TY - JOUR
T1 - Folkecology and commons management in the Maya lowlands
AU - Atran, Scott
AU - Medin, Douglas
AU - Ross, Norbert
AU - Lynch, Elizabeth
AU - Coley, John
AU - Ek', Edilberto Ucan
AU - Vapnarsky, Valentina
PY - 1999/6/22
Y1 - 1999/6/22
N2 - Three groups living off the same rainforest habitat manifest strikingly distinct behaviors, cognitions, and social relationships relative to the forest. Only the area's last native Maya reveal systematic awareness of ecological complexity involving animals, plants, and people and practices clearly favoring forest regeneration. Spanish-speaking immigrants prove closer to native Maya in thought, action, and social networking than do immigrant Maya. There is no overriding 'local,' 'Indian,' or 'immigrant' relationship to the environment. Results indicate that exclusive concern with rational self-interest and institutional constraints do not sufficiently account for commons behavior and that cultural patterning of cognition and access to relevant information are significant predictors. Unlike traditional accounts of relations between culture, cognition, and behavior, the models offered are not synthetic interpretations of people's thoughts and behaviors but are emergent cultural patterns derived statistically from measurements of individual cognitions and behaviors.
AB - Three groups living off the same rainforest habitat manifest strikingly distinct behaviors, cognitions, and social relationships relative to the forest. Only the area's last native Maya reveal systematic awareness of ecological complexity involving animals, plants, and people and practices clearly favoring forest regeneration. Spanish-speaking immigrants prove closer to native Maya in thought, action, and social networking than do immigrant Maya. There is no overriding 'local,' 'Indian,' or 'immigrant' relationship to the environment. Results indicate that exclusive concern with rational self-interest and institutional constraints do not sufficiently account for commons behavior and that cultural patterning of cognition and access to relevant information are significant predictors. Unlike traditional accounts of relations between culture, cognition, and behavior, the models offered are not synthetic interpretations of people's thoughts and behaviors but are emergent cultural patterns derived statistically from measurements of individual cognitions and behaviors.
KW - Cognitive models
KW - Commons tragedy
KW - Culture consensus
KW - Social networks
KW - Sustainable agroforestry
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.96.13.7598
DO - 10.1073/pnas.96.13.7598
M3 - Article
C2 - 10377461
AN - SCOPUS:0033595019
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 96
SP - 7598
EP - 7603
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 13
ER -