Abstract The Poisson ratio υ of a polycrystalline aggregate was calculated for both the face-centered cubic and the body-centered cubic cases. A general two-body central-force interatomatic potential was used. Deviations of υ from 0.25 were verified. A lower value of υ is predicted for the f.c.c. case than for the b.c.c. case. Observed values of υ for twenty-three cubic elements are discussed in terms of the predicted values. Effects of including volume-dependent electron-energy terms in the inter-atomic potential are discussed.