Publications

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Nuclearization of maternal support networks in the UK and the US during the COVID-19 pandemic: impact on women’s financial and emotional wellbeing

2024. Hassan, A., Spake, L., Shaver, J., Shenk, M. K., Sosis, R., & Sear, R. Nuclearization of maternal support networks in the UK and the US during the COVID-19 pandemic: impact on women’s financial and emotional wellbeing. Humanities and Social Sciences Open. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2024.100932

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Religious women receive more allomaternal support from non-partner kin in two low-fertility countries

2024. Spake, L., Schaffnit, S. B., Page, A. E., Hassan, A., Lynch, R., Watts, J., Sear, R., Sosis, R., Mary Shenk, and John H. Shaver. Religious women receive more allomaternal support from non-partner kin in two low-fertility countries. Evolution and Human Behavior. doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.04.001

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A practical guide to cross-cultural data collection in the biological and behavioural sciences

2024. Spake, L., Hassan, A., Schaffnit, S., Alam, N., Amoah, A., Badjie, J., Cerami, C., Crampin, A., Dube, A., Kotch, R., Liew, F., McLean, E., Munthali-Mkandawire, S., Mwalwanda, L., Petersen, A., Prentice, A., Zohora, F., Sear, R., Shenk, M., Sosis, R., and John H. Shaver. A practical guide to cross-cultural data collection in the biological and behavioural sciences. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.1422

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The impact of market integration on arranged marriages in Matlab, Bangladesh

2023. S. Schaffnit, A. Page, R. Lynch,  L. Spake, R. Sear, R., Sosis, R., J. Shaver,  N. Alam, M.C.Towner, and M. Shenk. The impact of market integration on arranged marriages in Matlab, Bangladesh. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 5, E5. doi:10.1017/ehs.2022.54

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Sedentarization and maternal childcare networks: role of risk, gender and demography

2022. Page, A.E., Migliano, A.B., Dyble, M., Major-Smith, D., Viguier, S., Hassan, A. “Sedentarization and maternal childcare networks: role of risk, gender and demography”. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Socienty B. 378: 20210435 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2021.0435

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Religiosity is associated with greater size, kin density, and geographic dispersal of women’s social networks in Bangladesh

2022. R. Lynch, S. Schaffnit, R. Sear, R. Sosis, J. Shaver, N. Alam, T. Blumenfield, S. M. Mattison & M. Shenk. Religiosity is associated with greater size, kin density, and geographic dispersal of women’s social networks in Bangladesh. Nature Scientific Reports, 12, 18780. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22972-w

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Disentangling the relationships between religion and fertility

2022. L. Spake, A. Hassan, R. Sear, M. K. Shenk, R. Sosis & J. Shaver. Disentangling the relationships between religion and fertility. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 12:4, 343-346, DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2022.2127212. Guest Editorial.

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Fertility and faith: The danger of a grand narrative

2022. S. Walters & R. Sear. Fertility and faith: The danger of a grand narrative. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 12:4, 431-437, DOI:10.1080/2153599X.2021.2023621

 

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Faith and fertility in evolutionary perspective

2022. J. Shaver, L. Spake, R. Lynch & M. K. Shenk. Faith and fertility in evolutionary perspective. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 12:4, 417-425, DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2021.2023618

 

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Fertility and faith: insights from human behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, and life history theory

2022. R. Lynch, M. K. Shenk, J. Shaver & L. Spake. Fertility and faith: insights from human behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, and life history theory. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 12:4, 406-413, DOI:10.1080/2153599X.2021.2023617

 

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The male breadwinner nuclear family is not the ‘traditional’ human family, and promotion of this myth may have adverse consequences for health

2021. Sear, R. The male breadwinner nuclear family is not the ‘traditional’ human family, and promotion of this myth may have adverse consequences for health. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 376: 20200020. https://doi.org/10.1098/ rstb.2020.0020

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Mother’s Partnership Status and Allomothering Networks in the United Kingdom and United States

2021. Spake, L., Schaffnit, S.B., Sear, R., Shenk, M.K., Sosis, R. and Shaver, J.H. Mother’s Partnership Status and Allomothering Networks in the United Kingdom and United States. Social Sciences. 10(5), 182, 1-25. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/5/182/htm

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Social support, nutrition, and health among women in rural Bangladesh: complex tradeoffs in alloparenting, kin proximity, and social network size

2021. Shenk, M.K., Morse, A.R., Mattison, S.M., Sear, R., Alam, N., Raqib, R., Kumar, A., Mim, F., Blumenfield, T., Shaver, J., Sosis, R. and Wander, K. Social support, nutrition, and health among women in rural Bangladesh: complex tradeoffs in alloparenting, kin proximity, and social network size. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 376: 20200027. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0027

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Church attendance and alloparenting: an analysis of fertility, social support and child development among English mothers

2020. Shaver, J.H., Power, E.A., Purzycki, B.G., Watts, J., Sear, R. Shenk, M.K., Sosis R. and Bulbulia, J.A. Church attendance and alloparenting: an analysis of fertility, social support and child development among English mothers. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 375: 20190428. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0428

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Alloparenting and religious fertilty: A test of the religious alloparenting hypothesis.

