A precursor to Mead's illuminating Male & Female, Sex & Temperament lays the groundwork for her lifelong study of gender differences. First published in 1935, Sex & Temperament is a fascinating and brilliant anthropological study of the intimate lives of three New Guinea tribes from infancy to adulthood. Focusing on the gentle, mountain-dwelling Arapesh, the fierce, cannibalistic Mundugumor, and the graceful headhunters of Tchambuli -- Mead advances the theory that many so-called masculine and feminine characteristics are not based on fundamental sex differences but reflect the cultural conditioning of different societies. This edition, prepared for the centennial of Mead's birth, features introductions by Helen Fisher and Mead's daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson. Acknowledgements ix Words for a New Century By Mary Catherine Bateson xiii Introduction to the Perennial Edition: A Way of Seeing xvii Preface to the 1950 Edition xxv Preface to the 1963 Edition xxix Introduction xxxi part one the mountain-dwelling Arapesh 1(150) Mountain Life 3(11) A Co-operative Society 14(15) The Birth of an Arapesh Child 29(9) Early Influences That Mould the Arapesh Personality 38(20) The Growth and Initiation of an Arapesh Boy 58(17) The Growth and Betrothal of an Arapesh Girl 75(17) Arapesh Marriage 92(32) The Arapesh Ideal and Those Who Deviate from It 124(27) part two the river-dwelling Mundugumor 151(68) The Pace of Life in a Cannibal Tribe 157(9) The Structure of Mundugumor Society 166(12) The Development of the Individual Mundugumor 178(23) Youth and Marriage Among the Mundugumor 201(10) Deviants from the Mundugumor Ideal 211(8) part three the lake-dwelling Tchambuli 219(40) The Pattern of Tchambuli Social Life 221(8) The Contrasting Roles of Tchambuli Men and Women 229(18) The Unplaced Tchambuli Man and Woman 247(12) part four the implication of these results 259(30) The Standardisation of Sex-Temperament 261(10) The Deviant 271(18) Conclusion 289(12) Index and Glossary 301