A bias for social information in human cultural transmission
Abstract
Evolutionary theories concerning the origins of human intelligence suggest that cultural transmission might be biased toward social over non-social information. This was tested by passing social and non-social information along multiple chains of participants. Experiment 1 found that gossip, defined as information about intense third-party social relationships, was transmitted with significantly greater accuracy and in significantly greater quantity than equivalent non-social information concerning individual behaviour or the physical environment. Experiment 2 replicated this finding controlling for narrative coherence, and additionally found that information concerning everyday non-gossip social interactions was transmitted just as well as the intense gossip interactions. It was therefore concluded that human cultural transmission is biased toward information concerning social interactions over equivalent non-social information.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In a four-person chain experiment, people recalled more propositions and more accurately in the gossip condition than in the other conditions; the prototypical story lived longer.
“But as the information ran through the chain, people recalled more propositions and recalled them more accurately in the gossip condition than in the other conditions. The prototypical story lived longer.”
From Stories in Action. (2022) · cites this paper as Mesoudi et al., 2006
Cites
Culture and the Evolutionary Process
Griesemer, J. R., Boyd, R. T., & Richerson, P. J. (1986) · Ornithological Applications · doi:10.2307/1367778 · Cited by 7,133 · see citing works
Relevance: Communication and Cognition
Sperber, D., & Wilson, D. (1986) · Cited by 6,708 · see citing works
On aims and methods of ethology
Tinbergen, N. (1963) · Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie · doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1963.tb01161.x · Cited by 4,551 · see citing works
Relevance. Communication and cognition
Stoerig, P. (1987) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/0028-3932(87)90070-4 · Cited by 3,926 · see citing works
Coevolution of neocortical size, group size and language in humans
Dunbar, R. (1993) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x00032325 · Cited by 2,370 · see citing works
Self-citation(1996) · Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences · Cited by 2,212 · see citing works
Self-citationRemembrance of things parsed: Story structure and recall
Mandler, J. M., & Johnson, N. S. (1977) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(77)90006-8 · Cited by 2,085 · see citing works
The Representation of Meaning in Memory
Anderson, J. R., & Kintsch, W. (1975) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1421786 · Cited by 2,076 · see citing works
Explaining Culture: A Naturalistic Approach.
Barkow, J. H., & Sperber, D. (1998) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.2307/3034541 · Cited by 1,826 · see citing works
The phenomenon of social representations.
Moscovici, S. (1984) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,700 · see citing works
Byrne, R. W., & Whiten, A. (1988) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,690 · see citing works
Self-citationCognitive structures in comprehension and memory of narrative discourse
Thorndyke, P. W. (1977) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(77)90005-6 · Cited by 1,416 · see citing works
The Social Brain: Mind, Language, and Society in Evolutionary Perspective
Dunbar, R. I. M. (2003) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.32.061002.093158 · Cited by 1,068 · see citing works
Self-citationMIT encyclopedia of cognitive sciences
(1999) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.36-4243 · Cited by 1,021 · see citing works
The MIT encyclopedia of the cognitive sciences
Wilson, R. A., (eds, F. C. K., & Dorr, B. J. (1999) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.37-1902 · Cited by 930 · see citing works
Towards a unified science of cultural evolution
Mesoudi, A., Whiten, A., & Laland, K. N. (2006) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x06009083 · Cited by 862 · see citing works
Self-citationCultural transmission and evolution
Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. (1981) · Cited by 840 · see citing works
Badcock, C. R., Farr, R. M., & Moscovici, S. (1986) · British Journal of Sociology · doi:10.2307/590362 · Cited by 803 · see citing works
Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language
Dunbar, & Fisher, M. (1998) · Cited by 793 · see citing works
Stangor, C., & McMillan, D. (1992) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.111.1.42 · Cited by 748 · see citing works
The New Handbook of Language and Social Psychology
Giles, H., & Robinson, W. P. (2001) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 735 · see citing works