2019. Shaver, J., Sibley, C., Sosis, R., Galbraith, D. and Bulbulia, J.A. Alloparenting and religious fertilty: A test of the religious alloparenting hypothesis. Evolution and Human Behavior. 40: 315-324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2019.01.004

Related Work

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Understanding Variation in Human Fertility: What Can We Learn from Evolutionary Demography.

Sear, Rebecca, David W. Lawson, Hillard Kaplan and Mary K. Shenk. 2016. Understanding Variation in Human Fertility: What Can We Learn from Evolutionary Demography. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 371: 20150144. 

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Religious change is driven primarily by individual-level Darwinian processes.

Shaver, John. 2020. Religious change is driven primarily by individual-level Darwinian processes. Religion, Brain and Behaviour 10(1): 84-90.

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Why and how do some religious individuals, and some religious groups, achieve higher relative fertility?

Shaver, John. 2017. Why and how do some religious individuals, and some religious groups, achieve higher relative fertility? Religion, Brain and Behavior. 7(4): 324-327.

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Status competition, inequality, and fertility: Implications for the demographic transition.

Shenk, Mary K, Hillard Kaplan, and Paul Hooper. 2016. Status competition, inequality, and fertility: Implications for the demographic transition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 371:20150150.

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Does absence matter? A comparison of three types of father absence in rural Bangladesh.

Shenk, Mary K., Kathrine E. Starkweather, Howard C. Kress, and Nurul Alam. 2013. Does absence matter? A comparison of three types of father absence in rural Bangladesh. Human Nature 24(1):76-110. DOI: 10.1007/s12110-013-9160-5

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A model comparison approach shows stronger support for economic models of fertility decline.

Shenk, Mary K., Mary C. Towner, Howard C. Kress, and Nurul Alam. 2013. A model comparison approach shows stronger support for economic models of fertility decline. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110(20):8045-8050.

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Consanguineous Marriage, Kinship Ecology, and Market Transition.

Mary K., Mary C. Towner, Emily A. Voss, and Nurul Alam. 2016. Consanguineous Marriage, Kinship Ecology, and Market Transition. Current Anthropology: Volume 57, Supplement 13, June 2016. DOI: 10.1086/685712

 

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Content, Cost, and Context: A Framework for Understanding Human Signaling Systems.

J. Barker, E. Power, S. Heap, M. Puurtinen, and R. Sosis. 2019. Content, Cost, and Context: A Framework for Understanding Human Signaling Systems. Evolutionary Anthropology 28: 86-99.

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The Behavioral Ecology of Religion: The Benefits and Costs of One Evolutionary Approach.

Sosis, R. and J. Bulbulia. 2011. The Behavioral Ecology of Religion: The Benefits and Costs of One Evolutionary Approach. Religion 41: 341-362.

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Examining the influence of life expectancy on reproductive timing, total fertility, and educational attainment.

Bulled, N. and R. Sosis. 2010. Examining the influence of life expectancy on reproductive timing, total fertility, and educational attainment. Human Nature 21: 269-289.

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Signaling, Solidarity, and the Sacred: The Evolution of Religious Behavior.

Sosis, R. and C. Alcorta. 2003. Signaling, Solidarity, and the Sacred: The Evolution of Religious Behavior. Evolutionary Anthropology 12: 264-27

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Profile: The Karonga Health and Demographic Surveillance System.

Crampin et al (2012). Profile: The Karonga Health and Demographic Surveillance System. International Journal of Epidemiology, 41(3), 676-685. 

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Beyond the nuclear family: An evolutionary perspective on parenting.

Sear, R. (2016). Beyond the nuclear family: An evolutionary perspective on parenting. Current Opinion in Psychology, 7. 
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How Much Does Family Matter? Cooperative Breeding and the Demographic Transition.

Sear, R., & Coall, D. A. (2011). How Much Does Family Matter? Cooperative Breeding and the Demographic Transition. Population and Development Review, 37(SUPPL. 1). 

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Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival.

Sear, R., & Mace, R. (2008). Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29(1).

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Cohort profile: The Kiang West Longitudinal Population Study (KWLPS) – a platform for integrated research and health care provision in rural Gambia.

Hennig et al (2015). Cohort profile: The Kiang West Longitudinal Population Study (KWLPS) – a platform for integrated research and health care provision in rural Gambia. International Journal of Epidemiology, 46(2), e13.

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Family and fertility: does kin help influence women’s fertility, and how does this vary worldwide?

Sear, R. (2018). Family and fertility: does kin help influence women’s fertility, and how does this vary worldwide? Population Horizons. 

Bibliographies

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'Religion and Fertility Bibliography'

A bibliography of previous studies of religion and fertility, p. 1-249.

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‘Religious vs Secular Child Outcomes Bibliography’

A bibliography of previous studies examining the effects of parental religion on child outcomes, p. 1-83.

The Evolutionary Dynamics of Religion, Family Size, and Child Success

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