Does a woman’s age predict her preferences for an ideal partner? Through a cross-cultural study of heterosexual women ages 18-67 from 147 countries, the authors of this article find that age has a negligible effect on a woman’s partner preferences in general. However, they do find some relationships between age and specific preferences, such as confidence-assertiveness, intention to be a parent, and the age range deemed acceptable for a partner.

Aiming to better understand human demographic and dispersal history, the study uses Bayesian phylogenetic comparative methods to trace post-marital residence and cultural changes among 27 Indo-European and 135 Austronesian languages. They suggest that changes from uxorilocality to other types of residences (neolocality and virolocality) are more common than the inverse transitions. The results are generally supported with one exception: Austronesian societies have a higher rate of transition from neolocality to uxorilocality (1.5) than the other way around (0.9). Other relevant findings are that proto-Indo-European societies tend to follow virilocality, while proto-Malayo-Polynesian uxorilocality. There is a commonality for both language families to present instability of uxorilocality and unusual loss of uxorilocality.

This study focuses on predictors of divorce, cross-culturally. Variables measuring infidelity, infertility, personality, economy, kin, absence, health, ritual and politics are tested. An evolutionary/adaptionist approach is found to be most useful in explaining the nature of conjugal dissolution cross-culturally.

This article uses a Darwinian approach, predicting that hierarchies persist and increase in social evolution because they increase fitness for individuals at higher levels within the hierarchy who choose to further social assymetry and benefit their fitness at the expense of the greater group. Polygyny is used as the indicator of fitness. Correlations tested support the hypothesis.

This article tests differing theories of why a man's marriage of his mother's brother's daughter is often encouraged while marriage of the father's sister's daughter is discouraged. Maintenance of relationships between bride-givers and bride takers is considered, as are the role of childhood sentiments in choosing a spouse.

In this study of 80 societies, the author initially sets out to test the theory that if social customs and rules forbid satisfaction of sexual impulses, "civilization" will be built based on sacrifices of these desires.

This article tests the effect of environmental risk on parental investment, differentiating between maternal and paternal care. Results indicate that the saturation point of parental investment may be a function of environmental risk, as parental care experiences diminishing returns due to extrinsic risks.

This study examines the relationship between pairbonds and lactation, specifically the relationship between pairbond stability, alloparenting, and cross-cultural trends in breastfeeding. Findings show that both conjugal stability and availability of alloparental care are associated with age at weaning.

This article explores differences between "tight" cultures ("have many strong norms and low tolerance of deviant behavior") and "loose" cultures ("have weak social norms and high tolerance of deviant behavior"). The tightness-looseness measure manifests in a myriad of macro and micro phenomena, from governance and religiosity to individual psychological processes. This study investigates these phenomena in modern nations rather than traditional societies. Potential ecological, historical, and socio-political predictors of tightness-looseness are also examined.

This study employs a psychological theory and builds on the holocultural literature on male homosexuality. Two hypotheses relating homosexual behavior among men to social constructs for sexuality (the couvade, male transvestism) are derived from a study by Munroe (1980). The hypotheses are tested and supported in a sample of cultures drawn from Munroe's codes and the Human Relations Area Files.