Eysenck, M. W., & Keane, M. T. (2013) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.4324/9781315000114-11 · Cited by 706 · see citing works
Handbook of Language and Social Psychology
Myers‐Scotton, C., Giles, H., & Robinson, W. P. (1992) · Language · doi:10.2307/416867 · Cited by 672 · see citing works
Causal relatedness and importance of story events
Trabasso, T., & Sperry, L. L. (1985) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/0749-596x(85)90048-8 · Cited by 664 · see citing works
Clutton‐Brock, T. H., & Harvey, P. H. (1980) · Journal of Zoology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1980.tb01430.x · Cited by 550 · see citing works
Machiavellian Intelligence II: Extensions and Evaluations
(1997) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511525636 · Cited by 514 · see citing works
Machiavellian Intelligence II: Extensions and Evaluations
(1999) · Ethology · doi:10.1046/j.1439-0310.1999.372-2.x · Cited by 465 · see citing works
Dunbar, R. I. M., Marriott, A., & Duncan, N. D. C. (1997) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/bf02912493 · Cited by 405 · see citing works
Self-citationNeocortex size predicts deception rate in primates
Byrne, R. W., & Nadia Corp (2004) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2780 · Cited by 373 · see citing works
The evolution of cooperation in mobile organisms
Enquist, M., & Leimar, O. (1993) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1006/anbe.1993.1089 · Cited by 350 · see citing works
The Descent of MindPsychological Perspectives on Hominid Evolution
Corballis, M. C., & Lea, S. E. G. (2000) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632593.001.0001 · Cited by 336 · see citing works
Dunbar, R. (2003) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1092116 · Cited by 314 · see citing works
Self-citationMaintaining Cultural Stereotypes in the Serial Reproduction of Narratives
Kashima, Y. (2000) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167200267007 · Cited by 312 · see citing works
Neocortex size and group size in primates: a test of the hypothesis
Dunbar, R. (1995) · Journal of Human Evolution · doi:10.1006/jhev.1995.1021 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Self-citationMesoudi, A., Whiten, A., & Laland, K. N. (2004) · Evolution · doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2004.tb01568.x · Cited by 283 · see citing works
Self-citationSocial pressures have selected for an extended juvenile period in primates
Joffe, T. H. (1997) · Journal of Human Evolution · doi:10.1006/jhev.1997.0140 · Cited by 247 · see citing works
Culture and First-Person Pronouns
Na, J., & Choi, I. (2009) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167209343810 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Barton, R. A., & Dunbar, R. (1997) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511525636.010 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Self-citationThe “soap opera” effect in story recall
Owens, J. E., Bower, G. H., & Black, J. B. (1979) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/bf03197537 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Gossip and Other Aspects of Language as Group-Level Adaptations
Wilson, D. S., Wilczynski, C., Wells, A., & Weiser, L. A. (2000) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/2872.003.0026 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
The Hierarchical Transformation of Event Knowledge in Human Cultural Transmission
Mesoudi, A., & Whiten, A. (2004) · Journal of Cognition and Culture · doi:10.1163/156853704323074732 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Self-citationSize and structure of freely forming conversational groups
Dunbar, R., Duncan, N. D., & Nettle, D. (1995) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/bf02734136 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Self-citationBangerter, A. (2000) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1348/014466600164615 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Gramzow, R. H., Gaertner, L., & Sedikides, C. (2001) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.80.2.188 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
A Comparative Study of Primate Play Behaviour: Implications for the Study of Cognition
Lewis, K. P. (2001) · Folia Primatologica · doi:10.1159/000052740 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1989) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/0003-3472(89)90054-7 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Self-citationFolk conceptions of fairness and unfairness
Lupfer, M. B., Weeks, K. P., Doan, K. A., & Houston, D. A. (2000) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-0992(200005/06)30:3 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
The evolution of deep social mind in humans
Whiten, A. (2000) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632593.003.0010 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Self-citationPerson memory and judgment: Pragmatic influences on impressions formed in a social context.
