In this study, the author closely examines the educational outcomes of Christian missions in sub-Saharan African societies. He shows that there was local demand for formal education, but theorizes that this demand decreased in polygamous societies as Christian missionaries required monogamy for entry. His results show areas that experienced this struggle over polygamy are associated with worse educational outcomes than those that did not.

In this study, the author closely examines the educational outcomes of Christian missions in sub-Saharan African societies. He shows that there was local demand for formal education, but theorizes that this demand decreased in polygamous societies as Christian missionaries required monogamy for entry. His results show areas that experienced this struggle over polygamy are associated with worse educational outcomes than those that did not.

In this study, the author closely examines the educational outcomes of Christian missions in sub-Saharan African societies. He shows that there was local demand for formal education, but theorizes that this demand decreased in polygamous societies as Christian missionaries required monogamy for entry. His results show areas that experienced this struggle over polygamy are associated with worse educational outcomes than those that did not.

In this study, the author closely examines the educational outcomes of Christian missions in sub-Saharan African societies. He shows that there was local demand for formal education, but theorizes that this demand decreased in polygamous societies as Christian missionaries required monogamy for entry. His results show areas that experienced this struggle over polygamy are associated with worse educational outcomes than those that did not.

The authors of this study examine the relationships between historical exposure to Islamic kingdoms and current economic, medical, and educational development in Africa. They predict that ethnic groups that were previously ruled by Islamic states or chiefdoms will have worse outcomes today, theorizing that these worse outcomes would be not as a result of an inherent characteristic of Islam or Islamic kingdoms themselves but rather decreased investment by colonial states or missions. Their results lend some support to their hypotheses, and particularly to the predictions that Christian missions and colonial states would not be able to penetrate areas under Islamic influence as easily as other regions.

The authors of this study examine the relationships between historical exposure to Islamic kingdoms and current economic, medical, and educational development in Africa. They predict that ethnic groups that were previously ruled by Islamic states or chiefdoms will have worse outcomes today, theorizing that these worse outcomes would be not as a result of an inherent characteristic of Islam or Islamic kingdoms themselves but rather decreased investment by colonial states or missions. Their results lend some support to their hypotheses, and particularly to the predictions that Christian missions and colonial states would not be able to penetrate areas under Islamic influence as easily as other regions.

This article uses the Standard Cross-Cultural Samples to test the relationship between disease and economic growth among sub-Saharan African societies. The authors suggest that a higher disease prevalence limits social integration and economic development since pre-colonial times. The variable measuring economic growth is the complexity of large or impressive structures. The hypotheses are that 1) pathogen stress is negatively correlated to the presence of complex buildings, and 2) pathogen stress is positively correlated to increased ethnic diversity. The results support both hypotheses, and there are additional results, like 1) the negative correlation between pathogen stress and current income per capita and 2) the negative correlation between the increased ethnic diversity and current income per capita. Overall, this article shows the robust relationship between disease and economic development.

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.

The sustainability of a society depends on the transmission of cultural knowledge between generations. This study examines how that transmission occurs in 23 egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, where leaders tend to lack coercive power. Specifically, the study examines differences between the transmission of so-called “instrumental culture” (which includes skills such as how to do subsistence tasks) and what the authors call “opaque culture”, meaning abstract societal values and norms (e.g. rules of sharing and symbolic culture, such as religious beliefs). Using ethnographic data, the study finds that opaque culture is almost always conveyed through explicit teaching (rather than observation or imitation), often during middle childhood (ages 8 – 12). Among the 23 egalitarian societies in the sample in particular, adult community leaders, or other socially influential adult individuals, were most likely to be the ones engaging in teaching.

The sustainability of a society depends on the transmission of cultural knowledge between generations. This study examines how that transmission occurs in 23 egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, where leaders tend to lack coercive power. Specifically, the study examines differences between the transmission of so-called “instrumental culture” (which includes skills such as how to do subsistence tasks) and what the authors call “opaque culture”, meaning abstract societal values and norms (e.g. rules of sharing and symbolic culture, such as religious beliefs). Using ethnographic data, the study finds that opaque culture is almost always conveyed through explicit teaching (rather than observation or imitation), often during middle childhood (ages 8 – 12). Among the 23 egalitarian societies in the sample in particular, adult community leaders, or other socially influential adult individuals, were most likely to be the ones engaging in teaching.