This comment suggests methodological flaws in Gaulin and Schlegel’s (1980) article on male parental certainty and investment practices. The authors take issue with multiple coding decisions and suggest that the findings from the 1980 study ought to be rejected; data does not support a positive association between male parental certainty and investment practices.

This article provides a new explanation of matrilineal inheritence and paternity certainty, suggesting that matrilineal inheritance is most advantageous for women and can be described as a grandmaternal strategy. Results suggest a strong relationship between matrilineal inheritance and moderate to low probability of paternity, and an even stronger relationship between patrilineal inheritance and high probability of paternity.

This study discusses many variables that may influence the direction of altruism within a family. Significant relationships were found between paternity certainty, conjugal instability, marital residence, cross-cousin marriage preferences, and direction of altruistic behavior. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of the mother's brother.

This article examines the relationship between inheritance and paternity certainty. Results indicate an "association between relatively frequent female extramarital sex and a cultural norm that allows men to designate heirs whose relatedness is relatively unaffected by low probability of paternity."

Using paternal investment theory, the authors examine the relationship between paternal confidence and paternal investment in humans.

This article uses an evolutionary psychological approach to hypothesize about the relationships between norms regarding male and female sexual behavior and female independence. Results suggest that more female independence is related to more permissive sex norms.

This study tests competing theories about whether it is men, women, or parents who benefit most from restricting female premarital sex (FPS) in a global sample of 128 non-industrial societies. The study found support for the idea that multiple parties benefit from restrictions on FPS -- specifically FPS is more restricted in societies intolerant of extramarital sex and where men transfer property to their children (male control), as well as where marriages are arranged by parents (parental control). They also found that major predictors of FPS appear to be paternity uncertainty and parent-offspring conflict. Furthermore, the study found that multiple factors such as social roles, rather than stereotyped sex roles, are a more useful approach in understanding FPS restrictions and these restrictions.

This article examines the results of a study (Gaulin 1980) on male parental certainty and subsistence type. Methodological errors are assessed and the hypotheses are retested.

This study examines several aspects of human society that are associated with underlying patterns of genetic relationships. Results suggest that paternity certainty (measured by female extramarital promiscuity) is related to kinship terminology systems and marriage systems.

This study tests the hypothesis that humans tend to transmit wealth to male heirs where polygyny is possible. The results support this hypothesis.