Wyer, R. S., Budesheim, T. L., Lambert, A. J., & Swan, S. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.66.2.254 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Social Complexity and Social Intelligence
Whiten, A. (2000) · Novartis Foundation symposium · doi:10.1002/0470870850.ch12 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citationTHE INFLUENCE OF AGE AND SOCIAL GROUP ON CHILDREN'S REMEMBERING
Northway, M. L. (1936) · British Journal of Psychology General Section · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1936.tb00813.x · Cited by 29 · see citing works
WARD, T. H. G. (1949) · British Journal of Psychology General Section · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1949.tb00213.x · Cited by 27 · see citing works
THE EFFECT OF NAMES AND TITLES UPON THE SERIAL REPRODUCTION OF PICTORIAL AND VERBAL MATERIAL
HALL, K. R. L. (1950) · British Journal of Psychology General Section · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1950.tb00269.x · Cited by 27 · see citing works
REMEMBERING IN DIFFERENT SOCIAL GROUPS
MAXWELL, R. S. (1936) · British Journal of Psychology General Section · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1936.tb00814.x · Cited by 26 · see citing works
MEMORY FOR POSITION, AMONG CHILDREN, AS MEASURED BY SERIAL REPRODUCTION
Klugman, S. F. (1944) · British Journal of Psychology General Section · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1944.tb01083.x · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1998) · Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews · doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6505(1998)6:5
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
2 of the 58 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Function of Fiction is the Abstraction and Simulation of Social Experience
Mar, R. A., & Oatley, K. (2008) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00073.x · Cited by 1,345 · see citing works
Kirby, S., Cornish, H., & Smith, K. (2008) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0707835105 · Cited by 941 · see citing works
Towards a unified science of cultural evolution
Mesoudi, A., Whiten, A., & Laland, K. N. (2006) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x06009083 · Cited by 862 · see citing works
Self-citationThe evolution of costly displays, cooperation and religion
Henrich, J. (2009) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.03.005 · Cited by 693 · see citing works
Schilbach, L., Eickhoff, S. B., Rotarska-Jagiela, A., Fink, G. R., & Vogeley, K. (2008) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2008.03.013 · Cited by 615 · see citing works
Social Learning Strategies: Bridge-Building between Fields
Kendal, R. L., Boogert, N. J., Rendell, L. E., Laland, K. N., Webster, M., & Jones, P. L. (2018) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2018.04.003 · Cited by 615 · see citing works
Cognitive culture: theoretical and empirical insights into social learning strategies
Rendell, L., Fogarty, L., Hoppitt, W. J. E., Morgan, T. J. H., Webster, M. M., & Laland, K. N. (2011) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.12.002 · Cited by 549 · see citing works
The evolution of animal ‘cultures’ and social intelligence
Whiten, A., & van Schaik, C. P. (2007) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2006.1998 · Cited by 478 · see citing works
Self-citationSocial cognition and the anterior temporal lobes: a review and theoretical framework
Olson, I. R., McCoy, D., Klobusicky, E., & Ross, L. A. (2013) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nss119 · Cited by 452 · see citing works
Alexandrov, A., Lilly, B., & Babakus, E. (2013) · Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · doi:10.1007/s11747-012-0323-4 · Cited by 448 · see citing works
Perspective Taking and Memory Capacity Predict Social Network Size
Stiller, J., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2007) · Social Networks · doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2006.04.001 · Cited by 429 · see citing works
Self-citationInnovation in the collective brain
Muthukrishna, M., & Henrich, J. (2016) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0192 · Cited by 417 · see citing works
Evolutionary economics of mental time travel?
Boyer, P. (2008) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.03.003 · Cited by 413 · see citing works
Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution
Shennan, S. J. (2019) · University of California Press eBooks · doi:10.1525/9780520943360 · Cited by 391 · see citing works
The multiple roles of cultural transmission experiments in understanding human cultural evolution
Mesoudi, A., & Whiten, A. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0129 · Cited by 384 · see citing works
Self-citationGossip as an alternative for direct observation in games of indirect reciprocity
Sommerfeld, R. D., Krambeck, H.-J., Semmann, D., & Milinski, M. (2007) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0704598104 · Cited by 383 · see citing works
Eerkens, J., & Lipo, C. P. (2007) · Journal of Archaeological Research · doi:10.1007/s10814-007-9013-z · Cited by 278 · see citing works
Cultural Evolution: A Review of Theory, Findings and Controversies
Mesoudi, A. (2015) · Evolutionary Biology · doi:10.1007/s11692-015-9320-0 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
Self-citationIterated learning and the evolution of language
Kirby, S., Griffiths, T., & Smith, K. (2014) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.conb.2014.07.014 · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Social cognition and the anterior temporal lobes
Ross, L. A., & Olson, I. R. (2009) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.11.012 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Schilbach, L., Bzdok, D., Timmermans, B., Fox, P. T., Laird, A. R., Vogeley, K. T., & Eickhoff, S. B. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030920 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Mesoudi, A. (2008) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.04.005 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Phylogeny of Little Red Riding Hood
Tehrani, J. J. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078871 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
The sky is falling: evidence of a negativity bias in the social transmission of information
Bebbington, K. R., MacLeod, C., Ellison, T. M., & Fay, N. (2016) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.07.004 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Acerbi, A., & Mesoudi, A. (2015) · Biology & Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s10539-015-9490-2 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
“Take, for example, a transmission chain experiment by Mesoudi et al. (2006), in which multiple stories varying in their social complexity were passed along chains of participants.”
