The present study examines the relationship between pathogen prevalence and the domestic living-organization of 186 societies from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS). The measurement for pathogen stress consists of ten diseases described by Low (1991) and Caden and Steele (2013). These are dengue, typhus, plague, filariae, schistosomes, leishmanias, trypanosomes, malaria, leprosy, and spirochetes; the transmission for these diseases was contagious and/or mobile. The measurement for the living organization came from the 'Household Form' variable by Murdock and White (1969). The seven categories of household form variable were then re-coded into two variables. The first is modular, which includes single-family and family homestead. The second is communal and includes large communal structure, multifamily household, husband rotates, individuals, married, and husband separate. The findings offer support for the evolutionary hypothesis that modular living is adaptive because it may reduce pathogen stress. Specifically, pathogen stress is influential in the way people live.

This study found that the more language speakers there are, the more phonemes in the language. In addition, the more language speakers, the more vowels and consonants. While some language families have more phonemes than others, this did not affect the results. The goal of this paper was only to illustrate a link between the two and the authors hope this work encourages further examination into this relationship.

This article is chiefly concerned with the cross-national validity of measures of precarious manhood beliefs (PMB) as well as correlations between those beliefs, other gender ideologies, and measures of development and gender equity. While much of the orientation of this paper is psychological, individual constructions of gender and the ideologies that inform them are culturally specific. Thus, this sort of research allows researchers and theorists an opportunity to glimpse an outline of what might be a deep structure to masculinity cross-culturally. By analyzing data collected through surveys of 34,023 undergraduates in 62 countries, the researchers were able to test for psychometric isomorphism between individuals and country-level data in order to validate their measures. Subsequently, the researchers were able to test correlations between PMB and hostile sexism (HS), benevolent sexism (BS), hostility towards men (HM), and benevolence towards men (BM). This situated the PMB construct within a larger literature on the nature of masculinity. Finally, the researchers tested PMB against the Human Development Index (HDI) and Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI). The researchers conclude that not only is their measure of precarious manhood beliefs valid but that this construct comports well with other theories of gender ideology cross-nationally.

This paper examines the Berlin-Kay color salience theory and offers four correlates of color salience: earliness of introduction, brevity of expression, frequency of use, and frequency of mention in ethnographic literature. All four correlations support the Berlin-Kay theory. The authors suggest that salience may be “an important general principle of cultural evolution” (1107).

This study uses targeted literature surveys to explore why hunter-gatherer children in the Global South have much lower participation in formal schooling compared to other marginalized groups. Reviewing through various literatures, the article hypothesizes that cultural values of autonomy, combined with economic, infrastructural, and social barriers, conflict with the hierarchical structure of the formal education systems. Their review finds that while schools threaten the transmission of traditional knowledge and languages, communities also see them as potential sources of empowerment. The article concluded by emphasizing that hunter-gatherer groups themselves should determine the role and value of schooling for their children. No formal hypothesis tests were made.

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 uses the Standard Cross-Cultural Samples to test the relationship between disease and economic growth among sub-Saharan African societies. The authors suggest that a higher disease prevalence limits social integration and economic development since pre-colonial times. The variable measuring economic growth is the complexity of large or impressive structures. The hypotheses are that 1) pathogen stress is negatively correlated to the presence of complex buildings, and 2) pathogen stress is positively correlated to increased ethnic diversity. The results support both hypotheses, and there are additional results, like 1) the negative correlation between pathogen stress and current income per capita and 2) the negative correlation between the increased ethnic diversity and current income per capita. Overall, this article shows the robust relationship between disease and economic development.

This study relates the type of games present in a society to the level of cultural complexity. Authors use a "game-type combination scale" that categorizes societies as having: 1) games of physical skill only; 2) games of physical skill and games of chance; and 3) games of physical skill, games of chance, and games of strategy. Results show a relationship between the game-type combination scale and indicators of cultural complexity.

This article considers the consequences of modernization. Factor analysis is used to identify four stages of modernization: 1) changes in education, government, and trade; 2) changes in health, technology, and transportation; 3) changes in family, religion, and toilet; and 4) changes in behavior. The authors then consider five trends they expect to be associated with modernization and test whether they develop over the course of the four stages. Results indicate that these 5 trends—increased cultural complexity, female status, pacification, suicide, and social stress—are associated with only the first and fourth stages.