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Hartmann F, Roberts SG, Valdes P, Grollemund R. Investigating environmental effects on phonology using diachronic models. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2024; 6:e8. [PMID: 38516369 PMCID: PMC10955398 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2023.33] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/25/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous work has proposed various mechanisms by which the environment may affect the emergence of linguistic features. For example, dry air may cause careful control of pitch to be more effortful, and so affect the emergence of linguistic distinctions that rely on pitch such as lexical tone or vowel inventories. Criticisms of these proposals point out that there are both historical and geographic confounds that need to be controlled for. We take a causal inference approach to this problem to design the most detailed test of the theory to date. We analyse languages from the Bantu language family, using a prior geographic-phylogenetic tree of relationships to establish where and when languages were spoken. This is combined with estimates of humidity for those times and places, taken from historical climate models. We then estimate the strength of causal relationships in a causal path model, controlling for various influences of inheritance and borrowing. We find no evidence to support the previous claims that humidity affects the emergence of lexical tone. This study shows how using causal inference approaches lets us test complex causal claims about the cultural evolution of language.
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2
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van Diepenbeek F, Kessler SE. The role of the behavioural immune system on covid-19 lockdown attitudes: The relationship with authoritarianism and collectivism. Evol Med Public Health 2023; 11:502-515. [PMID: 38170074 PMCID: PMC10760406 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoad037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Background and objectives The behavioural immune system (BIS) is a motivational system that facilitates the avoidance of pathogens and is thought to have evolved as a less costly mechanism to combat infectious diseases compared to the physiological immune system. The Parasite Stress Theory of Social Values predicts that authoritarianism and collectivist attitudes may impact the BIS by predisposing people to support disease control measures, including severe restrictions like lockdowns or stay-at-home orders. This study investigates the relationship between authoritarianism, collectivism and Covid-19 worry on support for lockdown measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methodology A total of 187 UK participants were recruited to complete an online survey, which was administered between 22 June and 7 July 2020. The survey included measures of authoritarianism, collectivism, Covid-19 worry and support for lockdown measures. The data were analysed using moderated parallel mediation analysis. Results Covid-19 worry had a direct effect on support for and enforcement of lockdown measures, but not on the idea that adherence to lockdown rules should be an individual choice. The relationship between Covid Worry and Support for and Enforcement of lockdown measures was not mediated by authoritarianism, nor was it moderated by Collectivism. Collectivism and Authoritarianism were related to increased levels of support for lockdown independently from Covid Worry but were not related to enforcement. Conclusions and implications Support for lockdown restrictions and enforcement was mainly associated with covid worry. Our findings do not support the parasite stress theory of social values and indicate that the BIS manifested in a more direct way, and not through social values.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sharon E Kessler
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
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3
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Koplenig A, Wolfer S. Languages with more speakers tend to be harder to (machine-)learn. Sci Rep 2023; 13:18521. [PMID: 37898699 PMCID: PMC10613286 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-45373-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Computational language models (LMs), most notably exemplified by the widespread success of OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot, show impressive performance on a wide range of linguistic tasks, thus providing cognitive science and linguistics with a computational working model to empirically study different aspects of human language. Here, we use LMs to test the hypothesis that languages with more speakers tend to be easier to learn. In two experiments, we train several LMs-ranging from very simple n-gram models to state-of-the-art deep neural networks-on written cross-linguistic corpus data covering 1293 different languages and statistically estimate learning difficulty. Using a variety of quantitative methods and machine learning techniques to account for phylogenetic relatedness and geographical proximity of languages, we show that there is robust evidence for a relationship between learning difficulty and speaker population size. However, contrary to expectations derived from previous research, our results suggest that languages with more speakers tend to be harder to learn.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sascha Wolfer
- Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS), Mannheim, Germany
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4
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Stevens D, Banducci S, Horvath L. Authoritarianism, perceptions of security threats, and the COVID-19 pandemic: A new perspective. Politics Life Sci 2023; 43:60-82. [PMID: 38567785 DOI: 10.1017/pls.2023.12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
This article offers a new perspective on when and why individual-level authoritarian perceptions of security threats change. We reexamine claims that authoritarian members of the public responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in a counterintuitive fashion. The response was counterintuitive in that, rather than a desire for a stronger government with the ability to impose measures to address the pandemic and its consequences, authoritarian individuals rejected a stronger government response and embraced individual autonomy. The article draws on perceptions of security threats-issues that directly or indirectly harm personal or collective safety and welfare-from surveys in two different contexts in England: 2012, when perceptions of the threat from infectious disease was low relative to most other security threats, and 2020, when perceptions of the personal and collective threat of COVID-19 superseded all other security threats. We argue that the authoritarian response was not counterintuitive once we account for the type of threat it represented.