InfluentialSelf-citationExperimental models for testing hypotheses about cumulative cultural evolution
Caldwell, C. A., & Millen, A. E. (2008) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.12.001 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Left inferior parietal lobe engagement in social cognition and language
Bzdok, D., Hartwigsen, G., Reid, A., Laird, A. R., Fox, P. T., & Eickhoff, S. B. (2016) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.02.024 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
How cultural evolutionary theory can inform social psychology and vice versa.
Mesoudi, A. (2009) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0017062 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Self-citationThe acheulean handaxe: More like a bird's song than a beatles' tune?
Corbey, R., Jagich, A., Vaesen, K., & Mark Collard, A. (2016) · Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews · doi:10.1002/evan.21467 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Studying cumulative cultural evolution in the laboratory
Caldwell, C. A., & Millen, A. E. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0133 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Cognitive attraction and online misinformation
Acerbi, A. (2019) · Palgrave Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-019-0224-y · Cited by 161 · see citing works
The cultural evolution of language
Tamariz, M., & Kirby, S. (2015) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.003 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Talking about others: Emotionality and the dissemination of social information
Peters, K., Kashima, Y., & Clark, A. E. (2008) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.523 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
An Integrative Definition and Framework to Study Gossip
Cruz, T. D. D., Nieper, A. S., Testori, M., Martinescu, E., & Beersma, B. (2021) · Group & Organization Management · doi:10.1177/1059601121992887 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Cultural Evolution in the Digital Age
Acerbi, A. (2019) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198835943.001.0001 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Large language models show human-like content biases in transmission chain experiments
Acerbi, A., & Stubbersfield, J. M. (2023) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2313790120 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Stubbersfield, J., Tehrani, J. J., & Flynn, E. (2014) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjop.12073 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Brinkmann, L., Baumann, F., Bonnefon, J.-F., Derex, M., Müller, T. F., Nussberger, A.-M., Czaplicka, A., Acerbi, A., Griffiths, T. L., Henrich, J., et al. (2023) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-023-01742-2 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
The cultural evolution of emotion
Lindquist, K. A., Jackson, J., Leshin, J., Satpute, A., & Gendron, M. (2022) · Nature Reviews Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44159-022-00105-4 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Richerson, P., & Henrich, J. (2012) · Cliodynamics: The Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution · doi:10.21237/c7clio3112453 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Negatively-Biased Credulity and the Cultural Evolution of Beliefs
Fessler, D. M. T., Pisor, A. C., & Navarrete, C. D. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095167 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Eriksson, K., & Coultas, J. C. (2014) · Journal of Cognition and Culture · doi:10.1163/15685373-12342107 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Individual consistency and flexibility in human social information use
Toelch, U., Bruce, M. J., Newson, L., Richerson, P. J., & Reader, S. M. (2013) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.2864 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Cultural Evolution of Language
Dediu, D., Cysouw, M., Levinson, S. C., Baronchelli, A., Christiansen, M. H., Croft, W., Evans, N., Garrod, S., Gray, R. D., Kandler, A., et al. (2013) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262019750.003.0016 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Sjölander‐Lindqvist, A. (2022) · Palgrave Studies in Anthropology of Sustainability · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-78040-1_1 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Culture: Copying, Compression, and Conventionality
Tamariz, M., & Kirby, S. (2014) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.12144 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
I know what you did: The effects of interpersonal deviance on bystanders.
