In this study, the authors draw from intensity theory and combine previous research from the fields of behavioral ecology, economics, and social evolution to analyze drivers in the emergence and persistence of inequality across the world. They propose that environmental heterogeneity and circumscription (the difficulty of moving and establishing oneself in a new environment relative to remaining in the current one) play a significant role in the stratification of societies. Their results indicate that situations arise from various environmental conditions and levels of circumscription that may result in an individual giving up autonomy for material gain, thus favoring inequality.

This article investigates residence, descent rules, and family structure. Empirical analysis suggests that they are associated with settlement patterns, particularly economic and demographic variables.

This article examines the "sexual conflict" hypothesis which predicts that male genital mutilation should be associated with polygyny and a reduction in the frequency of extramarital sex. Male genital mutilation (MGM) rituals should be highly public and facilitate access to social benefits. Support for these assumptions is provided.

The goal of this paper is two-fold: first, a review of some of the suggestions that anthropologists have made to improve classifications of residence is presented. Second, matri-patrilocality is examined in order to illustrate the importance of considering life cycle events in interpretations of residence patterns.

The implications of male sexual jealousy, a postulated universal, are explored. A cross-cultural review of homicides and adultery law is used to indicate male sexual jealousy as a leading cause. Statistical models are not presented; conclusions are deduced from a literature review.

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 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.

This article investigates a cultural patterning of altered states of consciousness. The authors use an ordinal variable for a society's trance type; its four levels are 1) trance, 2) trance and possession trance, 3) possession trance, and 4) neither type. Results suggest that trance type is associated with measures of societal complexity and subsistence economy. Regional differences and the effects of diffusion are also examined.