This study follows the theoretical construct of general cultural tightness and looseness (TL). Tightness is thought to be adaptive when facing socioecological threat, such as resource stress, since it involves a greater amount of cooperation. The study asks: "Why do some societies have relatively standardized or uniform clothing and adornment, whereas others have considerable variability across individuals?", which is connected to the broader question of why some societies show more within-group variation. The authors use a sample of 80 non-industrial societies from SCSS, to explore the relationship between general cultural tightness and standardization or synchrony in dress. The results support that tighter societies have more uniformity in dress and that resource stress is a predictor of synchrony. However, it is not supported that egalitarian societies have more synchrony, and that tightness is positively predicted by resource stress.

This study follows the theoretical construct of general cultural tightness and looseness (TL). Tightness is thought to be adaptive when facing socioecological threat, such as resource stress, since it involves a greater amount of cooperation. The study asks: "Why do some societies have relatively standardized or uniform clothing and adornment, whereas others have considerable variability across individuals?", which is connected to the broader question of why some societies show more within-group variation. The authors use a sample of 80 non-industrial societies from SCSS, to explore the relationship between general cultural tightness and standardization or synchrony in dress. The results support that tighter societies have more uniformity in dress and that resource stress is a predictor of synchrony. However, it is not supported that egalitarian societies have more synchrony, and that tightness is positively predicted by resource stress.

This study tests the relationship between population pressure and social evolution in agricultural societies. The author predicts that population pressure will be positively related to the evolution of descent, political integration, and class stratification. Results support this prediction.

This article stresses the use of multivariate analysis to study the emergence of states. The authors first discuss how social inequality, population density, and trade affect state development. Next, they turn to a time series regression to formally examine social stratification, urbanization, technological specialization as predictors of political integration. Finally, economic vulnerability and scalar stress are considered as possible underlying factors in the emergence of states.

This study seeks to examine the potential catalysts for democratic behavior in human societies. After creating a theoretical model to demonstrate that council governance is beneficial to executives in situations in which there were information asymmetries between executives and the populace, the authors decide to examine this empirically by using "caloric variability" as a potential cause of information asymmetry. The results indicate that higher caloric variability leads to a greater likelihood of council governance. Further empirical results indicate that caloric potential may be associated with higher levels of political integration, and that bureaucracy may act as a substitute for councils.

This study examines pairwise differences between similar cultures in order to minimize cultural variation within the SCCS and reveal possible correlates of cultural complexity. Results suggest that one measure of complexity (government above the community level) is significantly associated with several other variables.

This study investigates the relationship between societal complexity and familial complexity. Results suggest that the relationship is somewhat curvilinear; that is, in simpler societies more societal complexity is associated with a larger familial system, but the most developed societies have smaller familial systems. The demographic, economic, and politcal correlates of maximum family size are discussed.

For thousands of years, scholars have been theorizing about why human groups structure themselves the way they do, allowing more power and freedom to certain individuals and less to others. This article takes an evolutionist approach to that question, using a variety of mathematical models to predict changes in social organization throughout the evolutionary history of humanity and its ancestors, accounting for changes in brain size and global human populations. The authors validate their models using data from the ethnographic record. In general, they find that tendency towards hierarchy decreases with bigger brain size but increases with global population growth.

This article uses social-psychological theory to enhance understanding of political anthropology. The author hypothesizes that class structure will be associated with supra-community political integration. This hypothesis is supported.

This study develops a model of the conditions under which a societies switch from a anarchy to a hierarchy. Empirical results suggest that the presence of police, technological sophistication, population density, and food storage are positively associated with the presence of a territorial hierarchy.