This article examines how an increase in overall societal complexity affects local political offices. Findings suggest that a more complex society has a slight tendency to develop more political offices within the community, but there is greater support for an increased number of jurisdictional levels within the community.

This article examines how an increase in overall societal complexity affects local political offices. Findings suggest that a more complex society has a slight tendency to develop more political offices within the community, but there is greater support for an increased number of jurisdictional levels within the community.

Author reconsiders an earlier study on mother-infant contact and its possible effects on a society's language system. Focuses here on a different dependent variable--the society's local jurisdictional hierarchy.

This article challenges ideas of cultural progressionism through an analysis of counting systems. Cultural adaptation in both biotic and abiotic environments is examined, and results suggest that culture adapts to both the human-made environment and the physical environment. The author asserts that “interpreting divergent and convergent behaviors as due to differences and similarities of local environments” is superior to a progressionist approach to cultural change (62).

This study tests the claim that male and female investment in the socioemotional and economic aspects of family life are inversely related. Results suggest that this hypothesis is not supported, although a significant inverse relationship between male and female infant care does exist.

This study tests the claim that male and female investment in the socioemotional and economic aspects of family life are inversely related. Results suggest that this hypothesis is not supported, although a significant inverse relationship between male and female infant care does exist.

The present study attempts to replicate the Ember, Ember, and Russett (1992) worldwide finding that fighting rarely occurs between democracies in a sample of eastern African societies. Following the earlier study, the authors considered internal warfare to be an analog of international warfare and measures of political participation analogous to democracy. The researchers also explore if there is an association between political participation and committing atrocities. Contrary to past findings, internal warfare was not predicted by the same set of variables as the 1992 study, but there is an inverse relationship between committing atrocities and political participation. However, when additional variables were added, internal warfare was significantly predicted by less political participation.

This study examines variation in economy, political form, social complexity and family relationships between societies using election/consensus decision making for determining leadership and societies that do not use election/consensus decision making. Findings do not show a pattern of variance based on leader selection type.

This study employs factor analysis to develop a settlement pattern scale of cultural complexity. Political, economic, and religious factors are identified and implications for the structure of the cultural system are discussed.

This study examines predictors of the type of conflict management used at the community level. Results suggest that level of political integration is associated with mode of conflict management.