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5
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Claessens S, Kyritsis T, Atkinson QD. Cross-national analyses require additional controls to account for the non-independence of nations. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5776. [PMID: 37723194 PMCID: PMC10507061 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41486-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Cross-national analyses test hypotheses about the drivers of variation in national outcomes. However, since nations are connected in various ways, such as via spatial proximity and shared cultural ancestry, cross-national analyses often violate assumptions of non-independence, inflating false positive rates. Here, we show that, despite being recognised as an important statistical pitfall for over 200 years, cross-national research in economics and psychology still does not sufficiently account for non-independence. In a review of the 100 highest-cited cross-national studies of economic development and values, we find that controls for non-independence are rare. When studies do control for non-independence, our simulations suggest that most commonly used methods are insufficient for reducing false positives in non-independent data. In reanalyses of twelve previous cross-national correlations, half of the estimates are compatible with no association after controlling for non-independence using global proximity matrices. We urge social scientists to sufficiently control for non-independence in cross-national research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Claessens
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
| | - Thanos Kyritsis
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Quentin D Atkinson
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
- School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
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6
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Bromham L, Yaxley KJ. Neighbours and relatives: accounting for spatial distribution when testing causal hypotheses in cultural evolution. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2023; 5:e27. [PMID: 37829289 PMCID: PMC10565196 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2023.23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Many important and interesting hypotheses about cultural evolution are evaluated using cross-cultural correlations: if knowing one particular feature of a culture (e.g. environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity or parasite load) allows you to predict other features (e.g. language features, religious beliefs, cuisine), it is often interpreted as indicating a causal link between the two (e.g. hotter climates carry greater disease risk, which encourages belief in supernatural forces and favours the use of antimicrobial ingredients in food preparation; dry climates make the production of distinct tones more difficult). However, testing such hypotheses from cross-cultural comparisons requires us to take proximity of cultures into account: nearby cultures share many aspects of their environment and are more likely to be similar in many culturally inherited traits. This can generate indirect associations between environment and culture which could be misinterpreted as signals of a direct causal link. Evaluating examples of cross-cultural correlations from the literature, we show that significant correlations interpreted as causal relationships can often be explained as a result of similarity between neighbouring cultures. We discuss some strategies for sorting the explanatory wheat from the co-varying chaff, distinguishing incidental correlations from causal relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindell Bromham
- Macroevolution and Macroecology, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Keaghan J. Yaxley
- Macroevolution and Macroecology, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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7
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Medupe D, Roberts SG, Shenk MK, Glowacki L. Why did foraging, horticulture and pastoralism persist after the Neolithic transition? The oasis theory of agricultural intensification. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220300. [PMID: 37381847 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the global spread of intensive agriculture, many populations retained foraging or mixed subsistence strategies until well into the twentieth century. Understanding why has been a longstanding puzzle. One explanation, called the marginal habitat hypothesis, is that foraging persisted because foragers tended to live in marginal habitats generally not suited to agriculture. However, recent empirical studies have not supported this view. The alternative but untested oasis hypothesis of agricultural intensification claims that intensive agriculture developed in areas with low biodiversity and a reliable water source not reliant on local rainfall. We test both the marginal habitat and oasis hypotheses using a cross-cultural sample drawn from the 'Ethnographic atlas' (Murdock 1967 Ethnology 6, 109-236). Our analyses provide support for both hypotheses. We found that intensive agriculture was unlikely in areas with high rainfall. Further, high biodiversity, including pathogens associated with high rainfall, appears to have limited the development of intensive agriculture. Our analyses of African societies show that tsetse flies, elephants and malaria are negatively associated with intensive agriculture, but only the effect of tsetse flies reached significance. Our results suggest that in certain ecologies intensive agriculture may be difficult or impossible to develop but that generally lower rainfall and biodiversity is favourable for its emergence. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolutionary ecology of inequality'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dithapelo Medupe
- Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Seán G Roberts
- School of English, Communication and Philosophy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK
| | - Mary K Shenk
- Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Luke Glowacki
- Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston MA 02215, USA
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8
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Brown GDA, Walasek L, Mullett TL, Quispe-Torreblanca EG, Fincher CL, Kosinski M, Stillwell D. Political Attitudes and Disease Threat: Regional Pathogen Stress Is Associated With Conservative Ideology Only for Older Individuals. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2023:1461672231183199. [PMID: 37424438 DOI: 10.1177/01461672231183199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
What environmental factors are associated with individual differences in political ideology, and do such associations change over time? We examine whether reductions in pathogen prevalence in U.S. states over the past 60 years are associated with reduced associations between parasite stress and conservatism. We report a positive association between infection levels and conservative ideology in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. However, this correlation reduces from the 1980s onwards. These results suggest that the ecological influence of infectious diseases may be larger for older people who grew up (or whose parents grew up) during earlier time periods. We test this hypothesis by analyzing the political affiliation of 45,000 Facebook users, and find a positive association between self-reported political affiliation and regional pathogen stress for older (>40 years) but not younger individuals. It is concluded that the influence of environmental pathogen stress on ideology may have reduced over time.
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9
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Sinnemäki K, Haakana V. Head and dependent marking and dependency length in possessive noun phrases: a typological study of morphological and syntactic complexity. LINGUISTICS VANGUARD : MULTIMODAL ONLINE JOURNAL 2023; 9:45-57. [PMID: 37275746 PMCID: PMC10234274 DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2021-0074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The interaction of morphosyntactic features has been of great interest in research on linguistic complexity. In this paper we approach such interactions in possessive noun phrases. First, we study the interaction of head marking and dependent marking in this domain with typological feature data and with multilingual corpus data. The data suggest that there is a clear inverse relationship between head and dependent marking in possessive noun phrases in terms of complexity. The result points to evidence on complexity trade-offs and to productive integration of typological and corpus-based approaches. Second, we explore whether zero versus overt morphological marking as a measure of morphological complexity affects dependency length as a measure of syntactic complexity. Data from multilingual corpora suggest that there is no cross-linguistic trend between these measures in possessive noun phrases.
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10
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Jackson JC, Dillion D, Bastian B, Watts J, Buckner W, DiMaggio N, Gray K. Supernatural explanations across 114 societies are more common for natural than social phenomena. Nat Hum Behav 2023; 7:707-717. [PMID: 37012368 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01558-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023]
Abstract
Humans across the globe use supernatural beliefs to explain the world around them. This article explores whether cultural groups invoke the supernatural more to explain natural phenomena (for example, storms, disease outbreaks) or social phenomena (for example, murder, warfare). Quantitative analysis of ethnographic text across 114 geographically and culturally diverse societies found that supernatural explanations are more prevalent for natural than for social phenomena, consistent with theories that ground the origin of religious belief in a human tendency to perceive intent and agency in the natural world. Despite the dominance of supernatural explanations of natural phenomena, supernatural explanations of social phenomena were especially prevalent in urbanized societies with more socially complex and anonymous groups. Our results show how people use supernatural beliefs as explanatory tools in non-industrial societies, and how these applications vary across small-scale communities versus large and urbanized groups.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Danica Dillion
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
| | - Brock Bastian
- Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Joseph Watts
- Religion Programme, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Max Planck Institute, Jena, Germany
| | - William Buckner
- Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nicholas DiMaggio
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Kurt Gray
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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11
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Shapouri S. Of Germs and Culture; Parasite Stress as the Origin of Individualism-Collectivism. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 9:82-89. [PMID: 35966138 PMCID: PMC9362146 DOI: 10.1007/s40806-022-00335-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Among four proposed origins of individualism-collectivism, modernization theory, rice versus wheat theory, climato-economic theory, and pathogen stress theory, the latter has gained more attention in cross-cultural and evolutionary psychology. Since the parasite stress theory of values and sociality makes a connection between infectious diseases and cultural orientations, it gained even more popularity during the COVID pandemic. But despite extensive research on parasite stress theory, it is not still clear what kind of infectious disease contributes more to the emergence of cultures, what are the possible mechanisms through which pathogenic threat gives rise to cultural systems, and how parasite stress might affect vertical vs. horizontal dimensions of individualism-collectivism. This review summarizes and integrates major findings of parasite stress theory related to individualism-collectivism and its closely related variables and discusses future directions that researchers can take to answer the remaining questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soheil Shapouri
