This paper builds on previous Austronesian dispersal research that indicated rituals and social complexity gave rise to each other, by examining if marital residence and initiation rites co-evolved during the dispersal. Using a phylogenetic test and initiation data from 79 societies, the authors found evidence that female and male initiation rites co-evolved during the dispersal and were most stable when both initiation rites were present. The authors also suggest that proto-Austronesian society probably lacked initiation rites and such rites only developed later.

This study examines the relationship between sexual dimorphism and degree of polygyny. Authors test this relationship in both humans and non-human species. In non-human species, every correlation between sexual dimorphism (measured by body length) and degree of polygyny was significant. In human populations, sexual dimporhism was not related to degree of polygyny, however, there were some differences between populations with socially imposed monogomy and those with ecologically imposed monogamy.

A study assessed whether individuals express discriminatory attitudes in family and political settings across groups defined by COVID-19 vaccination status across 21 countries. The study found that vaccinated people express discriminatory attitudes towards unvaccinated individuals at a level as high as discriminatory attitudes commonly aimed at immigrant and minority populations. However, there was an absence of evidence that unvaccinated individuals display discriminatory attitudes towards vaccinated people. Discriminatory attitudes towards the unvaccinated were found in all countries except for Hungary and Romania and were more strongly expressed in cultures with stronger cooperative norms. The study suggests that contributors to the public good of epidemic control, such as vaccinated individuals, react negatively towards perceived "free-riders," such as unvaccinated individuals. The study also suggests that discriminatory attitudes, including support for the removal of fundamental rights, emerged despite appeals to moral obligations to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

This study explores predictors of variation in two dimensions of marital residence patterns among hunter-gatherers: 1) the tendency toward patrilocality versus matrilocality and 2) the tendency toward unilocality versus bilocality.

The present research investigates food sharing and labor sharing practices of 98 nonindustrial societies. The aims are to: 1) document the frequency and scope of sharing, and 2) test the theory that greater sharing is adaptive in societies subject to more resource stress (including natural hazards).

This article used sub-national, historical and cross-country data to examine if exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV-R) could be a factor in the formation of individualism and collectivism. The study found support, across all data sets, that increased exposure to UV-R is associated to more collectivism within a culture. The authors theorized that UV-R exposure increases the likelihood of eye disease causing higher rates of blindness. With increased levels of blindness, the more emphasis there will be on close family relations and/or increased uncertainty avoidance from out-groups leading to more collectivism in a culture.

This article discusses constraints on role behavior that affect the division of labor, focusing on women’s childcare responsibilities, the nature of production sequences, and occupational specialization. The authors employ entailment analysis to examine 50 activities; results suggest three findings: 1) men are more likely to be assigned tasks that require travel and exposure to danger, 2) men are more likely to perform tasks that are early in the production sequence, and 3) if women perform a task at an early stage of production, they are more likely to perform subsequent tasks.

Using a cross-cultural sample of 91 societies, this paper draws on ecological theory to test if unpredictable environments will favor subsistence diversification. The general hypothesis is that societies with high climate unpredictability and resource stress would exhibit more subsistence diversity than societies in more stable climates. The authors examined four environmental and resource stress variables while controlling for temperature variance, subsistence activity, and phylogeny. Support was found for 2 of the 4 variables--chronic scarcity and environmental instability. In the discussion they suggest that more commonly observed events (e.g. annual hunger and climate unpredictability) may give people more motivation to change subsistence than rarer events (e.g. natural hazards and famine).

This article reviews theories of marital power and tests for a relationship between wives’ contribution to subsistence and their conjugal power in patriarchal cultures. Results indicate a positive association. The role of cultural complexity is also considered; its relationship with wives’ power is negative and linear while its relationship with wives’ contribution to subsistence is negative and non-linear.

This article examines the relationship between sexual dimorphism of stature and latitude; data support the association. The authors also find support for an association between latitude and human marriage systems, a variable proposed by Alexander (1979) to explain variation in sexual dimorphism of stature. When societies are categorized by latitude, the relationships between marriage systems and sexual dimorphism do not reach significance. Overall the authors emphasize the influence of environmental adaptation on sexual dimorphism rather than an explanation solely focused on male-male competition.