Ferguson, M. J., & Barry, B. (2011) · Journal of Occupational Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0021708 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Evolutionary ethnobiology and cultural evolution: opportunities for research and dialog
Santoro, F., Nascimento, A., Soldati, G., Ferreira, W., & Albuquerque, U. (2018) · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine · doi:10.1186/s13002-017-0199-y · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Is gossip power? The inverse relationships between gossip, power, and likability
Farley, S. D. (2011) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.821 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
The Default Mode of Human Brain Function Primes the Intentional Stance
Spunt, R. P., Meyer, M. L., & Lieberman, M. D. (2015) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00785 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Memory and Belief in the Transmission of Counterintuitive Content
Willard, A., Henrich, J., & Norenzayan, A. (2016) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-016-9259-6 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Knowledge-Sharing Networks in Hunter-Gatherers and the Evolution of Cumulative Culture
Salalι, G. D., Chaudhary, N., Thompson, J., Grace, O. M., van der Burgt, X. M., Dyble, M., Page, A. E., Major‐Smith, D., Lewis, J., Mace, R. H., et al. (2016) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.015 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Using the methods of experimental social psychology to study cultural evolution.
Mesoudi, A. (2007) · Journal of Social Evolutionary and Cultural Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0099359 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Self-citationBøggild, T., Aarøe, L., & Petersen, M. B. (2020) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055420000805 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Cultural selection and biased transformation: two dynamics of cultural evolution
Mesoudi, A. (2021) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2020.0053 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Self-citationZhang, D., Shen, J., Bi, R., Zhang, Y., Zhou, F., Feng, C., & Gu, R. (2020) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291720003967 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Internet users engage more with phatic posts than with health misinformation on Facebook
Berriche, M., & Altay, S. (2020) · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-020-0452-1 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Mapping the Cultural Learnability Landscape of Danger
Barrett, H. C., Peterson, C. D., & Frankenhuis, W. E. (2016) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.12495 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Focus on the success of others leads to selfish behavior
van den Berg, P., Molleman, L., & Weissing, F. J. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1417203112 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Social Information Transmission in Animals: Lessons from Studies of Diffusion
Duboscq, J., Romano, V., MacIntosh, A. J. J., & Sueur, C. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01147 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Active and developing patterns:Remembering into the future
Valsiner, J. (2017) · VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) · doi:10.1017/9780511920219 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
On Coffee Talk and Break-Room Chatter: Perceptions of Women Who Gossip in the Workplace
Farley, S. D., Timme, D. R., & Hart, J. W. (2010) · The Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/00224540903365430 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Foresight in cultural evolution
Mesoudi, A. (2008) · Biology & Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s10539-007-9097-3 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Self-citationCulture-Gene Coevolution, Large-Scale Cooperation, and the Shaping of Human Social Psychology
Chudek, M., Zhao, W.-Y., & Henrich, J. (2013) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9033.003.0024 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
A Cultural Evolution Approach to Digital Media
Acerbi, A. (2016) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00636 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
The role of transmission biases in the cultural diffusion of irrelevant actions.
McGuigan, N. (2011) · Journal of comparative psychology · doi:10.1037/a0025525 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Stubbersfield, J., Flynn, E., & Tehrani, J. J. (2017) · Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture · doi:10.26613/esic/1.1.20 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Cultural complexity and demography: The case of folktales
Acerbi, A., Kendal, J. R., & Tehrani, J. J. (2017) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.03.005 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Stimulated Variation and Cascades: Two Processes in the Evolution of Complex Technological Systems
O’Brien, M. J., & Bentley, R. A. (2011) · Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · doi:10.1007/s10816-011-9110-7 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Social Curiosity and Gossip: Related but Different Drives of Social Functioning
Hartung, F., & Renner, B. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069996 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
The neural underpinnings of an optimal exploitation of social information under uncertainty
Toelch, U., Bach, D. R., & Dolan, R. J. (2013) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nst173 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Gandon, E., Roux, V., & Coyle, T. (2014) · Journal of Anthropological Archaeology · doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2013.12.003 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Leech, B. L., & Cronk, L. (2017) · Cognitive Systems Research · doi:10.1016/j.cogsys.2017.01.001 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Reasons to be fussy about cultural evolution
Morin, O. (2016) · Biology & Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s10539-016-9516-4 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Stubbersfield, J., Tehrani, J. J., & Flynn, E. (2017) · Journal of Cognition and Culture · doi:10.1163/15685373-12342189 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Cognitive Biases and Communication Strength in Social Networks: The Case of Episodic Frames
Aarøe, L., & Petersen, M. B. (2018) · British Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1017/s0007123418000273 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
In-person and virtual social interactions improve well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic
Liang, N., Grayson, S., Kussman, M. A., Mildner, J. N., & Tamir, D. (2024) · Computers in Human Behavior Reports · doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100455 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Social Transmission of False Memory in Small Groups and Large Networks
Maswood, R., & Rajaram, S. (2018) · Topics in Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/tops.12348 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
The emergence of recursion in human language: Mentalising predicts recursive syntax task performance
Oesch, N., & Dunbar, R. (2016) · Journal of Neurolinguistics · doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2016.09.008 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Self-citationDeception as a Derived Function of Language
Oesch, N. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01485 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Cultural transmission of irrelevant tool actions in diffusion chains of 3- and 5-year-old children
McGuigan, N., & Graham, M. (2009) · European Journal of Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1080/17405620902858125 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Are the New Mass Media Subverting Cultural Transmission?
