This dissertation takes a sociobiological approach to examining altruistic behavior in humans. Hypotheses regarding the relationship between individuals and altruistic behaviors are tested and supported by cross-cultural analysis.

This article takes an evolutionary approach to understanding the patterns of characterization in folktales cross-culturally. Results indicate that literature shares several common themes cross-culturally, including mate selection and kin directed altruism.

"The kin selection hypothesis posits that male androphilia evolved because androphilic males invest more in kin, thereby enhancing inclusive fitness." However, increased kin-directed altruism has only been seen in societies that exhibit transgendered male androphilia. To test the validity of the kin selection hypothesis for male androphilia, the authors examine the relationship between ancestral sociocultural conditions, access to kin, and societal reactions to homosexuality and the expression of male androphilia as transgendered or non-transgendered. They find that ancestral sociocultural conditions and bilateral and double descent systems were more common in transgendered than non-transgendered societies.

In this article, the author seeks to correlate interpersonal values with attitudes toward private property. After giving a brief intellectual history on the philosophy of private property, the author draws data from the Multinational Student Survey (MSS) in order to discern attitudes towards private property and preferences for one of six psychological constructs (Support, Conformity, Recognition, Independence, Benevolence, Leadership) which were outlined in the Survey of Interpersonal Values which was itself incorporated in the aforementioned MSS. These measures were then edited in order to be correlated and the reliability of each was verified. The strongest correlations that resulted were for dominance and nonconformity. The author concludes without a theory of how to reckon with these seemingly paradoxical results.

Researchers sampled 48 societies cross-culturally to study the genetic survival of male homosexual preference, which is argued to be deleterious in nature due to its fertility costs. The researchers test for a sexually antagonistic factor that would produce a pleotropic advantage, such as male homosexual preference increasing the reproduction of sisters. Utilizing theoretical models, researchers assert that the survival of male homosexual preference is a result of the positive association between social stratification and discriminate female hypergyny due to selection for attractiveness in females.

In this article, the author seeks to correlate interpersonal values with attitudes toward private property. After giving a brief intellectual history on the philosophy of private property, the author draws data from the Multinational Student Survey (MSS) in order to discern attitudes towards private property and preferences for one of six psychological constructs (Support, Conformity, Recognition, Independence, Benevolence, Leadership) which were outlined in the Survey of Interpersonal Values which was itself incorporated in the aforementioned MSS. These measures were then edited in order to be correlated and the reliability of each was verified. The strongest correlations that resulted were for dominance and nonconformity. The author concludes without a theory of how to reckon with these seemingly paradoxical results.

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).

The researcher looks for empirical evidence of natural selection as an explanation for worldwide variation in novelty-seeking behavior. Examining the relationship between variability in frequency of the DRD4 exon III 7-repeat allele variant (a variant theorized to stifle dopamine reception and thus encourage compensatory novelty-seeking behavior) and migratory distance from prehistoric humans' origin point in East Africa yields a positive correlation. After controlling for various biogeographic indicators, the researcher theorizes that presence of the DRD4 exon III 7-repeat variant provided an exploratory urge and evolutionary advantage to hunter-gatherers and pastoralists who migrated into unfamiliar environments.

The researcher looks for empirical evidence of natural selection as an explanation for worldwide variation in novelty-seeking behavior. Examining the relationship between variability in frequency of the DRD4 exon III 7-repeat allele variant (a variant theorized to stifle dopamine reception and thus encourage compensatory novelty-seeking behavior) and migratory distance from prehistoric humans' origin point in East Africa yields a positive correlation. After controlling for various biogeographic indicators, the researcher theorizes that presence of the DRD4 exon III 7-repeat variant provided an exploratory urge and evolutionary advantage to hunter-gatherers and pastoralists who migrated into unfamiliar environments.

In this study, the authors inspect the relationship between religion, morality, and cooperation by examining the extent to which people associate their deities with moral concern. Using data from 2,228 individuals in 15 different field sites, they find that on average, people tend to ascribe at least some moral concern to their deities, and this effect is stable even after controlling for the influence of explicitly moralistic deities that these societies also worship. The authors also find that ratings of moral concern are not necessarily very high, even for deities that are typically considered to be moralistic, and that there is individual-level variation in the degree of moral concern attributed to deities. In addition, there is an individual-level correlation between how morally interested two selected deities are conceived to be and that being male or more educated decreases the likelihood of associating deities with moral concern. These findings challenge the longstanding belief that belief in moralistic deities is unique to certain societies or religions and instead suggest that the association between deities and moral concern is more widespread and variable, and suggest that the moral character of gods may be tied to cooperation within societies.