Publications

My publications are listed here in chronological order. Where possible, I have made the PDF version of the publication available for download.

Working Papers

Kushnick G, and others (n.d.) Why is impal marriage so rare in Karo society? A case-control study.

Moya C, Fessler DMT, Henrich J, Zhao W, Barrett C, Bolyanatz A, Davis H, Gurven M, Kanovsky M., Kushnick G, Pisor A, Scelza B, von Rueden C, Laurence S (n.d.) Norm enforcement in small-scale societies depends on coordinated third-party responses and pre-existing relationships.

Submitted Papers

Kushnick G (submitted) Evolutionary perspectives on human pairbonding: Reconciling the major paradigms.  Blog  Preprint

2023

Haynie H, Kushnick G, Kavanaugh P, Ember C, Bowern C, Low B, Tuff T, Vilela B, Kirby K, Botero C, Gavin M (in press) The biogeography and evolution of land ownership. Journal of Biogeography.  Preprint

2022

Kushnick G, Behie A, Zuska F (2022) Pregnancy outcomes among evacuees of the Sinabung volcano, 2010-2018 (North Sumatra, Indonesia): a matched cohort study. American Journal of Human Biology, 34, e23628.  Link  PDF  Blog  Data

2021

Kushnick G (2021) The cradle of humankind: Evolutionary approaches to technology and parenting. In: Weekes-Shackelford VA, Shackelford TK (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Parenting (pp. 115-134). Oxford University Press.  Preprint  Blog  Link

Haynie H, Kavanaugh P, Jordan F, Ember C, Gray R, Greenhill S, Kirby K, Kushnick G, Low B, Tuff T, Vilela B, Botero C, Gavin M (2021) Pathways to social inequality. Human Evolutionary Sciences, 3, e35.   Preprint  Link  PDF

Bode A, Kushnick G (2021) Proximate and ultimate perspectives on romantic love. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 573123.  Link  PDF

2020

Halcrow S, Warren R, Kushnick G, Nowell A (2020) Care of infants in the past: Bridging evolutionary anthropological and bioarchaeological approaches. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 2, e47. Link  PDF

Kavanagh PH, Haynie HJ, Kushnick G, Vilela B, Tuff T, Bowern C, Low B, Ember CR, Kirby KR, Botero C, Gavin MC (2020) Drivers of global variation in land ownership. Ecography, 43: 1-8.  PDF  Link  Preprint  Data

Curtin C, Barrett HC, Bolyanatz A, Crittenden A, Fessler DMT, Fitzpatrick S, Gurven M, Kanovsky M, Kushnick G, Laurence S, Pisor A, Scelza B, Stich S, von Rueden C, Henrich J (2020) Kinship intensity and the use of mental states in moral judgments across societies. Human Behavior and Evolution, 41(5), 415-429.  PDF  Link  Preprint  Data

Deppe A, Kushnick G (2020) Olfactory predator recognition in the brown mouse lemur (Microcebus rufus) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. American Journal of Primatology, 82(10), e23184.  PDF  Link

2019

Kushnick G (2019) Gaps in Darwin’s initial theory. In Shackelford T, Weekes-Shackelford V  (eds.), Encyclopedia of evolutionary psychological science. NY: Springer.  Link

Scelza BA, Prall S, Blumenfeld T, Crittenden A, Gurven M, Kline M, Koster J, Kushnick G, Mattison SM, Pillsworth E, Shenk M, Starkweather K, Stieglitz J, Sum, C-Y, Yamaguchi K, McElreath R (2019) Patterns of paternal investment explain cross-cultural variance in jealous response. Nature Human Behaviour, 4: 20-26.  PDF  Link  Data

2018

Gavin MC, Kavanagh PH, Haynie HJ, Bowern C, Ember CR, Gray RD, Jordan FM, Kirby KR, Kushnick G, Low BS, Vilela B, Botero C (2018) The global geography of human subsistence. Royal Society Open Science, 5, 171897.   PDF  Link  Data

Gleeson B, Kushnick G (2018) Female social status and stature sexual dimorphism: Evidence for intersexual selection in human self-domestication. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 167(3): 458-469.  Link

Carter TL, Kushnick G (2018) Male aggressiveness as intrasexual contest competition in a cross-cultural sample. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 72, 83. Link  Preprint  Blog

2016

Kushnick G (2016) Ecology of pairbond stability. In Shackelford T, Weekes-Shackelford V  (eds.), Encyclopedia of evolutionary psychological science (pp.1-7). NY: Springer.  Preprint  Link  Blog

Kushnick G, Fessler DMT, Zuska F (2016) Disgust, gender, and social change: Testing alternative explanations for the decline of cousin marriage in Karo society. Human Nature, 27(4), 533-555. (Special Issue: “Modernizing Evolutionary Anthropology” Sear & Mattison, eds)  PDF   Link  Blog  Data

