higher C-reactive protein. Implications of these results for future research are dis...
Objectives: The aim of this article is to develop a model of how culture shapes the body, based o... more Objectives: The aim of this article is to develop a model of how culture shapes the body, based on two studies conducted in urban Brazil.
Annals of Anthropological Practice, 2014
Social Science & Medicine, 2005
In previous research in Brazil, we tested the hypothesis that cultural consonance is associated w... more In previous research in Brazil, we tested the hypothesis that cultural consonance is associated with arterial blood pressure. Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals are able to approximate in their own behaviors the prototypes for behavior encoded in shared cultural models. Individuals who had higher cultural consonance in the domains of lifestyle and social support had lower blood pressures. The aim of the current research was to replicate and extend these findings. First, a more extensive cultural domain analysis was carried out, improving the description of cultural models. Second, more sensitive measures of cultural consonance were developed. Third, data were collected in the same community studied previously. The following findings emerged: (a) cultural domain analysis (using a mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques) indicated that cultural models for these domains are widely shared within the community; (b) the associations of cultural consonance in these domains with arterial blood pressure were replicated; and, (c) the pattern of the associations differed slightly from that observed in earlier research. This pattern of associations can be understood in terms of macrosocial influences over the past ten years. The results support the importance of long-term fieldwork in anthropology.
Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto), 2002
RESUMO: A análise da influência de fatores culturais no estresse psicológico (além dos sociais e ... more RESUMO: A análise da influência de fatores culturais no estresse psicológico (além dos sociais e psicológicos) tem sido dificultada em função do desenvolvimento incompleto de teorias culturais que resultem em medidas fidedignas e válidas dé fatores culturais que possam ser incorporados a modelos multivariados. Neste artigo apresenta-se tanto tal teoria quanto uma metodologia e elas são aplicadas ao estudo da distribuição na comunidade das aflições psicológicas em uma área urbana do Brasil. Nesta teoria e metodologia, cultura é conceituada como modelos culturais compartilhados que são realizados de maneira imperfeita nos comportamentos cotidianos. A ligação do modelo cultural com o comportamento individual é colocada como "consonância cultural". Mostra-se que a consonância cultural em dois domínios diferentes está associada ao estresse psicológico independentemente de covariáveis e de outras variáveis intervenientes. São discutidas também as implicações destes resultados para pesquisas futuras.
Ethos
Cultural consonance, the degree to which individuals incorporate cultural models into their own b... more Cultural consonance, the degree to which individuals incorporate cultural models into their own beliefs and behaviors, is associated with lower depressive symptoms. A number of studies examining potential mediators of the association of cultural consonance and depressive symptoms (including socioeconomic status, perceived stress, and gene-environment interactions) have found that cultural consonance is the more proximate correlate of mental health and hence the more likely mediator of the association of those other factors with mental health. The aim of this paper is to extend this line of research by examining cultural consonance as a mediator of the associations of both individuals’ sense of personal agency and their socioeconomic status in relation to depressive symptoms. Data come from a multi-method study of depressive symptoms in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Measures of cultural consonance in five cultural domains were combined into an index of cultural consonance in life goals. A measure of personal agency combined scales of locus of control and frustration tolerance. Results were consistent with cultural consonance mediating the association of both personal agency and socioeconomic status with depressive symptoms. These results have implications for the conceptualization of culture and its role in mental health, and for the influence of psychological factors on culture.
Frontiers in psychology, 2017
Describing the link between culture (as a phenomenon pertaining to social aggregates) and the bel... more Describing the link between culture (as a phenomenon pertaining to social aggregates) and the beliefs and behaviors of individuals has eluded satisfactory resolution; however, contemporary cognitive culture theory offers hope. In this theory, culture is conceptualized as cognitive models describing specific domains of life that are shared by members of a social group. It is sharing that gives culture its aggregate properties. There are two aspects to these cultural models at the level of the individual. Persons have their own representations of the world that correspond incompletely to the shared model-this is their 'cultural competence.' Persons are also variable in the degree to which they can put cultural models into practice in their own lives-this is their 'cultural consonance.' Low cultural consonance is a stressful experience and has been linked to higher psychological distress. The relationship of cultural competenceand psychological distress is less clear. I...
