mark schaller and douglas t. kenrick evolutionevolution cognitioncognition...

Mark Schaller and Douglas T. KenrickMark Schaller and Douglas T. KenrickMark Schaller and Douglas T. KenrickMark Schaller and Douglas T. Kenrick

EvolutionEvolutionEvolutionEvolution

CognitionCognitionCognitionCognition

CommunicationCommunicationCommunicationCommunication

CultureCultureCultureCulture





(Other Stuff)(Other Stuff)(Other Stuff)(Other Stuff)

Impact of Evolution on Cultural NormsImpact of Evolution on Cultural Norms

• Step 1: Adaptive pressures in ancestral environments shaped human cognition.

• Step 2: Evolved cognitive tendencies influence the nature of interpersonal communication.

• Step 3: The specific contents and processes of communication eventually shape the norms that define human cultures.

Step 1: Evolution CognitionStep 1: Evolution Cognition

Evolved Cognitive Responses are:Evolved Cognitive Responses are:

• Functional – Formerly functional anyway

• Fast – Automatic activation

• Flexible – Responsive to eliciting cues

• Flexible – Moderated by background variables that

indicate costs / benefits 　　

Example: Sex Differences in Social Example: Sex Differences in Social Attention and Perception Attention and Perception

• Evolved mechanisms of mate selection require attention to perceptual cues connoting desirable mate characteristics. – These cues differ for men and women.

• Visual attention to faces (Maner et al., in press):– For men, attention is drawn especially to physically

attractive women. (Among women, things are different.)

• Perception of emotion in faces (Maner et al.):– Men misperceive sexual arousal in the faces of attractive

women, especially when romantic goals are temporarily activated. (Among women, things are different.)

Example: Cognitive Consequences of Example: Cognitive Consequences of Disease-Avoidance MechanismDisease-Avoidance Mechanism

• Evolved disease-avoidance mechanism requires attention to perceptual cues connoting contagion. – E.g.: body morphology, cultural foreignness.

• Cognitive link between morphology and disease.– Individuals implicitly associate physical disability with

disease, especially when they feel more vulnerable to disease (Park et al., 2003).

• Cognitive link between ‘foreignness’ and disease.– Individuals express negative attitudes toward the

immigration of foreign peoples, especially when they feel more vulnerable to disease (Faulkner et al.).

Step 2: Cognition CommunicationStep 2: Cognition Communication

Selective Pressures on the Selective Pressures on the Contents of Communication Contents of Communication

• Emphasis here is not on how we communicate, but rather on what we communicate about: The contents of communication.

• When we communicate with other people, we communicate selectively: We talk more about some things, and less about others.

• This selection process is non-random: It is influenced by chronic cognitive constraints and by temporarily activated cognitive structures.

Some ExamplesSome Examples

• Cognitive capacity / Desire for simplicity:– Scientific citations: Studies with complex conclusions

are less likely to be cited. (And complex findings are often mis-represented as simpler than they are).

– Stereotypes: Maintenance of central tendency but loss of variability information (e.g., Kashima and others).

• Self-presentation (Schaller and Conway, 1999):– Stereotypes: Desire to make a positive impression

influences what people talk about when they talk about groups – and this has unintended effects on emerging group stereotypes

Step 3: Communication CultureStep 3: Communication Culture

Mere Communication and the Mere Communication and the Coalescence of Cultural NormsCoalescence of Cultural Norms

• Dynamic Social Impact Theory (Latane).• Social influence inevitably occurs through the

mere act of communication.• Repeated local acts of interpersonal

communication have eventual population-level consequences that unfold dynamically over time:– Emergence of distinct clusters of beliefs, behavior, and

other kinds of cultural norms.– Emergence of overlap between previously uncorrelated

norms.

Liberal attitudes

Conservative attitudes

In the beginning…

Later, after lots of communication…

Liberal attitudes

Conservative attitudes

Selective Communication and the Selective Communication and the Specific Contents of CultureSpecific Contents of Culture

• Communication is selective. (We tend to talk about some things more than others.)

• Communication processes impose selection pressures on any belief that is, or might be, culturally normative.

• More ‘communicable’ beliefs are more likely to become culturally normative, and to remain that way.

Example: Communicability Predicts Example: Communicability Predicts Contents of Shared StereotypesContents of Shared Stereotypes

• (Schaller, Conway, & Tanchuk, 2002)• Measure of the extent to which people are likely to

talk about the personal traits of individuals.• Measure of the persistence of these traits in popular

stereotypes of U.S. Blacks across time.• Ten different tests of the communicability-

persistence correlation.• The correlation was always positive: More

communicable beliefs were more likely persist in culturally-shared stereotypes over time.





Putting It All TogetherPutting It All Together

Disease, Disgust, and the Disease, Disgust, and the Transmission of Popular BeliefsTransmission of Popular Beliefs

• Evolution: Disgust is an evolved emotional signal, signaling potential threat of contagion.

• Cognition: Disgusting information grabs our attention.

• Communication: We are especially inclined to communicate disgusting information to others.

• Culture: Disgusting information is more likely to become and remain part of cultural belief systems.– E.g., Research on urban legends (Heath et al., 2001).

Threat, Prejudice, and Persistence of Threat, Prejudice, and Persistence of Cultural StereotypesCultural Stereotypes

• Evolution: Beliefs linking ‘tribal’ outgroups to danger protected individuals from the negative consequences of unexpected intergroup contact.

• Cognition: These prejudicial beliefs are quickly learned and easily activated, especially when individuals feel vulnerable to harm – E.g., Research on darkness (Schaller et al., 2003).

• Communication: Information connoting danger/safety is especially communicable.

• Culture: Information connoting danger/safety is especially persistent in cultural belief systems– E.g., Research on contents of stereotypes of U.S. Blacks.

Evolved Preferences and Evolved Preferences and Construction of Sexual Subcultures Construction of Sexual Subcultures

• Evolution: Differential parental investment.• Cognition: Sex differences in preferences for

‘restricted’ or ‘unrestricted’ mating.• Communication: Interpersonal negotiation of

socially acceptable sexual behavior (necessary in order in order to attract and retain mates).

• Culture: Dynamical emergence of different sexual subcultures, defined by collective tendencies toward restricted or unrestricted mating behavior (Kenrick, Butner, & Li, 2003)

Males

Females

InitialPreferences:

Unrestricted

Restricted

(Majority are unrestricted)

(Majority are restricted)

Males

Females

Each individual must consider the

preferences of available opposite-sex

neighbors, and possibly modify

behavior accordingly

Unrestricted

Restricted

Males

FemalesUnrestricted

Restricted

Males

Females

InitialTendencies:

Unrestricted

Restricted

Males

Females

Eventual PatternOf Behavior:

Unrestricted

Restricted

In Summary In Summary

• “Culture is the precipitate of cognition and communication in a human population” (Sperber, 1984).

• Communication is guided and constrained by the cognitive residue of our evolutionary past.

• This set of relationships provides a useful template for inquiry into some of the many ways in which evolution influences culture.

mark schaller and douglas t. kenrick evolutionevolution cognitioncognition...

Documents

cognition communication

evolution cognition

cognitive link

cognitive structures

evolved cognitive responses

evolved cognitive tendencies

disease park

disease faulkner