This paper is concerned with the variation in sexual behavior in humans. Authors test hypotheses regarding the relationships between sexual behaviors and beliefs concerning sex.

This study explores the extent to which heterosexual sex, love, and intimacy are interrelated and the degree to which the sexual revolution has had a positive or negative impact on male-female relationships. The author employs a correlation matrix to examine the interrelationships of several variables related to aloofness and intimacy in the sexual and non-sexual aspects of heterosexual relationships. Results suggest that the sexual revolution has had some positive effects on male-female relationships, but also that sexual behavior does not predict the degree to which marriages are intimate or aloof. Results also show little support for the hypothesis that marital aloofness is related to hypermasculinity.

This book discusses the characteristics of adolescence cross-culturally and examines the differences in the adolescent experience for males and females. Several relationships are tested in order to gain an understanding of cross-cultural patterns in adolescence.

This study reveals that in hunting and gathering societies thought to be akin to those of our ancestors, female choice is constained by the control that parents exercise over their daughters. Since parental control is the typical pattern of mate choice among extant foragers, it is likely that this pattern was also prevalent throughout human evolution.

This article seeks to examine the distribution and frequency of bride-theft. Tylor's (1889) findings between various forms of marriage by capture and certain other social instituions are confirmed.

Authors use an exhange theory perspective to explain differences in sex restrictions during betrothal. Results indicate a positive association between the amount of wealth transferred and sex restrictions during betrothal.

Apostolou examines the argument that most of human evolution occurred in an environment where individuals had limited opportunity to exercise choice. This argument derives from evidence indicating that among contemporary and ancestral postindustrial societies, mate choice is regulated by parents choosing their children's spouses. Results from the present study show that in an arranged marriage setting, there is still space for individuals to exercise choice in mates (through premarital and extramarital relationships, as well as rape). Apostolou discusses possible explanations for these findings, as well as their evolutionary significance.

This article focuses on parents’ investment of material resources at the time of their child’s marriage. Two patterns emerge from the data: wealth is generally transferred from the groom’s family to the bride’s and from the couple’s parents to the bride and groom. Social and ecological factors are also examined. Multiple regression analysis shows that paternal confidence level, societal polygyny rate, and level of pathogen stress can affect the aforementioned wealth transfer patterns.

This study examines the predictors of arranged marriage versus marriage for love. Several predictions are supported and results uphold the hypothesis that "societies promote the method of marriage contract enforcement best adapted to available production technology, incentives to misbehave, and methods of coercion."

This study tests competing theories about whether it is men, women, or parents who benefit most from restricting female premarital sex (FPS) in a global sample of 128 non-industrial societies. The study found support for the idea that multiple parties benefit from restrictions on FPS -- specifically FPS is more restricted in societies intolerant of extramarital sex and where men transfer property to their children (male control), as well as where marriages are arranged by parents (parental control). They also found that major predictors of FPS appear to be paternity uncertainty and parent-offspring conflict. Furthermore, the study found that multiple factors such as social roles, rather than stereotyped sex roles, are a more useful approach in understanding FPS restrictions and these restrictions.