Human Nature-An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective最新文献

The study of partner preferences in historical populations is constrained by the limited information available in historical sources. These limitations make it difficult to assess the role of characteristics such as physical attractiveness or psychological traits in spouse selection. Instead, this study examines patterns of marriage partner choice among 19th‑century residents of Poznań, Poland, with particular attention to observable factors including place of origin, occupation, denomination, and age at marriage. The research material contained individual information on 15,652 marriages contracted between 1830 and 1900 in seven Poznań parishes. The partners were divided into four categories based on their marital status: first marriages, marriages of remarried men or women, and second marriages. The analyses included correlation, linear regression, Analysis of Variance, and chi-square tests. First and second marriages differed in the age at marriage of men and women, suggesting that motivations and criteria for marriage changed with life stages and marital history. Specifically, individuals entering the first marriages were the youngest, while divorced or widowed individuals who married within their own marriage category were older than those who married someone who had never been married. First marriage individuals had smaller age differences, but the lowest age correlations compared to all other categories, except remarried women who often married men of similar age or even younger. Across all marriage categories, partners exhibited strong homogamy in denominational, geographical, and social backgrounds, emphasizing the influence of social and cultural factors on marital choices. The origin of the spouses played an important role in partner selection, revealing the impact of the geographical context on the timing of marriage. Specifically, marriages were delayed when at least one partner originated from an urban area and in migrants compared to local population. Marital decisions were also shaped by age and social position, e.g., older men with higher socioeconomic status were more likely to marry younger women. However, these partner selection criteria differed between first and subsequent marriages. The findings of our study support established concepts of marriage patterns while illustrating how biological considerations, geographical contexts, social norms, and economic forces jointly shaped personal choices in historical societies.

Same-sex sexual orientation negatively impacts direct reproductive output, but paradoxically, it is persistently expressed across cultures and genetic variation plays a significant role in its development. Existing research has mostly focused on Euro-American cisgender monosexual same-sex attracted males, while comparative evidence pertaining to non-Euro-American cultures, transgender individuals, ambisexuals, and females is more limited. Data from 1534 Iranian monosexual and ambisexual males and females, who varied in their gender identities/expressions, were presented in this study. Participants reported the numbers of their biological children and occurrence of same-sex attraction in eight kinship categories: brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, maternal and paternal male kin, and maternal and paternal female kin. Cisgender androphilic males were more likely to report that a maternal and paternal male relative was same-sex attracted compared to cisgender gynephilic males. Compared to cisgender androphilic females, cisgender ambiphilic and gynephilic females were more likely to report having a same-sex attracted female relative on the maternal side of their family. Also, cisgender ambiphilic females reported having more same-sex attracted sisters. No significant finding for other kinship categories and other groups was found. Ambiphilic and androphilic males, cisgender and transgender, reported fewer offspring compared to cisgender gynephilic males. In females, only transgender gynephilic females had fewer offspring compared to cisgender androphilic females. This study conducted in Iran, a Middle Eastern country, provided empirical evidence for familial clustering of same-sex sexual attraction and reduced reproductive output in same-sex attracted males and females with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions.

In this paper, I examine the widespread phenomenon of decline narratives in human societies, where the past is idealized as a "golden age" characterized by extraordinary abundance, strength, longevity, and supernatural powers, in contrast to a flawed present. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, and psychological evidence, I explore the cultural manifestations and cognitive foundations of these narratives. The analysis highlights the roles of cognitive biases such as rosy retrospection and narrative inflation, as well as the strategic use of temporal distancing to rationalize fantastical beliefs by situating them in a distant, unfalsifiable past. By comparing decline narratives in traditional societies with progress narratives in post-Enlightenment, modern contexts, I explore how these frameworks shape cultural attitudes toward tradition and change, and consider their broader implications for understanding how cultural narratives influence human behavior.

Navigating status hierarchies depends on the coordination of traits, abilities, tactics, and strategies. Various components of the nomological net of hierarchy navigation have been examined in relative isolation, with mixed findings. In the current study (N = 1,042), we examined interconnections between key aspects of hierarchy navigation psychology using network analytic methods. We found evidence of functional coordination between aspects of embodied capital, tactics, and strategies. We also found sex differences in specific links between components of hierarchy navigation that follow theoretical expectations. Finally, we found robust interconnections between broad personality traits and hierarchy navigation tactics, replicating previous research. These findings help refine the nomological network of hierarchy navigation and provide a foundation for future research to investigate whether and how its structure changes across cultures and contexts.