The article examines whether cultural groups tend to use supernatural beliefs more to explain natural phenomena or social phenomena. Analysis of ethnographic text from 114 diverse societies reveals that supernatural explanations are more common for natural phenomena, consistent with the theory that humans tend to perceive intent and agency in the natural world. However, supernatural explanations of social phenomena were more prevalent in urbanized societies with greater social complexity and anonymity. The study highlights how people use supernatural beliefs to explain their world and how this varies across small-scale and urbanized communities.

This study presents a psychological theory for adolescent initiation ceremonies. Findings support the hypothesis that initiation is a mechanism for maintaining continuity between the stages of childhood and adulthood, when the body is physiologically in discontinuity.

This article tests hypotheses related to kinship terms, cousin marriage, and descent rules. Omaha, Crow, Eskimo, and Iroquois systems are each significantly associated with different kinship rules. Material from Northern Ghana is also considered.

This paper investigates the relationship between marital residence and warfare. The author evaluates two theories proposing opposite causalities: one, that internal warfarecauses patrilocality; the other, that residence comes first and influences type of warfare. The author presents a new model emphasizing the role of population size in determining type of warfare, which in turn affects marital residence. However, the role of migration in determining marital residence is also considered.

This study examines Crow and Omaha kinship terminologies, cross-cousin marriage practices, and descent rules. Several hypotheses relating these three variables are tested.

The purpose of this paper is to examine female puberty rites and to suggest that such rites may be explained in terms of female physiology, as symbolized, for example, by menstruation.

Textor summarizes cross-cultural findings on the status of women in relation to cultural, environmental, psychological, and social phenomena.

Textor summarizes cross-cultural findings on premarital sexual relations pertaining to cultural, environmental, psychological, and social phenomena.

This chapter explores the relationship between cultural complexity and song. Several measures of cultural complexity are correlated with different aspects of singing. All hypotheses are supported.

Textor encapsulates cross-cultural findings on marital residence relating to cultural, environmental, psychological, and social phenomena.