This article investigates the theory that gossip, as a method of obtaining information and creating a meaningful social environment, increases in importance with society complexity. Forms of gossip in highly "modernized" societies, which are rare in the cross-cultural sample, are discussed. In addition, the authors explore associations between gender autonomy and the importance of gossip.

This article investigates the theory that gossip, as a method of obtaining information and creating a meaningful social environment, increases in importance with society complexity. Forms of gossip in highly "modernized" societies, which are rare in the cross-cultural sample, are discussed. In addition, the authors explore associations between gender autonomy and the importance of gossip.

This article investigates the theory that gossip, as a method of obtaining information and creating a meaningful social environment, increases in importance with society complexity. Forms of gossip in highly "modernized" societies, which are rare in the cross-cultural sample, are discussed. In addition, the authors explore associations between gender autonomy and the importance of gossip.

This article investigates the theory that gossip, as a method of obtaining information and creating a meaningful social environment, increases in importance with society complexity. Forms of gossip in highly "modernized" societies, which are rare in the cross-cultural sample, are discussed. In addition, the authors explore associations between gender autonomy and the importance of gossip.

The expressed purpose of the present publication is to provide a typology of institutionalized dissociational states on a world-wide basis, using biological, situational, and cultural parameters. The study is comprised of field work, literature review, ethnographic research, and cross-cultural statistical analysis. The researchers use these findings to aid in the construction of cross-cultural theory, and to provide a platform for further work on dissociational states to continue.

The expressed purpose of the present publication is to provide a typology of institutionalized dissociational states on a world-wide basis, using biological, situational, and cultural parameters. The study is comprised of field work, literature review, ethnographic research, and cross-cultural statistical analysis. The researchers use these findings to aid in the construction of cross-cultural theory, and to provide a platform for further work on dissociational states to continue.

The expressed purpose of the present publication is to provide a typology of institutionalized dissociational states on a world-wide basis, using biological, situational, and cultural parameters. The study is comprised of field work, literature review, ethnographic research, and cross-cultural statistical analysis. The researchers use these findings to aid in the construction of cross-cultural theory, and to provide a platform for further work on dissociational states to continue.

Grooming of conspecifics is thought to play an important social role among nonhuman primates, but the function and relative importance of such grooming among humans is unknown. Here the authors compare time spent grooming and conversing among six small-scale societies with grooming data from 69 nonhuman primate species. They test the hypothesis that conversation evolved among humans as an alternative way to obtain the social benefits (such as building and maintaining social alliances) of grooming in large groups.

Authors test three explanations as to why bloodletting is such a near-universal therapeutic cultural practice in "the west." Using references from HRAF's database which are then re-coded for colocalization, practitioner, and cultural explanation, they find that bloodletting is practiced therapeutically by many unrelated cultures worldwide; it is heterogeneous in both form and cultural significance across the globe while still fairly ubiquitous in general. Authors posit that the widespread propensity toward bloodletting in human populations is explained by the universality of affecting/affected cognitive mechanisms. After analyzing cultural data in eHRAF, authors incorporated experiments and modeling that further supported this conclusion.

Authors test three explanations as to why bloodletting is such a near-universal therapeutic cultural practice in "the west." Using references from HRAF's database which are then re-coded for colocalization, practitioner, and cultural explanation, they find that bloodletting is practiced therapeutically by many unrelated cultures worldwide; it is heterogeneous in both form and cultural significance across the globe while still fairly ubiquitous in general. Authors posit that the widespread propensity toward bloodletting in human populations is explained by the universality of affecting/affected cognitive mechanisms. After analyzing cultural data in eHRAF, authors incorporated experiments and modeling that further supported this conclusion.