the evolutionary significance of adolescent initiation ceremonies

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Adolescent initiation ceremonies are examined with regard to features of subsistence economy and social organization. Various characteristics of the ceremonies are coded separately for boys and girls in a worldwide sample of preindustrial societies. A ceremony is more often present for girls than for boys, especially in societies at a low level of technological development, indicating an evolutionary trend for presence of ceremony and for sex of initiate. Sex differentiation is emphasized in various attributes of the ceremonies, [adolescence, gender, initiation ceremonies, sex roles, sexual solidarity]