This book is concerned with explaining variation in the status of women. The author, after measuring over 50 aspects of status, first concludes that status is not a unitary concept. Therefore the author looks at 10 different domains of status. Many traditional explanations are not supported; most support is found for the influence of social complexity which generally lowers female status.

A feminist critique of ethnographic information is tested to determine if the gender of fieldworkers or coders has a significant effect on the reliability of data regarding women's status. Findings indicate that there is no male bias in coding. With regard to male versus female ethnographers, only a few results (no more than chance) found any evidence of possible bias, but they are all in the same direction with female ethnographers more favorable. Author suggests that any bias will be lessened by using more specific coding scales.

This article examines the relationship between childhood experience and adult personality. This aspect of the adult personality is defined as ego strength. The emphasis of this study is mental health, maturity and the effectiveness of adult learning. Psychoanalytic theory predicts curvilinear relationships but most relationships are linear.

The relationships of aggression and crime to variables of childhood experience, adult behavior, and social structure are cross-culturally analyzed.

High infant and child mortality rates are suggested to be one of the most enduring and important features of ancestral human environments, referred to as the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA). These rates contrast with the very low rates of infant and child mortality among many industrialized nations since the 19th and 20th centuries. The authors compare data from recent hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies, historical records, and non-human primates in attempt to quantitatively describe infant and child mortality rates during the EEA.

This article tests a hypothesis regarding patterns of infant care in non-industrial societies. The authors find that a consistent pattern of infant care that emphasizes mother-infant contact exists among hunter-gatherers and other non-industrial societies. These infant care practices differ from those found in the United states that do not promote extensive infant-mother contact.

The present research inquires into the effects, if any, that male status and power have on extramarital sex, parental investment, and polygyny. Using sexual selection theory, the hypothesis is that males in higher positions of power and status are more likely to engage in extramarital sexual activities and be in polygynous relationships was supported. There was no support for an association between male extramarital sex and parental investment.

This chapter examines infant carrying practices across cultures. The author suggests that infant carrying practices are affected by both climate and history. Findings indicate regional patterns in infant carrying practices and in the borrowing of infant carrying practices within regions. Results support the hypothesis.

This study attempted to replicate earlier findings regarding population structure and teen pregnancy rates. Findings support the previous predictions that sex ratio, economic development, and latitude are all inversely related to teen birth rates.

This book discusses the role of women cross-culturally. The authors use a cross-cultural sample to examine the differences between men and women in contribution to subsistence as well as the social juxtaposition of the sexes in foraging, horticultural, agricultural, pastoral, and industrial societies.