This article explores determinants of non-classical polyandry, which the authors assert is more common than is usually conveyed. Results indicate that societies with non-classical polyandry tend to be small scale and egalitarian, practice hunting and gathering or horticulture, and have a male-skewed sex ratio. Overall polyandry is thought to add to the reproductive fitness of both men and women.

Researchers sampled 48 societies cross-culturally to study the genetic survival of male homosexual preference, which is argued to be deleterious in nature due to its fertility costs. The researchers test for a sexually antagonistic factor that would produce a pleotropic advantage, such as male homosexual preference increasing the reproduction of sisters. Utilizing theoretical models, researchers assert that the survival of male homosexual preference is a result of the positive association between social stratification and discriminate female hypergyny due to selection for attractiveness in females.

This study seeks to better understand different forms of leadership across non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) societies, and tests evolutionary theories regarding the qualities of leaders, their functions, and the costs and benefits they incur and provide as a part of their leadership. The authors assess the various aspects of leaders and leadership by coding 109 dimensions of leadership as represented in eHRAF World Cultures, using the Probability Sample Files, comprised on 60 cultures. By assessing the prevalence of each of these dimensions in the various cultures under consideration, the authors were able to ascertain some largely universal characteristics of leaders: that they 1) were judged intelligent and knowledgeable; 2) resolved conflicts; and 3) received material and social benefits. They also found that other dimensions varied by considerably group context (e.g., kin group leaders tended to be older), subsistence strategy (e.g., hunter-gatherer leaders tend to lack coercive authority), and gender (e.g., female leaders are more associated with family contexts). Further analyses showed that followers and leaders both benefited from leadership, and that shamans constitute a new brand of leader that both utilizes prestige and dominance in order to effectively rule.

Social scientists are equivocal as to the importance of teaching (as contrasted with other forms of learning) in traditional societies. While many cultural anthropologists have downplayed the importance of teaching, cognitive psychologists often argue that teaching is a salient human universal. Here the authors investigate cultural transmission among 23 hunter-gatherer populations to explore the relative importance of teaching among foragers.

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.

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.

This article explores determinants of non-classical polyandry, which the authors assert is more common than is usually conveyed. Results indicate that societies with non-classical polyandry tend to be small scale and egalitarian, practice hunting and gathering or horticulture, and have a male-skewed sex ratio. Overall polyandry is thought to add to the reproductive fitness of both men and women.

The authors critique Anderson et al. (2023) article, "The Myth of Man the Hunter: Women’s contribution to the hunt across ethnographic contexts." The latter article is an ethnographic study showing that women hunt in 79% of foraging societies in their sample. The aim was to demystify the idea that only men have had a role in hunting and to question the stereotypes of labor. Venkataraman et al. (2024) critiqued Anderson et al.'s statements, as empirical evidence shows the existence of gendered divisions among hunter-gatherers. To test its veracity, they reproduced the original study, finding sample selection bias and coding errors. Lastly, they agree with Anderson et al.'s intention to dispel the false notion that forager women are unable to hunt, but they emphasize the existence of gendered divisions of labor in the ethnographic record.

The authors critique Anderson et al. (2023) article, "The Myth of Man the Hunter: Women’s contribution to the hunt across ethnographic contexts." The latter article is an ethnographic study showing that women hunt in 79% of foraging societies in their sample. The aim was to demystify the idea that only men have had a role in hunting and to question the stereotypes of labor. Venkataraman et al. (2024) critiqued Anderson et al.'s statements, as empirical evidence shows the existence of gendered divisions among hunter-gatherers. To test its veracity, they reproduced the original study, finding sample selection bias and coding errors. Lastly, they agree with Anderson et al.'s intention to dispel the false notion that forager women are unable to hunt, but they emphasize the existence of gendered divisions of labor in the ethnographic record.

This article offers an analysis of the rape of women cross-culturally, positing that rape is present under certain cultural circumstances. The author tests for correlations between rape and aspects of sexual repression, group violence, childrearing, and ideologies of male dominance. There are significant associations between male sexual violence and other types of violence, as well as between rape and ideologies of male dominance.