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin St., Athens, GA 30602 USA
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12
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Claessens S, Kyritsis T. Partner choice does not predict prosociality across countries. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2022; 4:e54. [PMID: 37588938 PMCID: PMC10426035 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2022.51] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 11/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Why does human prosociality vary around the world? Evolutionary models and laboratory experiments suggest that possibilities for partner choice (i.e. the ability to leave unprofitable relationships and strike up new ones) should promote cooperation across human societies. Leveraging the Global Preferences Survey (n = 27,125; 27 countries) and the World Values Survey (n = 54,728; 32 countries), we test this theory by estimating the associations between relational mobility, a socioecological measure of partner choice, and a wide variety of prosocial attitudes and behaviours, including impersonal altruism, reciprocity, trust, collective action and moral judgements of antisocial behaviour. Contrary to our pre-registered predictions, we found little evidence that partner choice is related to prosociality across countries. After controlling for shared causes of relational mobility and prosociality - environmental harshness, subsistence style and geographic and linguistic proximity - we found that only altruism and trust in people from another religion are positively related to relational mobility. We did not find positive relationships between relational mobility and reciprocity, generalised trust, collective action or moral judgements. These findings challenge evolutionary theories of human cooperation which emphasise partner choice as a key explanatory mechanism, and highlight the need to generalise models and experiments to global samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Claessens
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Thanos Kyritsis
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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13
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Kyritsis T, Matthews LJ, Welch D, Atkinson QD. Shared cultural ancestry predicts the global diffusion of democracy. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2022; 4:e42. [PMID: 37588939 PMCID: PMC10426017 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2022.40] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding global variation in democratic outcomes is critical to efforts to promote and sustain democracy today. Here, we use data on the democratic status of 221 modern and historical nations stretching back up to 200 years to show that, particularly over the last 50 years, nations with shared linguistic and, more recently, religious ancestry have more similar democratic outcomes. We also find evidence that for most of the last 50 years the democratic trajectory of a nation can be predicted by the democratic status of its linguistic and, less clearly, religious relatives, years and even decades earlier. These results are broadly consistent across three democracy indicators (Polity 5, Vanhanen's Index of Democracy, and Freedom in the World) and are not explained by geographical proximity or current shared language or religion. Our findings suggest that deep cultural ancestry remains an important force shaping the fortunes of modern nations, at least in part because democratic norms, institutions, and the factors that support them are more likely to diffuse between close cultural relatives.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Luke J. Matthews
- RAND Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Faculty, Pardee RAND Graduate School, Santa Monica, California, USA
| | - David Welch
- Centre for Computational Evolution, University of Auckland, New Zealand
- School of Computer Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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14
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Houle C, Ruck DJ, Bentley RA, Gavrilets S. Inequality between identity groups and social unrest. J R Soc Interface 2022; 19:20210725. [PMID: 35317644 PMCID: PMC8941398 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Economic, social and political inequality between different identity groups is an important contributor to violent conflicts within societies. To deepen our understanding of the underlying social dynamics, we develop a mathematical model describing cooperation and conflict in a society composed of multiple factions engaged in economic and political interactions. Our model predicts that growing economic and political inequality tends to lead to the collapse of cooperation between factions that were initially seeking to cooperate. Certain mechanisms can delay this process, including the decoupling of political and economic power through rule of law and allegiance to the state or dominant faction. Counterintuitively, anti-conformity (a social norm for independent action) can also stabilize society, by preventing initial defections from cooperation from cascading through society. However, the availability of certain material resources that can be acquired by the state without cooperation with other factions has the opposite effect. We test several of these predictions using a multivariate statistical analysis of data covering 75 countries worldwide. Using social unrest as a proxy for the breakdown of cooperation in society, we find support for many of the predictions from our theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Houle
- Department of Political Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Damian J. Ruck
- Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - R. Alexander Bentley
- Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - Sergey Gavrilets
- Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
- Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
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15
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Ćwiek A, Fuchs S, Draxler C, Asu EL, Dediu D, Hiovain K, Kawahara S, Koutalidis S, Krifka M, Lippus P, Lupyan G, Oh GE, Paul J, Petrone C, Ridouane R, Reiter S, Schümchen N, Szalontai Á, Ünal-Logacev Ö, Zeller J, Perlman M, Winter B. The bouba/kiki effect is robust across cultures and writing systems. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200390. [PMID: 34775818 PMCID: PMC8591387 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The bouba/kiki effect-the association of the nonce word bouba with a round shape and kiki with a spiky shape-is a type of correspondence between speech sounds and visual properties with potentially deep implications for the evolution of spoken language. However, there is debate over the robustness of the effect across cultures and the influence of orthography. We report an online experiment that tested the bouba/kiki effect across speakers of 25 languages representing nine language families and 10 writing systems. Overall, we found strong evidence for the effect across languages, with bouba eliciting more congruent responses than kiki. Participants who spoke languages with Roman scripts were only marginally more likely to show the effect, and analysis of the orthographic shape of the words in different scripts showed that the effect was no stronger for scripts that use rounder forms for bouba and spikier forms for kiki. These results confirm that the bouba/kiki phenomenon is rooted in crossmodal correspondence between aspects of the voice and visual shape, largely independent of orthography. They provide the strongest demonstration to date that the bouba/kiki effect is robust across cultures and writing systems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Voice modulation: from origin and mechanism to social impact (Part II)'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Ćwiek
- Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Institut für deutsche Sprache und Linguistik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanne Fuchs
- Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Christoph Draxler
- Institute of Phonetics and Speech Processing, Ludwig Maximilian University, 80799 Munich, Germany
| | - Eva Liina Asu
- Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, University of Tartu, 50090 Tartu, Estonia
| | - Dan Dediu
- Laboratoire Dynamique Du Langage UMR 5596, Université Lumière Lyon 2, 69363 Lyon, France
| | - Katri Hiovain
- Department of Digital Humanities, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Shigeto Kawahara
- The Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, Keio University, Mita Minatoku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan
| | - Sofia Koutalidis
- Faculty of Linguistics and Literary Studies, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Manfred Krifka
- Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Institut für deutsche Sprache und Linguistik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany
| | - Pärtel Lippus
- Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, University of Tartu, 50090 Tartu, Estonia
| | - Gary Lupyan
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Grace E. Oh
- Department of English Language and Literature, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, South Korea
| | - Jing Paul
- Asian Studies Program, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA 30030, USA
| | - Caterina Petrone
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Laboratoire Parole et Langage, UMR 7309, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Rachid Ridouane
- Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie, UMR 7018, CNRS and Sorbonne Nouvelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Sabine Reiter
- Depto. de Polonês, Alemão e Letras Clássicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná, 80060-150 Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Nathalie Schümchen
- Department of Language and Communication, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark
| | - Ádám Szalontai
- Department of Phonetics, Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics, Budapest 1068, Hungary
| | - Özlem Ünal-Logacev
- School of Health Sciences, Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Jochen Zeller
- School of Arts, Linguistics Discipline, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
| | - Marcus Perlman
- Department of English Language and Linguistics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Bodo Winter
- Department of English Language and Linguistics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
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16
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Flitton A, Currie TE. Assessing different historical pathways in the cultural evolution of economic development. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2022; 43:71-82. [PMID: 35110961 PMCID: PMC8785121 DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2019] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
A huge number of hypotheses have been put forward to explain the substantial diversity in economic performance we see in the present-day. There has been a growing appreciation that historical and ecological factors have contributed to social and economic development. However, it is not clear whether such factors have exerted a direct effect on modern productivity, or whether they influence economies indirectly by shaping the cultural evolution of norms and institutions. Here we analyse a global cross-national dataset to test between hypotheses involving a number of different ecological, historical, and proximate social factors and a range of direct and indirect pathways. We show that the historical timing of agriculture predicts the timing of the emergence of statehood, which in turn affects economic development indirectly through its effect on institutions. Ecological factors appear to affect economic performance indirectly through their historical effects on the development of agriculture and by shaping patterns of European settler colonization. More effective institutional performance is also predicted by lower-levels of in-group bias which itself appears related to the proportion of a nation's population that descends from European countries. These results support the idea that cultural evolutionary processes have been important in shaping the social norms and institutions that enable large-scale cooperation and economic growth in present-day societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Flitton
