This article tests four hypotheses regarding scarification, which is described as 1) a rite of passage, 2) a hardening/trauma procedure, 3) a nonadaptive sexually selected character, or 4) an adaptive pathogen driven sexually selected character. Only the third hypothesis is supported in a worldwide sample, suggesting that scarification is associated with polygyny. The other three are each supported in different regional subsamples—principally the first hypothesis (supported in Africa, the Insular Pacific, and South America).

This study explores the concept of "healthy" and "sick" societies. The author considers indicators of stress as correlates of sick and healthy societies and finds that the best indicator of the sickness or healthiness of a society is its suicide rate.

In this article Hames addresses the long-standing disagreements between evolutionary theories regarding human warfare (more specifically between Rousseauian and Hobbesian frameworks). This study posits that while most current and previous research focuses on the discrepancies between the frequency and intensity with which warfare takes place between hunter-gatherer and large-scale societies, the ability for societies to live in peace with their neighbors despite the possibility for warfare, is the most important evolutionary trait. Coexisting peacefully is what distinguishes human socially and politically from chimpanzees whereas warfare itself is a more primitive trait humans share with previous ancestors. Hames concludes that going forward, use of phylogenetic methods to control for common ancestry, and use of archaeological data would lead to new and more comprehensive findings. Although largely a review of principal warfare literature, Hames does present an original statistical finding on adult violence mortality which is reported below.

This study negates the hypothesis that romantic love is unique to Euro-American culture and provides evidence of romantic love in the majority of cultures sampled.

Building on comparative study of the Mormons, Texans, and Zuni in the Rimrock area of Southwestern U.S., the authors cross-cultural test some hypotheses cross-culturally.

This article presents an attempt to cross-culturally test of the hypothesis that rituals and/or behavioral changes will be associated with menopause. Due to a lack of sufficient data, statistical analyses were not performed but an examination of the ethnographic literature on the topic is presented.

The paper presents the preliminary findings of pilot studies testing the factors affecting the variation in rules regarding premarital sex cross-culturally. Only the trends emerging from the pilot studies are discussed. No findings are conclusive.

This study is a reexamination of Bacon's (1965) previous cross-cultural study regarding drinking. The current study supports the dependency-conflict hypothesis that frequency of drunkenness is related to dependency needs in childhood and adulthood.

Using a self selected sample of 33 ex British colonies and the Ethnic Power Relations database, the author sampled 170 ethnic groups from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to test for association between precolonial state formation, colonial state building tactics, and modern ethnic conflicts. The author theorized that ethnic groups that were centrally governed before the colonial period were less likely to be recruited to colonial security forces, leaving them out of the picture during the formation of the independence movement and the formation of a post-colonial regime. This in turn is theorized to lead to greater contemporary armed conflict against the regime from which they were excluded.

This study investigates cross-cultural determinants and consequences of parental affection and rejection. Findings indicate that accepted children are less hostile and dependent and have higher self-esteem in both childhood and adulthood. Additional findings suggest that children who experienced parental acceptance had higher emotional responsiveness, better world view, more emotional stability, generosity, and nurturance as adults.