The evolution of costly displays, cooperation and religion
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Outward behavior by people who are monotheistic can make people more likely to become monotheistic themselves.
“Outward behavior by people who are monotheistic can make people more likely to become monotheistic themselves.”
From Is supernatural belief unreliably formed? (2019) · cites this paper as Henrich (2009)
Such knowledge acts as a reliable and credible cue that can foster group cohesion through identity and status formation.
“Such knowledge acts as a reliable and credible cue that can foster group cohesion through identity and status formation (Henrich, 2009).”
From The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework (2018) · cites this paper as Henrich, 2009
Cites
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Not By Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution
Richerson, P. J., & Boyd, R. (2004) · doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226712130.001.0001 · Cited by 2,793 · see citing works
Henrich, J., & Gil-White, F. J. (2001) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/s1090-5138(00)00071-4 · Cited by 2,500 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Since context and content transmission biases do not disappear in the absence of CREDs, cultural learners will still recall the verbal statements of, for example, prestigious individuals better than the statements of others ( Henrich & Gil-White, 2001 ).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationCultural group selection, coevolutionary processes and large-scale cooperation
Henrich, J. (2004) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/s0167-2681(03)00094-5 · Cited by 1,096 · cited 1× · see citing works
“This kind of CGS, involving competition among stable states, suffers none of the problems typically associated with application of genetic group selection to the evolution of altruism (Henrich, 2004).”
BackgroundSelf-citationIndirect reciprocity can stabilize cooperation without the second-order free rider problem
Panchanathan, K., & Boyd, R. (2004) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature02978 · Cited by 881 · see citing works
Cooperation and Commune Longevity: A Test of the Costly Signaling Theory of Religion
Sosis, R., & Bressler, E. R. (2003) · Cross-Cultural Research · doi:10.1177/1069397103037002003 · Cited by 569 · cited 1× · see citing works
“In their study of utopian communities, Sosis and Bressler (2003) assembled data on longevity, group size and costly requirements (e.g., rituals, taboos, etc.) for 83 religious and secular utopia movements in the 19th century.”
BackgroundSosis, R., & Ruffle, B. J. (2003) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/379260 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
A bias for social information in human cultural transmission
Mesoudi, A., Whiten, A., & Dunbar, R. (2006) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1348/000712605x85871 · Cited by 349 · see citing works
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The cultural niche: Why social learning is essential for human adaptation
Boyd, R., Richerson, P. J., & Henrich, J. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1100290108 · Cited by 1,303 · see citing works
Self-citationCulture-gene coevolution, norm-psychology and the emergence of human prosociality
Chudek, M., & Henrich, J. (2011) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2011.03.003 · Cited by 739 · see citing works
Self-citationFincher, C. L., & Thornhill, R. (2012) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x11000021 · Cited by 526 · see citing works
The Ties That Bind Us: Ritual, Fusion, and Identification
Whitehouse, H., & Lanman, J. A. (2014) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/678698 · Cited by 509 · see citing works
Kline, M. A. (2015) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x14000090 · Cited by 486 · see citing works
The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework
Hobson, N. M., Schroeder, J., Risen, J. L., Xygalatas, D., & Inzlicht, M. (2018) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868317734944 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
“Across development, this process then becomes elaborated in adults, where rituals, particularly credible practices that are hard to fake (Harris, 2012; Henrich, 2009), signal the establishment of a culture’s most cherished values (Sosis, 2004).”
BackgroundMcKay, R., & Whitehouse, H. (2015) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0038455 · Cited by 353 · see citing works
The origins of religious disbelief
Norenzayan, A., & Gervais, W. M. (2013) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2012.11.006 · Cited by 320 · see citing works
The essential role of ritual in the transmission and reinforcement of social norms.
Rossano, M. J. (2012) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0027038 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
Cognitive biases explain religious belief, paranormal belief, and belief in life’s purpose
Willard, A. K., & Norenzayan, A. (2013) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2013.07.016 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
The cultural evolution of emergent group-level traits
Smaldino, P. E. (2014) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x13001544 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
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“A tidal surge of research in the evolutionary study of religion has focussed on how such benefits explain the remarkable evolutionary endurance of religion [20–38].”
BackgroundCumulative cultural learning: Development and diversity
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The importance of religious displays for belief acquisition and secularization
Lanman, J. A. (2012) · Journal of Contemporary Religion · doi:10.1080/13537903.2012.642726 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
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Norenzayan, A., Shariff, A. F., Gervais, W. M., Willard, A. K., McNamara, R. A., Slingerland, E., & Henrich, J. (2016) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x15000655 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Cultural Evolution of Epistemic Practices
Hong, Z., & Henrich, J. (2021) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-021-09408-6 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Self-citationWhite, C. J. M., & Norenzayan, A. (2019) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2019.03.001 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
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Is supernatural belief unreliably formed?
Van Eyghen, H. (2019) · International Journal for Philosophy of Religion · doi:10.1007/s11153-018-9671-4 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“59 Henrich (2009). incompatible (and thus false) god beliefs?’’”
DEBUNKING ARGUMENTS GAIN LITTLE FROM COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION
Launonen, L. (2021) · Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science · doi:10.1111/zygo.12683 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Third, we follow the example of those who actually practice what they preach: we look closely for so-called credibility enhancing displays, that is, special actions such as religious rituals that signal the seriousness of one’s religious commitment (Henrich 2009).”
BackgroundCultural Evolution of Religion, Spirituality and Ritual: Impacts On Human Cooperation
McNamara, R. A. (2024) · KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie · doi:10.1007/s11577-024-00937-3 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“The willingness to act at a personal cost further conveys the belief that the performer holds, making this aspect of ritual an essential ingredient in the cultural transmission of religious belief systems (Langston et al. 2018; Henrich 2009; Rossano 2012).”
- Authors
- Henrich, J.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Henrich, Joseph
- ORCID
- Henrich, Joseph
- Venue
- Evolution and Human Behavior
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-07
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 244-260
- ISSN
- 1090-5138 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2128261329
- Cited by
- 693
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 50 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 84 · 2019: 49 · 2018: 42 · 2017: 54 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 29
- FWCI
- 61.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Evolution and Human Behavior (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- costly signaling, ritual, animal sacrifice, martyrdom, cultural learning, learning bias, group competition, cooperation, religion, evolution of religion
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