A cross-cultural analysis of recruitment into all male groups: An ethological perspective

Abstract

Empirical data were gathered on proxemic behaviors between adults and children in 10 cultures. The results were analyzed by gender composition of adult groups, by gender of child and by age of child. Across the 10 culture sample, the older boy-adult male dyad was uniquely over-represented compared to the five other combinations of adult groups and children. This asymmetry of association of the older boy-man dyad is discussed in reference to the asymmetrical division of labor by gender which was presumed extant during the development of the genus Homo . It is assumed that for pre-agrarian Homo , hunting was a male prerogative. Consequently, persistent and strong selective pressures would be generated upon men to develop male-male bonds and to recruit older boys into all male hunting groups. It is suggested that the “bonding” behaviors are mediated and canalized by the neural and hormonal systems which in turn are subtended by particular constellations of genetic material operating within a normative and generalized environment.