Using a cross-cultural sample of 91 societies, this paper draws on ecological theory to test if unpredictable environments will favor subsistence diversification. The general hypothesis is that societies with high climate unpredictability and resource stress would exhibit more subsistence diversity than societies in more stable climates. The authors examined four environmental and resource stress variables while controlling for temperature variance, subsistence activity, and phylogeny. Support was found for 2 of the 4 variables--chronic scarcity and environmental instability. In the discussion they suggest that more commonly observed events (e.g. annual hunger and climate unpredictability) may give people more motivation to change subsistence than rarer events (e.g. natural hazards and famine).

This article investigates paternal warmth, particularly its relationship with parental proximity (often used as its proxy) and maternal warmth. The author also investigates whether paternal warmth, paternal proximity, materal warmth, and socialization for aggression are good predictors of theft, homicide, and violence in offspring.

Apostolou examines the argument that most of human evolution occurred in an environment where individuals had limited opportunity to exercise choice. This argument derives from evidence indicating that among contemporary and ancestral postindustrial societies, mate choice is regulated by parents choosing their children's spouses. Results from the present study show that in an arranged marriage setting, there is still space for individuals to exercise choice in mates (through premarital and extramarital relationships, as well as rape). Apostolou discusses possible explanations for these findings, as well as their evolutionary significance.

This study tests three hypotheses on the evolution of the human pair-bond: male-provisioning, male mating competition, and the defense of offspring from other males. Findings indicate that male provisioning and mating competition are factors in the development of the pair-bond. Additional findings indicate that alloparentling, polygyny, and equal contribution to subsistence by each sex contribute to the security of the pair-bond.

In this article, the authors seek to determine cross-culturally valid predictors of dominant types of human subsistence around the world. They did this by formulating multiple models that incorporate different combinations of environmental, geographic, and social factors. These models were then used to test various hypotheses posed throughout the anthropological literature surrounding factors that determine dominant subsistence strategies.

This article explores the association between father-son relationships and bridewealth. Bridewealth becomes an instrument through which male parents impose their will on their male offspring. The hypotheses are supported by the results presented.

This study tests possible explanations for sexual dimorphism in human post-reproductive life-spans. The author focuses on explanations involving male paternal investment and finds that men in agricultural societies are more likely to invest in their offspring than men in hunter-gatherer societies.

Evolutionary anthropologists have long emphasized the puzzle of short inter-birth intervals, extended childhoods, and long post-reproductive lives of humans, in particular the problem it poses for raising children. While there is agreement that mothers receive assistance from kin to offset the high costs of raising children, opinion is equivocal as to which kin help and to what extent they help. Here the authors review 45 studies from historical and contemporary natural fertility populations to assess the effects of various types of kin on child survival rates.

This article uses factor analysis to identify the key variables underlying the many cross-cultural associations reported by Textor (1967). Twelve factors are identified.

This study examines husband-wife relationships, specifically rooming and sleeping arrangements, as they relate to variables such as infant care, subsistence, residence, and cultural complexity. Several hypotheses are tested and all are supported.