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas E. Currie
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, United Kingdom
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17
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Global predictors of language endangerment and the future of linguistic diversity. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 6:163-173. [PMID: 34916621 PMCID: PMC8825282 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01604-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Language diversity is under threat. While each language is subject to specific social, demographic and political pressures, there may also be common threatening processes. We use an analysis of 6,511 spoken languages with 51 predictor variables spanning aspects of population, documentation, legal recognition, education policy, socioeconomic indicators and environmental features to show that, counter to common perception, contact with other languages per se is not a driver of language loss. However, greater road density, which may encourage population movement, is associated with increased endangerment. Higher average years of schooling is also associated with greater endangerment, evidence that formal education can contribute to loss of language diversity. Without intervention, language loss could triple within 40 years, with at least one language lost per month. To avoid the loss of over 1,500 languages by the end of the century, urgent investment is needed in language documentation, bilingual education programmes and other community-based programmes.
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18
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Bliege Bird R, Codding BF. Promise and peril of ecological and evolutionary modelling using cross-cultural datasets. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 6:6-8. [PMID: 34697456 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01579-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Bliege Bird
- Department of Anthropology, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA.
| | - Brian F Codding
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. .,Archaeological Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. .,Global Change and Sustainability Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
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19
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Jackson JC, Watts J, List JM, Puryear C, Drabble R, Lindquist KA. From Text to Thought: How Analyzing Language Can Advance Psychological Science. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2021; 17:805-826. [PMID: 34606730 PMCID: PMC9069665 DOI: 10.1177/17456916211004899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Humans have been using language for millennia but have only just begun to scratch the surface of what natural language can reveal about the mind. Here we propose that language offers a unique window into psychology. After briefly summarizing the legacy of language analyses in psychological science, we show how methodological advances have made these analyses more feasible and insightful than ever before. In particular, we describe how two forms of language analysis—natural-language processing and comparative linguistics—are contributing to how we understand topics as diverse as emotion, creativity, and religion and overcoming obstacles related to statistical power and culturally diverse samples. We summarize resources for learning both of these methods and highlight the best way to combine language analysis with more traditional psychological paradigms. Applying language analysis to large-scale and cross-cultural datasets promises to provide major breakthroughs in psychological science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Conrad Jackson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Joseph Watts
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.,Center for Research on Evolution, Belief, and Behaviour, University of Otago.,Religion Programme, University of Otago
| | - Johann-Mattis List
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
| | - Curtis Puryear
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Ryan Drabble
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Kristen A Lindquist
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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20
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Lukas D, Towner M, Borgerhoff Mulder M. The potential to infer the historical pattern of cultural macroevolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200057. [PMID: 33993769 PMCID: PMC8126461 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Phylogenetic analyses increasingly take centre-stage in our understanding of the processes shaping patterns of cultural diversity and cultural evolution over time. Just as biologists explain the origins and maintenance of trait differences among organisms using phylogenetic methods, so anthropologists studying cultural macroevolutionary processes use phylogenetic methods to uncover the history of human populations and the dynamics of culturally transmitted traits. In this paper, we revisit concerns with the validity of these methods. Specifically, we use simulations to reveal how properties of the sample (size, missing data), properties of the tree (shape) and properties of the traits (rate of change, number of variants, transmission mode) might influence the inferences that can be drawn about trait distributions across a given phylogeny and the power to discern alternative histories. Our approach shows that in two example datasets specific combinations of properties of the sample, of the tree and of the trait can lead to potentially high rates of Type I and Type II errors. We offer this simulation tool to help assess the potential impact of this list of persistent perils in future cultural macroevolutionary work. This article is part of the theme issue 'Foundations of cultural evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dieter Lukas
