This article examines correlates of premarital sexual norms cross-culturally. Several explainations of restrictiveness of premarital sex are reviewed, and results indicate that accessibility of caretakers in childhood, class stratification and cultural complexity are all related to premarital sexual norms.

This study examines the lineal-collateral value orientation, wherein “emphasis is placed on the individual as an integral part of an extended family type of structure which is primary” (3). Analysis suggests this value orientation is associated with restriction of premarital sexual practices and pregnancy.

"An exchange theory of social behavior is advanced to explain intersocietal differences in sex codes…[Results indicate] modest support for the thesis that the location of power and resources as they influence social interaction and exchange are contributory forces in accounting for the level of sexual permissiveness found in society" (1).

This chapter examines the variables that favor restrictive premarital sex norms. Findings indicate that subsistence economy, technology, population size, political integration, belief in a high god, and residence are all correlated with premarital sex norms.

This article uses an evolutionary psychological approach to hypothesize about the relationships between norms regarding male and female sexual behavior and female independence. Results suggest that more female independence is related to more permissive sex norms.

In the present study, Feather explores the relationship between floor plan shape and settlement permanence in order to theorize how mobility strategy influences floor plan choice. Feather incorporates the theoretical framework of previous studies by examining how floor plans and building materials vary across mobility and residential strategies, as well as social and political concerns.

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 examines the relationship between adolescent suicide and attitudes toward premarital sexual behavior. Several hypotheses were tested, but no associations reached statistical significance.

This study relates female contributions to a variety of social variables. The author divides responses to high female contribution to subsistence into two categories: adaptive (i.e. increased exogamy, polygyny, and bridewealth) and attitudinal (i.e. increased valuation of girls and premarital permissiveness). It is proposed that where women contribute more, “they are perceived less as objects for male sexual and reproductive needs and more as a person in their own right” (149).

This chapter attempts to explain why the number, importance, and duration of food and sex taboos during pregnancy vary cross-culturally. The author hypothesizes that differences in child socialization will be associated with differences in food taboos, and differences in sexual behavior and sanctions will be associated with sex taboos. Results support the hypotheses.