HRAF Staff Updates
Maureen Sacchetti, who served as our Office Assistant for 20 years, will retire at the end of this month. During her time of employment at HRAF, Maureen played a crucial role supporting various departments including…
Tag Archives: cross-cultural research
HRAF Academic Quarterly, Vol 2023-02
HRAF Academic Quarterly Vol 2023-02 By Francine Barone This summary features some of the exciting research accomplished using HRAF data from the eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology databases as well as Explaining Human Culture…
HRAF membership director interviewed for NPR segment on romantic kissing
The phenomenon of romantic kissing continues to fascinate people around the world. While people in western societies often take for granted the notion that romantic partners express their desire for one another through open-mouthed kissing,…
Using eHRAF to explore supernatural explanations for natural and social events
Belief in the supernatural is a cultural universal. While there is considerable variation in supernatural belief systems across cultures, some form of belief in gods, spirits, and similar phenomena occurs in all cultures. George Peter…
Dogs Across Cultures: Using eHRAF data
The special relationship between dogs and humans is endlessly fascinating. For many of us, dogs are at the center of our homes and hearts. However, most of what we know about dog-human bonds, dog behavior,…
Recap of the Second HRAF Summer Institute for Cross-Cultural Anthropological Research (July 18 to August 5, 2022)
Our second NSF-supported Summer Institute for Cross-Cultural Anthropological Research was held on the Yale University campus this summer. It was an intense and exciting three weeks for the instructors and the 12 participants that included…
A Cross-Cultural Study of Uniformity in Dress
Why do people in some societies dress in uniform or standardized ways, whereas in other societies individuals display considerable variability in dress? Tentative answers to this question will appear as an article titled “Uniformity in…
NPR Article Features ‘Alloparenting’ Across Cultures
In an article for National Public Radio (NPR) titled Bringing up a baby can be a tough and lonely job. Here’s a solution: alloparents, Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD looks at the practice of alloparenting across cultures. Doucleff…
Marriage and Family – A New Topical Summary for Explaining Human Culture
A new topical summary on Marriage and Family is now available in Explaining Human Culture, our open access database that summarizes the results of over 1,000 cross-cultural studies. This EHC summary is co-authored by HRAF President Carol R.…
Romantic or disgusting? Passionate kissing is not a human universal
By Francine Barone From pop culture to evolutionary psychology, we have come to take kissing for granted as universally desirable among humans and inseparable from other aspects of affection and intimacy. However, a recent article…