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mary Towner
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
| | - Monique Borgerhoff Mulder
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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21
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Evans CL, Greenhill SJ, Watts J, List JM, Botero CA, Gray RD, Kirby KR. The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200056. [PMID: 33993767 PMCID: PMC8126464 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern phylogenetic methods are increasingly being used to address questions about macro-level patterns in cultural evolution. These methods can illuminate the unobservable histories of cultural traits and identify the evolutionary drivers of trait change over time, but their application is not without pitfalls. Here, we outline the current scope of research in cultural tree thinking, highlighting a toolkit of best practices to navigate and avoid the pitfalls and 'abuses' associated with their application. We emphasize two principles that support the appropriate application of phylogenetic methodologies in cross-cultural research: researchers should (1) draw on multiple lines of evidence when deciding if and which types of phylogenetic methods and models are suitable for their cross-cultural data, and (2) carefully consider how different cultural traits might have different evolutionary histories across space and time. When used appropriately phylogenetic methods can provide powerful insights into the processes of evolutionary change that have shaped the broad patterns of human history. This article is part of the theme issue 'Foundations of cultural evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cara L. Evans
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena 07745, Germany
| | - Simon J. Greenhill
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena 07745, Germany
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra 2700, Australia
| | - Joseph Watts
- Religion Programme, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
- Centre for Research on Evolution, Belief and Behaviour, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
| | - Johann-Mattis List
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena 07745, Germany
| | - Carlos A. Botero
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Russell D. Gray
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena 07745, Germany
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
| | - Kathryn R. Kirby
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena 07745, Germany
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3B2
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22
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There is little evidence that spicy food in hot countries is an adaptation to reducing infection risk. Nat Hum Behav 2021; 5:878-891. [PMID: 33542529 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-01039-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Spicier food in hot countries has been explained in terms of natural selection on human cultures, with spices with antimicrobial effects considered to be an adaptation to increased risk of foodborne infection. However, correlations between culture and environment are difficult to interpret, because many cultural traits are inherited together from shared ancestors, neighbouring cultures are exposed to similar conditions, and many cultural and environmental variables show strong covariation. Here, using a global dataset of 33,750 recipes from 70 cuisines containing 93 different spices, we demonstrate that variation in spice use is not explained by temperature and that spice use cannot be accounted for by diversity of cultures, plants, crops or naturally occurring spices. Patterns of spice use are not consistent with an infection-mitigation mechanism, but are part of a broader association between spice, health, and poverty. This study highlights the challenges inherent in interpreting patterns of human cultural variation in terms of evolutionary pressures.
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23
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Infection threat shapes our social instincts. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021; 75:47. [PMID: 33583997 PMCID: PMC7873116 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-02975-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
We social animals must balance the need to avoid infections with the need to interact with conspecifics. To that end we have evolved, alongside our physiological immune system, a suite of behaviors devised to deal with potentially contagious individuals. Focusing mostly on humans, the current review describes the design and biological innards of this behavioral immune system, laying out how infection threat shapes sociality and sociality shapes infection threat. The paper shows how the danger of contagion is detected and posted to the brain; how it affects individuals’ mate choice and sex life; why it strengthens ties within groups but severs those between them, leading to hostility toward anyone who looks, smells, or behaves unusually; and how it permeates the foundation of our moral and political views. This system was already in place when agriculture and animal domestication set off a massive increase in our population density, personal connections, and interaction with other species, amplifying enormously the spread of disease. Alas, pandemics such as COVID-19 not only are a disaster for public health, but, by rousing millions of behavioral immune systems, could prove a threat to harmonious cohabitation too.