Atkinson QD, Coomber T, Passmore S, Greenhill S, Kushnick G (2016) Cultural and environmental predictors of pre-European deforestation on Pacific islands. PLoS ONE, 11(5), e0156340.   PDF  Link  Blog

Barrett HC, Bolyanatz A, Crittenden AN, Fessler DMT, Fitzpatrick S, Gurven M, Henrich J, Kanovsky M, Kushnick G, Pisor A, Scelza B, Stich S, von Rueden C, Zhao W, Laurence S (2016) Small-scale societies exhibit fundamental variation in the role of intentions in moral judgment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 113(7), 4688-4693.   PDF  Link  Data  Blog

Fessler DMT, Holbrook C, Kanovsky M, Barrett HC, Bolyanatz AH, Gervais MM, Gurven M, Henrich J, Kushnick G, Pisor AC, Stich S, von Rueden C, Laurence S (2016) Moral parochialism misunderstood: A reply to Piazza and Souza. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 283, 20152628. PDF  Blog

2015

Fessler DMT, Barrett HC, Kanovsky M, Stich S, Holbrook C, Henrich J, Bolyanatz AH, Gervais M, Gurven M, Kushnick G, Pisor AC, von Rueden C, Laurence S (2015). Moral parochialism and contextual contingency across seven disparate societies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 282, 20150907. PDF  Link  Data

kushnick_et_al_2015_rsos_graphical_abstractKushnick G, Hanowell B, Kim J, Lanstieh B, Magnano V, Oláh K (2015). Experimental evidence for convergent evolution of maternal-care heuristics in industrialized and small-scale societies. Royal Society Open Science, 2, 140518. PDF  Link  Data  Blog

2014

Kushnick G, Gray R, Jordan F (2014). The sequential evolution of land tenure norms. Evolution and Human Behavior, 35, 309-318. PDF  Link

2013

Kushnick, G. (2013) Access to resources shapes maternal decision making: Evidence from a factorial vignette experiment. PLoS ONE, 8, e75539. PDF  Link  Data

Kushnick, G. (2013) Why do the Karo Batak prefer women with big feet? Flexible mate preferences and the notion that one size fits all. Human Nature, 24, 268-79. PDF  Link  Top 5%

2012

Kushnick, G. (2012) Helper effects on breeder allocations to direct care. American Journal of Human Biology, 24, 545-550. PDF  Link

Kushnick, G. (2012) Book review: “Reproduction and adaptation: Topics in human reproductive ecology.” Human Biology, 84, 91-92. PDF  Link

Kushnick, G. and Fessler, DMT. (2012) Misconstruals miss the mark: Response to El Guindi and Read. Current Anthropology 53 :136-137. PDF  Link

Fessler, D, Stieger, S., Asaridou, S., Bahia, U., Cravalho, M., de Barros, P., Delgado, T., Fisher, M., Geraldo Perez, P., Goetz, C., Haley, K., Jackson, J., Kushnick, G., Lew, K., Pain, E., Pisor, A., et al. (2012) Testing a postulated case of intersexual selection in humans: The role of foot size in judgments of physical attractiveness and age. Evolution and Human Behavior 33:147-164. PDF  Link

2011

Kushnick, G. and Fessler, DMT. (2011) Karo Batak cousin marriage, cosocialization, and the Westermarck hypothesis. Current Anthropology 52: 443-8. PDF  Link

van Oven, M., Hämmerle J.M., van Schoor, M., Kushnick, G., Pennekamp, P., Zega, I., Lao, O., Brown. L., Kennerknecht, I., & Kayser, M. (2011) Unexpected island effects at an extreme: Reduced Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA diversity in Nias. Molecular Biology and Evolution 28: 1349-1361. PDF  Link

2010

Kushnick, G. (2010) Resource competition and reproduction in Karo Batak villages. Human Nature 21: 62-81. PDF  Link  Visual

Kushnick, G. (2010) Bibliography of works on the Karo Batak of North Sumatra, Indonesia: Missionary reports, anthropological studies, and other writings from 1826 to the present (Version 1.2) 29 pp.

2009

Kushnick, G. (2009) Parental supply and offspring demand amongst Karo Batak mothers and children. Journal of Biosocial Science 41: 183-193. PDF  Link

Earlier

Kushnick, G. (2006) Parent-offspring conflict among the Karo of North Sumatra, Indonesia. PhD Dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. (supervisor: Eric Alden Smith; advisors: Donna Leonetti & Darryl Holman). PDF

Bliege-Bird, R., D. Bird, E.A. Smith, & G. Kushnick (2002) Risk and reciprocity in Meriam food-sharing. Evolution and Human Behavior 23: 297-321. PDF