Journal of Anthropological Research, 2017
Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate, in their own beliefs and beha... more Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate, in their own beliefs and behaviors, the prototypes for belief and behavior encoded in cultural models. Low cultural consonance is associated with higher psychological distress. Cultural consonance also converges across some cultural domains. Cultural consonance in different domains may converge because of an individual's access to socioeconomic resources, or cultural consonance in multiple cultural domains may occur because these domains are in turn meaningfully-or culturally-organized. These possibilities were investigated in two linked studies conducted in urban Brazil, using mixed methods. A cultural domain analysis indicated that several cultural domains are organized around a broader concept of "goals in life." Cultural consonance in these cultural domains in turn forms a single factor of "cultural consonance in life goals," which is associated with lower depressive symptoms. The implications of these results for the further study of cultural consonance, and for a better understanding of culture, are discussed.
Social science & medicine (1982), Jul 1, 2016
Research on gene-environment interaction was facilitated by breakthroughs in molecular biology in... more Research on gene-environment interaction was facilitated by breakthroughs in molecular biology in the late 20th century, especially in the study of mental health. There is a reliable interaction between candidate genes for depression and childhood adversity in relation to mental health outcomes. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of culture in this process in an urban community in Brazil. The specific cultural factor examined is cultural consonance, or the degree to which individuals are able to successfully incorporate salient cultural models into their own beliefs and behaviors. It was hypothesized that cultural consonance in family life would mediate the interaction of genotype and childhood adversity. In a study of 402 adult Brazilians from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, conducted from 2011 to 2014, the interaction of reported childhood adversity and a polymorphism in the 2A serotonin receptor was associated with higher depressive symptoms. Further analysis showed ...
American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, Nov 30, 2016
To replicate a previously identified gene-environment interaction between a genetic polymorphism ... more To replicate a previously identified gene-environment interaction between a genetic polymorphism in the serotonin 2A receptor and cultural consonance in family life in relation to depressive symptoms (Dressler et al., 2009). A sample of 402 individuals in a sample drawn from four different economic strata in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil was interviewed and genotyped. Cultural consonance in family life has an inverse association with depressive symptoms (beta = -0.439, P < 0.001) and with high depressive symptoms (OR = 2.36, P < 0.001), but the interaction with genotype was not statistically significant. The previously identified gene-environment interaction was not replicated. Limitations of the study are discussed. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A influência da cultura como variável independente associada a processos de sofrimento fisiológic... more A influência da cultura como variável independente associada a processos de sofrimento fisiológico e psicológico tem sido apontada com freqüência na literatura. Os principais problemas desse tipo de estudo referem-se a questões de ordem conceitual e metodológica. O conceito de consonância cultural tem sido proposto como alternativa a esses problemas. Consonância cultural se refere ao grau em que cada indivíduo aproxima seu próprio comportamento ou suas crenças e pensamentos do protótipo de crenças e comportamentos codificados em modelos culturais compartilhados. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar as correlações entre consonância cultural e depressão, avaliadas em dois períodos de tempo distintos, com intervalo de dois anos entre a primeira e a segunda aplicação. Foram examinados em um primeiro momento, 271 sujeitos, distribuídos entre quatro bairros estratificados sócio-economicamente de uma cidade do interior do estado de São Paulo. Todos os sujeitos foram novamente convidados a participar da pesquisa dois anos após a primeira aplicação, e 210 concordaram, perfazendo este o total de sujeitos da segunda amostra, o que equivale a 77,5% de participação no estudo de seguimento. Escalas de consonância cultural de quatro domínios culturais foram aplicadas nos dois períodos de tempo, estilo de vida (CCEV, CCEV2), suporte social (CCSS, CCSS2), vida familiar (CCVF, CCVF2) e características nacionais (CCCN, CCCN2), além de uma escala de depressão, também aplicada nos dois períodos (CES-D, CES-D2). Com o intuito de controlar os efeitos de consonância cultural sobre depressão foi incluído no seguimento uma medida de eventos vitais. Os resultados obtidos por intermédio da análise de correlação de Pearson demonstraram correlações entre todas as escalas de consonância cultural CCEV x CCEV2 (r = ,815), CCSS x