Diffusionist theories have it that there are direct or indirect links between various cultures, which may have been disseminated intentionally or unintentionally by way of trade, migration, missionary activity or colonization, and have generally been transmitted from more highly developed cultures to less developed ones.
所謂「文化傳播論」，就是認為各文化之間有直接或間接的關連，可能透過往鄰近地區逐步擴散，或是透過貿易、移民、傳教、殖民、武力征服等有意或無意的方式散播出去，通常是從發展較高的文化傳到發展較低的文化。