This study reveals that in hunting and gathering societies thought to be akin to those of our ancestors, female choice is constained by the control that parents exercise over their daughters. Since parental control is the typical pattern of mate choice among extant foragers, it is likely that this pattern was also prevalent throughout human evolution.

This study explores the extent to which heterosexual sex, love, and intimacy are interrelated and the degree to which the sexual revolution has had a positive or negative impact on male-female relationships. The author employs a correlation matrix to examine the interrelationships of several variables related to aloofness and intimacy in the sexual and non-sexual aspects of heterosexual relationships. Results suggest that the sexual revolution has had some positive effects on male-female relationships, but also that sexual behavior does not predict the degree to which marriages are intimate or aloof. Results also show little support for the hypothesis that marital aloofness is related to hypermasculinity.

This book examines social, cultural, biological and psychological aspects of human sexuality. Sex and reproduction are both discussed in depth. Empirical analysis is included throughout, and an integrated model of sexuality is discussed. Only a few selected hypotheses are entered here.

Previous studies have proposed a model of sexual selection that dictates that along with female and male choice, parental choice constitutes a significant sexual selection force in our species. This article aims at examining whether this model can also account for the mating patterns typical of agricultural and pastoral societies. The hypotheses are supported by the results presented.

Apostolou examines the argument that most of human evolution occurred in an environment where individuals had limited opportunity to exercise choice. This argument derives from evidence indicating that among contemporary and ancestral postindustrial societies, mate choice is regulated by parents choosing their children's spouses. Results from the present study show that in an arranged marriage setting, there is still space for individuals to exercise choice in mates (through premarital and extramarital relationships, as well as rape). Apostolou discusses possible explanations for these findings, as well as their evolutionary significance.

This article expands on Buss's (1989) study of the differences in male and female mate preferences in Western folktale characters by adding non-Western data. The new results show support for Buss's original findings.

Drawing on various theories regarding the sexual division of labor, Broude examines the relationship between task differentiation by sex and gender-related behaviors/customs.

The author performs tests of hypothesized relationships between arranged marriage and various forms of non-sanctioned mate choice. Overall, the author theorizes that where marriages are arranged, mate choice will be found in higher prevalence of premarital sex, extramarital sex, and rape. Most tests support these relationships in the hypothesized directions, suggesting that strict regulation of marriage provides parents with some, but far from complete control over the mate choice of their offspring.

This study tests competing theories about whether it is men, women, or parents who benefit most from restricting female premarital sex (FPS) in a global sample of 128 non-industrial societies. The study found support for the idea that multiple parties benefit from restrictions on FPS -- specifically FPS is more restricted in societies intolerant of extramarital sex and where men transfer property to their children (male control), as well as where marriages are arranged by parents (parental control). They also found that major predictors of FPS appear to be paternity uncertainty and parent-offspring conflict. Furthermore, the study found that multiple factors such as social roles, rather than stereotyped sex roles, are a more useful approach in understanding FPS restrictions and these restrictions.

In this study, the authors explore the presence of disagreement between parents and their children over choice in spouse as an extension of theories regarding the evolution of mate choice. In non-human animal studies, free mate choice is generally associated with higher fitness. Thus mate preferences, in humans and non-human animals, may have evolved to improve fitness in comparison to random mating. Arranged marriages might likewise reduce biological fitness if parents choose a different spouse than their children would choose. Using ethnographic data from 119 societies, the authors assess the degree to which parents and offspring disagree on mate choice. In about 85% of the cases examined, parents disagreed with offspring choice. The authors call for explicit research on fitness outcomes when disagreement occurs.