Norm reinforcement, not conformity or environmental factors, is predicted to sustain cultural variation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7989640 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M Lee Manning (Arizona State University), Bill D Thompson (0000-0001-7348-3531, University of California, Berkeley), Thomas J H Morgan (0000-0002-2848-8461, Arizona State University) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Pages | e49-e49 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Evolutionary Human Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2513-843X • E-ISSN: 2513-843X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/ehs.2024.23 |
| PMID | 39703947 |
| OpenAlex | W4404908975 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 61 |
The maintenance of cross-cultural variation and arbitrary traditions in human populations is a key question in cultural evolution. Conformist transmission, the tendency to follow the majority, was previously considered central to this phenomenon. However, recent theory indicates that cognitive biases can greatly reduce its ability to maintain traditions. Therefore, we expanded prior models to investigate two other ways that cultural variation can be sustained: payoff-biased transmission and norm reinforcement. Our findings predict that both payoff-biased transmission and reinforcement can enhance conformist transmission's ability to maintain traditions. However, payoff-biased transmission can only sustain cultural variation if it is functionally related to environmental factors. In contrast, norm reinforcement readily generates and maintains arbitrary cultural variation. Furthermore, reinforcement results in path-dependent cultural dynamics, meaning that historical traditions influence current practices, even though group behaviours have changed. We conclude that environmental variation probably plays a role in functional cultural traditions, but arbitrary cultural variation is more plausibly due to the reinforcement of norm compliance
Cognitive psychology · Conformist · Conformity · Cultural transmission in animals · Economics · Epistemology · Evolutionary biology · Meaning (existential · Microeconomics · Norm (philosophy · Phenomenon · Political science · Reinforcement · Stochastic game · Variation (astronomy · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Language and cultural evolution · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |