Mary K. Shenk

Affiliate Researcher
Titles and Affiliations
Associate Professor, Anthropology

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Research Keywords

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Recent Publications

Does gender structure social networks across domains of cooperation? An exploration of gendered networks among matrilineal and patrilineal Mosuo

Mattison, S. M., MacLaren, N. G., Sum, C. Y., Shenk, M. K., Blumenfield, T. & Wander, K., Jan 16 2023, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 378, 1868, 20210436.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Gender disparities in material and educational resources differ by kinship system

Mattison, S. M., Mattison, P. M., Beheim, B. A., Liu, R., Blumenfield, T., Sum, C. Y., Shenk, M. K., Seabright, E. & Alami, S., Aug 14 2023, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 378, 1883, 20220299.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Market integration, income inequality, and kinship system among the Mosuo of China

Mattison, S. M., MacLaren, N., Sum, C. Y., Mattison, P. M., Liu, R., Shenk, M. K., Blumenfield, T., Su, M., Li, H. & Wander, K., Nov 21 2023, In: Evolutionary Human Sciences. 5, e4.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Why did foraging, horticulture and pastoralism persist after the Neolithic transition? the oasis theory of agricultural intensification

Medupe, D., Roberts, S. G., Shenk, M. K. & Glowacki, L., Aug 14 2023, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 378, 1883, 20220300.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals

Ross, C. T., Hooper, P. L., Smith, J. E., Jaeggi, A. V., Smith, E. A., Gavrilets, S., tuz Zohora, F., Ziker, J., Xygalatas, D., Wroblewski, E. E., Wood, B., Winterhalder, B., Willführ, K. P., Willard, A. K., Walker, K., von Rueden, C., Voland, E., Valeggia, C., Vaitla, B., Urlacher, S., & 84 othersTowner, M., Sum, C. Y., Sugiyama, L. S., Strier, K. B., Starkweather, K., Major-Smith, D., Shenk, M., Sear, R., Seabright, E., Schacht, R., Scelza, B., Scaggs, S., Salerno, J., Revilla-Minaya, C., Redhead, D., Pusey, A., Purzycki, B. G., Power, E. A., Pisor, A., Pettay, J., Perry, S., Page, A. E., Pacheco-Cobos, L., Oths, K., Oh, S. Y., Nolin, D., Nettle, D., Moya, C., Migliano, A. B., Mertens, K. J., McNamara, R. A., McElreath, R., Mattison, S., Massengill, E., Marlowe, F., Madimenos, F., Macfarlan, S., Lummaa, V., Lizarralde, R., Liu, R., Liebert, M. A., Lew-Levy, S., Leslie, P., Lanning, J., Kramer, K., Koster, J., Kaplan, H. S., Jamsranjav, B., Hurtado, A. M., Hill, K., Hewlett, B., Helle, S., Headland, T., Headland, J., Gurven, M., Grimalda, G., Greaves, R., Golden, C. D., Godoy, I., Gibson, M., El Mouden, C., Dyble, M., Draper, P., Downey, S., DeMarco, A. L., Davis, H. E., Crabtree, S., Cortez, C., Colleran, H., Cohen, E., Clark, G., Clark, J., Caudell, M. A., Carminito, C. E., Bunce, J., Boyette, A., Bowles, S., Blumenfield, T., Beheim, B., Beckerman, S., Atkinson, Q., Apicella, C., Alam, N. & Mulder, M. B., 2023, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 120, 22, e2220124120.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Dowry Inflation: Perception or Reality?

Lankes, J., Shenk, M. K., Towner, M. C. & Alam, N., Aug 2022, In: Population Research and Policy Review. 41, 4, p. 1641-1672 32 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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

Lynch, R., Shenk, M. K., Shaver, J. H. & Spake, L., 2022, In: Religion, Brain and Behavior. 12, 4, p. 406-413 8 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalComment/debatepeer-review

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

Lynch, R., Schaffnit, S., Sear, R., Sosis, R., Shaver, J., Alam, N., Blumenfield, T., Mattison, S. M. & Shenk, M., Dec 2022, In: Scientific reports. 12, 1, 18780.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Context Specificity of “Market Integration” among the Matrilineal Mosuo of Southwest China

Mattison, S. M., Hare, D., Maclaren, N. G., Reynolds, A. Z., Sum, C. Y., Liu, R., Shenk, M. K., Blumenfield, T., Su, M., Li, H. & Wander, K., Feb 2022, In: Current anthropology. 63, 1, p. 118-124 7 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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

Schaffnit, S. B., Page, A. E., Lynch, R., Spake, L., Sear, R., Sosis, R., Shaver, J., Alam, N., Towner, M. C. & Shenk, M. K., Dec 12 2023, In: Evolutionary Human Sciences. 5, e5.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Faith and fertility in evolutionary perspective

Shaver, J. H., Spake, L., Lynch, R. & Shenk, M. K., 2022, In: Religion, Brain and Behavior. 12, 4, p. 417-425 9 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalComment/debatepeer-review

Disentangling the relationships between religion and fertility

Spake, L., Hassan, A., Sear, R., Shenk, M. K., Sosis, R. & Shaver, J. H., 2022, In: Religion, Brain and Behavior. 12, 4, p. 343-346 4 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialpeer-review

Hierarchy, Resentment, and Pride: Politics of Identity and Belonging among Mosuo, Yi, and Han in Southwest China

Sum, C. Y., Blumenfield, T., Shenk, M. K. & Mattison, S. M., May 2022, In: Modern China. 48, 3, p. 568-592 25 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Social support, nutrition and health among women in rural Bangladesh: Complex tradeoffs in allocare, kin proximity and support network size

Shenk, M. K., Morse, A., Mattison, S. M., Sear, R., Alam, N., Raqib, R., Kumar, A., Haque, F., Blumenfield, T., Shaver, J., Sosis, R. & Wander, K., Jun 21 2021, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 376, 1827, 20200027.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Mother’s partnership status and allomothering networks in the united kingdom and united states

Spake, L., Schaffnit, S. B., Sear, R., Shenk, M. K., Sosis, R. & Shaver, J. H., May 2021, In: Social Sciences. 10, 5, 182.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review