Using regression analyses with a sample of over one million under 5 children across 66 developing nations from the Demographic and Health Survey, this study explores the impact of son preference on health disparities between male and female children. The authors consider the Grossman Theory (1972), which suggests health as a lasting "capital stock in the production of healthy time". The idea is that health gradually diminishes and can be restored through investments in various health-related factors such as nutrition and medical services. Although parents with son preference may make distinct and rational investments in both genders, favoritism may impact the health outcomes of female children. The authors suggest that the degree of son preference's impact will vary between families according to their socio-economic background. There is support for both hypotheses, since the results show that son preference enhances health disparities based on gender and disproportionately affects female children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

This study tests the validity of two previous diachronic studies examining the relationship between subsistence strategy and sexual dimorphism of stature with synchronic data. The authors find that neither hypothesis is valid.

The effect of female status on women's mate preference in a sample of nonindustrial societies is examined.

The 'obstetrical dilemma' postulates that human females evolved a pelvis shape that was a compromise between the needs of bipedal locomotion and the need for a wider pelvic opening. The implication is that the female pelvis should be similar across the world. Researchers examine the size and shape of the birth canal of female individuals in the Goldman and Human Origin datasets. Contrary to the 'obstetrical dilemma,' the findings reveal that there is indeed significant geographical variation in size and shape of the female birth canal. Neutral evolutionary processes, particularly genetic drift, were suggested to be influential in female canal shape whereas the predicted effects of climate on canal diversity were only minimal.

This article suggests that Wilson's definition of sociobiology, which incorporates underlying principles of animal social behavior, can be applied to human bahvior. Specifically, Wilson's assertion that the major ecological conditions associated with monogamy in animal societies, is tested on human societies.

The purpose of this article is to examine circumcision and segregation of males at puberty. It is suggested that when the son has insufficient contact with his father due to the separation caused by polygynous relationships, the son may develop a feminine personality. The significance of this is compared with the significance of a close mother-son relationship.

The purpose of this article is to examine circumcision and segregation of males at puberty. It is suggested that when the son has insufficient contact with his father due to the separation caused by polygynous relationships, the son may develop a feminine personality. The significance of this is compared with the significance of a close mother-son relationship.

This study is a comprehensive analysis of female and male genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C and MGM/C) practices, including their history and socio-ecological correlates, using a phylogenetic cross-cultural framework. It employed two global ethnographic samples, the Ethnographic Atlas (EA) and the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS), and two subsets of the phylogeny (supertree) of human populations based on genetic and linguistic data, to investigate the variables that may have led to the introduction of these practices, and to determine where and when they may have originated. The study suggests that MGM/C probably originated in polygynous societies with separate residence for co-wives, supporting a mate-guarding function, and that FGM/C likely originated subsequently and almost exclusively in societies already practicing MGM/C, where it may have become a signal of chastity. Both practices are believed to have originated multiple times, some as early as in the mid-Holocene (5,000–7,000 years ago). The study posits that GM/C co-evolves with and may help maintain fundamental social structures and that the high fitness costs of FGM/C are offset by social benefits, such as enhanced marriageability and social capital.

The Trivers-Willard hypothesis posits that concentrations of human milk immune factors vary with maternal condition (maternal diet diversity and body mass index) and the sex of the infant. Using linear mixed-effects models to analyze 358 milk samples from 10 international sites, the authors find minimal support for the Trivers-Willard hypothesis; only one immune factor, IgG, exhibited a significant relationship.

Authors look for associations between the gender of children and several dimensions of socialization anxiety.