RCGD/EHAP Winter Seminar Series: How Cultural Norms Structure the Evolution of Human Behavior and Psychology
Sarah Mathew
How Cultural Norms Structure the Evolution of Human Behavior and Psychology
Monday, March 4, 2024 (2 PM – 3:30 PM)
Sarah Mathew
Arizona State University
Culturally transmitted norms have likely structured the selection pressures shaping human behavior and psychology, but focused studies are needed to establish the exact pathways and outcomes of this co-evolutionary process. I present two studies which incorporate our long-standing cultural capacity to develop hypotheses of human behavior in the context of cooperation and conflict. The first study will illustrate how competition between culturally differentiated populations, i.e. cultural group selection, structures the social scale of cooperation in transient interactions with strangers. The second study shows how certain features of combat-related psychological stress can be explained as a psychological adaptation to culturally-structured normative landscapes. Data for these studies were collected in pastoral communities living in northwest Kenya.
Monday, March 4, 2024 (2 PM – 3:30 PM)
Sarah Mathew
Arizona State University
Culturally transmitted norms have likely structured the selection pressures shaping human behavior and psychology, but focused studies are needed to establish the exact pathways and outcomes of this co-evolutionary process. I present two studies which incorporate our long-standing cultural capacity to develop hypotheses of human behavior in the context of cooperation and conflict. The first study will illustrate how competition between culturally differentiated populations, i.e. cultural group selection, structures the social scale of cooperation in transient interactions with strangers. The second study shows how certain features of combat-related psychological stress can be explained as a psychological adaptation to culturally-structured normative landscapes. Data for these studies were collected in pastoral communities living in northwest Kenya.
| Building: | Institute For Social Research |
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| Website: | |
| Event Type: | Workshop / Seminar |
| Tags: | Africa, Anthropology, Culture, Psychology, Social Sciences, Sociology |
| Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD), Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Social Research, Department of Anthropology, Department of Sociology, Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, Evolution & Human Adaptations Program (EHAP) |