CCSS2 (r = ,569), CCVF x CCVF2 (r = ,647), CCCN x CCCN2 (r = ,604), todas estas correlações apresentaram um nível de significância de p<0,01. A correlação entre CES-D x CES-D2 (r = ,622) apresentou um nível de significância de p<0,01. Encontramos correlações entre consonância cultural e depressão nos dois períodos de tempo. Quando considerados os domínios culturais de estilo de vida, suporte social e vida familiar, a direção nos apontou para o entendimento de que quanto maior a consonância cultural nestes domínios, menores os valores para depressão. Em outro sentido, quando o domínio cultural estudado foi o de características nacionais, os resultados apontam para outra direção, indicando que quanto maiores forem os valores de consonância cultural neste domínio, maior será também os valores para depressão. Controlando os resultados por eventos vitais importantes observou-se um efeito de consonância cultural sobre depressão nos domínios culturais de estilo de vida (r =-,355), vida familiar (r =-,308) e características nacionais (r = ,250), com níveis de significância para estilo de vida e vida familiar de p<0,01 e para características nacionais de p<0,05. Um fator geral de consonância cultural foi calculado e sua correlação com depressão, controlando por eventos vitais, verificada (r =-,267) com nível de significância de p<0,05. Estes resultados sugerem a consonância cultural como uma variável independente associada à depressão na comunidade (r 2 = ,071), podendo explicar entre 5% e 10% desta distribuição. O modelo teórico e empírico de consonância cultural se apresenta como alternativa profícua para estudos na comunidade e se insere de forma importante na agenda de estudos sobre a relação entre cultura e depressão. Palavras-chave: Consonância cultural Depressão. Cultura.
American Journal of Human Biology
Field Methods
A valid and reliable anthropological measurement must be culturally appropriate for a particular ... more A valid and reliable anthropological measurement must be culturally appropriate for a particular social setting. Justifying the appropriateness of a measurement often depends on the skill of the researcher in describing the ethnographic setting. This has resulted in valuable research, but it is difficult to systematize and lacks transparency. Here the authors present a measurement model for anthropology that links structured ethnographic methods-cultural domain analysis and cultural consensus analysis-to the assessment of individual behavior and personal beliefs. These procedures are illustrated with the concept of cultural consonance, or the degree to which an individual approximates in his or her own behavior or belief the shared cultural model in some domain. The concrete steps taken to develop measures of cultural consonance in four domains (lifestyle, social support, family life, and national characteristics) are described, and the reliability and validity of these measures are evaluated. This describes a measurement model for anthropology.
Social Science & Medicine
American Journal of Human Biology
Health disparities or health inequalities refer to enduring differences between population groups... more Health disparities or health inequalities refer to enduring differences between population groups in health status, well-being, and mortality. Health inequalities have been described by race, ethnic group, gender, and social class. A variety of theories have been proposed to account for health inequalities, including access to medical care and absolute material deprivation. Several theorists (including Michael Marmot and Richard Wilkinson) have argued that relative deprivation is the primary factor. By this they mean the inability of individuals to achieve the kind of lifestyle that is valued and considered normative in their social context. In this article, we show that the concept and measurement of cultural consonance can operationalize what Marmot and Wilkinson mean by relative deprivation. Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate, in their own beliefs and behaviors, the prototypes for belief and behavior encoded in shared cultural models. Widely shared...
Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto), 2013
Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate prototypes encoded in cultural... more Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate prototypes encoded in cultural models. Low cultural consonance is associated with higher psychological distress. Religion may moderate the association between cultural consonance and psychological distress. Brazil, with substantial variation in religion, is an important society for the examination of this hypothesis. Research was conducted in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, using a mixed-methods design. Measures of cultural consonance were derived using ethnographic methods and then applied in a survey of 271 individuals drawn from four distinct social strata. Low cultural consonance was associated with higher psychological distress in multiple regression analysis ( B = -.430, p < .001). Members of Pentecostal Protestant churches reported lower psychological distress independently of the effect of cultural consonance ( B = -.409, p < .05). There was no buffering effect of religion. Implications of these results for the...
