The Life Game

Survival Strategies in Ethiopian Folktales

Bibliographic Data

ID2315375
AuthorsDavid C Korten (Graduate School of Business Administration Harvard University; Instituto Centroamericano de Administracion de Empresas Managua, Nicaragua, corresponding author)
Year1971
Volume2
Issue3
Pages209-224
Publication date1971-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0221 • E-ISSN: 1552-5422
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/002202217100200301
OpenAlexW2117543221
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited17

A content analysis of behavior patterns in 129 Ethiopian folktales to identify rules governing payoffs in the game of everyday living as perceived in the traditional Ethiopian culture is presented. The study concluded that Ethiopians tend to view the life game as zero-sum, non-shared sum, and yielding at best a limited payoff. This view results in a set of survival strategies based on self-protection, deception, and revenge aimed either at maintaining the status quo or advancing oneself at the expense of others. Perceived opportunities for initiative and cooperation in service to the community are limited. Personal efficacy is perceived as present in interpersonal exchanges, but not in exchanges with the impersonal environment

Business · Economics · Everyday life · Interpersonal communication · Microeconomics · Political science · Public relations · Service (business · Set (abstract data type · Status quo · Stochastic game · Survival of the fittest · African history and culture analysis · Computer Science · Law · Marketing · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub