The author evaluates predictions from the standard model of intensification of food production and suggests it be rejected based on an analysis of 40 societies. The standard model proposes that food producers will increase their energy input until the maximum possible output is achieved, at which point output and labor productivity will fall and producers will invent or adopt new technologies. He then proposes a different model, which he terms the cultural niche construction model. The cultural niche construction model proposes that societies will minimize their energy input while maximizing their returns through continual technological adaptation and niche construction. After predictions from this second model are tested, the author suggests tentatively accepting the cultural niche construction model as a new framework to explain transitions to complex societies.

This article examines child-training through children's display of individualistic orientations (self-reliance, achievement, and general independence) and/or group orientations (responsibility, nurturance, and obedience). Five sub-categories measure whether each orientation is linked to a child's experience of general pressure or performance anxiety/conflict. Together, these orientations their sub-categories total 30 variables that were correlated; differences in gender were also examined. Results indicate that child-rearing pressure to act one way predicts pressure to act in other ways, and this pattern of interaction between variables did not vary by gender.

This study examines the relationship between disequilibrium and cognitive development using measurements of child-rearing, presence of high gods, and games of strategy.

This study examines the role of schooling in socialization processes and cultural complexity, seeking to understand whether schooling is correlated with these variables and/or affects them. The author concludes that school serves as a socializer for young children, a skill developer for older children, and a homogenizing force on societal child-rearing practices.

This study examines the relationship between disequilibrium in child-rearing and societal complexity (particularly social complexity rather than technical complexity). The author suggests that child-rearing plays a role in forming cultural dimensions.

This article tests the relationship between child-training variables and cultural complexity. Attention is paid to different types of socialization pressure (group-oriented versus individual-oriented; the degree of anxiety created by the pressure). Findings suggest that group-oriented socialization promotes societal complexity, but individual-oriented socialization and pressure-induced anxiety do not.

This study tests for potential correlates of the fear of death in non-literate societies. Significant associations were found between the use of love-oriented techniques for punishment and a fear of death and a high need to achieve and a fear of death.

This article examines the relationship between religiousness, child socialization, and cultural complexity. Empirical analysis suggests that there is a positive association between cultural complexity and religiousness, especially ritual. Religiousness was also associated with schooling, one of the child-rearing variables examined. A theoretical discussion concerning religion and intellect is also included.

This article investigates how population density affects social behavior, particularly whether it is a cause of stress in humans that manifests in pathological behavior or mistreatment of children. Analysis indicates that population density is not a cause of these behaviors, and with some variables (such as with divorce and sexual anxiety), there is a negative association with population density.

This study examines the relationship between disciplining children and cognitive complexity. 1027 relationships between individual variable pairs are tested, and a significant portion support an association between pressure for obedience to social norms and complexity. Additional socialization variables are considered; gender and age differences are also discussed.