Barkow, J. H., O'Gorman, R., & Rendell, L. (2012) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0027907 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Echo chambers and information transmission biases in homophilic and heterophilic networks
Diaz-Diaz, F., Miguel, M. S., & Meloni, S. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-13343-6 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Synthesis in the human evolutionary behavioural sciences
Sear, R., Lawson, D. W., & Dickins, T. E. (2007) · Journal of Evolutionary Psychology · doi:10.1556/jep.2007.1019 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Chudek, M., Muthukrishna, M., & Henrich, J. (2015) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119125563.evpsych230 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Hartung, F., Krohn, C., & Pirschtat, M. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01162 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Singh, M., Acerbi, A., Caldwell, C., Danchin, E., Isabel, G., Molleman, L., Scott-Phillips, T., Tamariz, M., van den Berg, P., van Leeuwen, E. V., et al. (2021) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2020.0050 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Content biases in three phases of cultural transmission: A review
Stubbersfield, J. (2022) · Culture and Evolution · doi:10.1556/2055.2022.00024 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Wagner, U., Giesen, A., Knausenberger, J., & Echterhoff, G. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01697 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Why people die in novels: testing the ordeal simulation hypothesis
Morin, O., Acerbi, A., & Sobchuk, O. (2019) · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-019-0267-0 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Complex Adaptive Systems and the Origins of Adaptive Structure: What Experiments Can Tell Us
Cornish, H., Tamariz, M., & Kirby, S. (2009) · Language Learning · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00540.x · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Introduction. Cultural transmission and the evolution of human behaviour
Smith, K., Kalish, M. L., Griffiths, T. L., & Lewandowsky, S. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0147 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Gender discrimination in haute cuisine: A systematic literature and media analysis
Garrigós, J. A., Haddaji, M., & García‐Segovia, P. (2020) · International Journal of Hospitality Management · doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102569 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
The Sympathetic Plot, Its Psychological Origins, and Implications for the Evolution of Fiction
Singh, M. (2021) · Emotion Review · doi:10.1177/17540739211022824 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Cooney, G., Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson, T. D. (2017) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797616685870 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Interdisciplinary Lessons Learned While Researching Fake News
Sample, C., Jensen, M. J., Scott, K. M., McAlaney, J., Fitchpatrick, S., Brockinton, A., Ormrod, D., & Ormrod, A. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.537612 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Four Puzzles of Reputation-Based Cooperation
Giardini, F., Balliet, D. P., Power, E. A., Számadó, S., & Takács, K. (2021) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-021-09419-3 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
McKeown, G. J. (2013) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0032631 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Learning Bias, Cultural Evolution of Language, and the Biological Evolution of the Language Faculty
Smith, K. (2011) · Human Biology · doi:10.1353/hub.2011.a438023 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Did Einstein Really Say that? Testing Content Versus Context in the Cultural Selection of Quotations
Acerbi, A., & Tehrani, J. (2018) · Journal of Cognition and Culture · doi:10.1163/15685373-12340032 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
- Authors
- Mesoudi, A., Whiten, A., & Dunbar, R.
- Affiliations
- University of St Andrews (GB)
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Mesoudi, Alex
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-08
- Volume
- 97
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 405-423
- ISSN
- 0007-1269 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8295
- OpenAlex
- W2047815179
- Cited by
- 349
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 254.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Denver
- British Academy
- British Psychological Society
- University of St Andrews
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- cultural transmission, social information, gossip, social learning, narrative coherence, social interaction, evolutionary theory of cognition
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Communication, Cultural Characteristics, Cultural Evolution, Female, Humans, Intelligence, Interpersonal Relations, Machiavellianism, Male, Social Values, Socialization, Information Dissemination
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