Field Methods, 2014
ABSTRACT This paper reports the replication after ten years of cultural consensus analyses in fou... more ABSTRACT This paper reports the replication after ten years of cultural consensus analyses in four cultural domains in the city of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Additionally, two methods for evaluating residual agreement are applied to the data, and a new technique for evaluating how cultural knowledge is represented by residual agreement is introduced. We found that overall cultural consensus observed in 2001 was replicated in 2011 in four cultural domains. Significant residual agreement in all four cultural domains was observed using a technique for assessing the structure of the respondent-by-respondent agreement matrix. Analysis of loadings on the second factor from the cultural consensus analyses indicated that time period was associated with residual agreement in the domain of lifestyle, while other variables were associated with residual agreement in other domains. The variation in the configuration of elements in the cultural model of lifestyle within each time period, relative to the overall consensus, was examined using deviation scores. Implications of these results for the study of culture and the distribution and sharing of culture are discussed.
Field Methods, Nov 1, 2005
AHERN, KATHY, and ROBYNE LE BROCQUE,“Methodological Issues in the Effects of Attrition: Simple So... more AHERN, KATHY, and ROBYNE LE BROCQUE,“Methodological Issues in the Effects of Attrition: Simple Solutions for Social Scientists,” 53. BALIEIRO, MAURO C., see Dressler, WW BARRIENTOS, TOMÁS, see Ross, N. BARTHOLOMEW, MAILE, see Burton, ML BERLIN, BRENT, see Berlin, EA BERLIN, ELOIS ANN, and BRENT BERLIN,“Some Field Methods in Medical Ethnobiology,” 235.
Medical anthropology quarterly, Jun 1, 2015
In this paper we examine the distribution of a marker of immune system stimulation-C-reactive pro... more In this paper we examine the distribution of a marker of immune system stimulation-C-reactive protein-in urban Brazil. Social relationships are associated with immunostimulation, and we argue that cultural dimensions of social support, assessed by cultural consonance, are important in this process. Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals, in their own beliefs and behaviors, approximate shared cultural models. A measure of cultural consonance in social support, based on a cultural consensus analysis regarding sources and patterns of social support in Brazil, was developed. In a survey of 258 persons, the association of cultural consonance in social support and C-reactive protein was examined, controlling for age, sex, the body mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, depressive symptoms, and a social network index. Lower cultural consonance in social support was associated with higher C-reactive protein. Implications of these results for future research are dis...
Objectives: The aim of this article is to develop a model of how culture shapes the body, based o... more Objectives: The aim of this article is to develop a model of how culture shapes the body, based on two studies conducted in urban Brazil.
Annals of Anthropological Practice, 2014
Social Science & Medicine, 2005
In previous research in Brazil, we tested the hypothesis that cultural consonance is associated w... more In previous research in Brazil, we tested the hypothesis that cultural consonance is associated with arterial blood pressure. Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals are able to approximate in their own behaviors the prototypes for behavior encoded in shared cultural models. Individuals who had higher cultural consonance in the domains of lifestyle and social support had lower blood pressures. The aim of the current research was to replicate and extend these findings. First, a more extensive cultural domain analysis was carried out, improving the description of cultural models. Second, more sensitive measures of cultural consonance were developed. Third, data were collected in the same community studied previously. The following findings emerged: (a) cultural domain analysis (using a mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques) indicated that cultural models for these domains are widely shared within the community; (b) the associations of cultural consonance in these domains with arterial blood pressure were replicated; and, (c) the pattern of the associations differed slightly from that observed in earlier research. This pattern of associations can be understood in terms of macrosocial influences over the past ten years. The results support the importance of long-term fieldwork in anthropology.
Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto), 2002
RESUMO: A análise da influência de fatores culturais no estresse psicológico (além dos sociais e ... more RESUMO: A análise da influência de fatores culturais no estresse psicológico (além dos sociais e psicológicos) tem sido dificultada em função do desenvolvimento incompleto de teorias culturais que resultem em medidas fidedignas e válidas dé fatores culturais que possam ser incorporados a modelos multivariados. Neste artigo apresenta-se tanto tal teoria quanto uma metodologia e elas são aplicadas ao estudo da distribuição na comunidade das aflições psicológicas em uma área urbana do Brasil. Nesta teoria e metodologia, cultura é conceituada como modelos culturais compartilhados que são realizados de maneira imperfeita nos comportamentos cotidianos. A ligação do modelo cultural com o comportamento individual é colocada como "consonância cultural". Mostra-se que a consonância cultural em dois domínios diferentes está associada ao estresse psicológico independentemente de covariáveis e de outras variáveis intervenientes. São discutidas também as implicações destes resultados para pesquisas futuras.