Using a sample of 80 Austronesian societies from the Ethnographic Atlas, the study applies phylogenetic comparative methods to explore the transmission of cultural traits. The authors follow the research question: "for each possible cultural trait in each society, does the geographical (GNN) or phylogenetic nearest neighbor (PNN) best predict the state of the cultural trait?". Cultural traits in the realms of social organization, kinship, marriage, and subsistence were examined. The results show that PNN predicted slightly more traits in comparison to GNN, but there was not much variation between the different economic and social traits. In addition, 43-48% of traits were not predicted by GNN or PNN.

This article suggests that societies are not passive receivers of traits, but rather that diffusion is purposive, sensitive to its environmental outcomes and thus influenced by trait content. Findings support this hypothesis.

Using phylogenetic comparative methods, the study explores the evolution of kinship terminologies within 176 societies in Austronesian, Bantu, and Uto-Aztecan language families. The authors consider 18 theories in the anthropological record that suggests that change in kinship terminologies is predicted by some social structures: marriage, residence, and descent. Only 19 of the 29 statistical hypotheses are supported, while none of the theories are supported in all three language families. This statistical irregularity means that the results are lineage-specific, instead of showing a universal driver of change in kinship terminology types.

The present study examines 70 Austronesian cultures to test whether political hierarchy, population size, and social inequality have been influential in the conversion of populations to Christianity. Cultural isolation and year of missionary arrival are control variables. Using phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS), the researchers test the effect of the three predictor variables on conversion to Christianity and also conduct a multivariate analysis with all variables. The results do not offer support for what is expected by top-down and bottom-up theories of conversion but instead for the general dynamics of cultural transmission.

Using phylogenetic comparative methods, the study explores the evolution of kinship terminologies within 176 societies in Austronesian, Bantu, and Uto-Aztecan language families. The authors consider 18 theories in the anthropological record that suggests that change in kinship terminologies is predicted by some social structures: marriage, residence, and descent. Only 19 of the 29 statistical hypotheses are supported, while none of the theories are supported in all three language families. This statistical irregularity means that the results are lineage-specific, instead of showing a universal driver of change in kinship terminology types.

This article suggests that societies are not passive receivers of traits, but rather that diffusion is purposive, sensitive to its environmental outcomes and thus influenced by trait content. Findings support this hypothesis.

The authors investigate environmental reasons for cross-cultural variation in the permissibility of cousin marriages. In particular, they test whether higher levels of pathogen prevalence and geographic isolation increase the likelihood that cousin marriage will be allowed. The authors' underlying theory is that cousin marriages provide protective homozygosity against some pathogens and provide more options when mate choices are limited.

The present study aims to evaluate correlations of private property from two of Murdock's datasets, one of 147 societies (1981) and the other of 312 societies (1967). Altogether the author tested 146 variables coded by Murdock against variables regarding the ownership of land and of movables drawn from Murdock (1967), Simmons (1937), and Swanson (1960). In total, there were 51 statistically significant correlations between private property ownership and other variables. Additionally, the author summarizes the results from this article and the two that preceded it stating that throughout all of the correlations he ran, the practice of agriculture, the use of cereal grains, and the presence of castes and classes were the only variables that predicted private property in all of the datasets that were utilized.

Using phylogenetic comparative methods, the study explores the evolution of kinship terminologies within 176 societies in Austronesian, Bantu, and Uto-Aztecan language families. The authors consider 18 theories in the anthropological record that suggests that change in kinship terminologies is predicted by some social structures: marriage, residence, and descent. Only 19 of the 29 statistical hypotheses are supported, while none of the theories are supported in all three language families. This statistical irregularity means that the results are lineage-specific, instead of showing a universal driver of change in kinship terminology types.

Using data on 25 ethnolinguistic groups in the Austronesian language family, this study asks: does cooperation in games vary with socio-ecological differences across cultural groups? The authors suggest that cultural groups that cooperate in subsistence, tend to have intergroup conflict and less intragroup conflict, and are less socially stratified are more likely to play cooperative games compared to other groups. While the results support the first three hypotheses, there is insufficient data to support the fourth. The authors conclude that games serve as training ground for group norms and values.