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24
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Revised analysis shows relational mobility predicts sacrificial behavior in Footbridge but not Switch or Loop trolley problems. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:13203-13204. [PMID: 32546629 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2005012117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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25
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Kusano K, Kemmelmeier M. Multi-level modelling of time-series cross-sectional data reveals the dynamic interaction between ecological threats and democratic development. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:191804. [PMID: 32269802 PMCID: PMC7137969 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2019] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
What is the relationship between environment and democracy? The framework of cultural evolution suggests that societal development is an adaptation to ecological threats. Pertinent theories assume that democracy emerges as societies adapt to ecological factors such as higher economic wealth, lower pathogen threats, less demanding climates and fewer natural disasters. However, previous research confused within-country processes with between-country processes and erroneously interpreted between-country findings as if they generalize to within-country mechanisms. We analyse a time-series cross-sectional dataset to study the dynamic relationship between environment and democracy (1949-2016), accounting for previous misconceptions in levels of analysis. By separating within-country processes from between-country processes, we find that the relationship between environment and democracy not only differs by country but also depends on the level of analysis. Economic wealth predicts increasing levels of democracy in between-country comparisons, but within-country comparisons show that democracy declines in years when countries become wealthier. This relationship is only prevalent among historically wealthy countries but not among historically poor countries, whose wealth also increased over time. By contrast, pathogen prevalence predicts lower levels of democracy in both between-country and within-country comparisons. Multi-level modelling also confirms that the within-country effect of pathogen prevalence remains robust even after considering a region-level analysis. Longitudinal analyses identifying temporal precedence reveal that not only reductions in pathogen prevalence drive future democracy, but also democracy reduces future pathogen prevalence and increases future wealth. These nuanced results contrast with previous analyses using narrow, cross-sectional data. Overall, our findings illuminate the dynamic process by which environment and democracy shape each other.
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26
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Bastian B, Vauclair CM, Loughnan S, Bain P, Ashokkumar A, Becker M, Bilewicz M, Collier-Baker E, Crespo C, Eastwick PW, Fischer R, Friese M, Gómez Á, Guerra VM, Guevara JLC, Hanke K, Hooper N, Huang LL, Junqi S, Karasawa M, Kuppens P, Leknes S, Peker M, Pelay C, Pina A, Sachkova M, Saguy T, Silfver-Kuhalampi M, Sortheix F, Tong J, Yeung VWL, Duffy J, Swann WB. Explaining illness with evil: pathogen prevalence fosters moral vitalism. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191576. [PMID: 31662082 PMCID: PMC6842846 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 10/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vitalism (beliefs about spiritual forces of evil) is higher in geographical regions characterized by historical higher levels of pathogens. Furthermore, drawing on a sample of 3140 participants from 28 countries in study 3, we found that historical higher levels of pathogens were associated with stronger endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs. Furthermore, endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs statistically mediated the previously reported relationship between pathogen prevalence and conservative ideologies, suggesting these beliefs reinforce behavioural strategies which function to prevent infection. We conclude that moral vitalism may be adaptive: by emphasizing concerns over contagion, it provided an explanatory model that enabled human groups to reduce rates of contagious disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brock Bastian
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Steve Loughnan
- School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Paul Bain
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, Somerset, UK
| | - Ashwini Ashokkumar
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Maja Becker
- CLLE, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UT2J, Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France
| | - Michał Bilewicz
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Emma Collier-Baker
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh, Banda Aceh City, Aceh, Indonesia
| | - Carla Crespo
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Paul W. Eastwick
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Ronald Fischer
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Malte Friese
- Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrucken, Saarland, Germany
| | - Ángel Gómez
- Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Madrid, Spain
| | - Valeschka M. Guerra
- Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Vitoria, Brazil
| | | | - Katja Hanke
- University of Applied Management Studies, Mannheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
| | - Nic Hooper
- Health and Social Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
| | - Li-Li Huang
- School of Economics and Management, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
| | - Shi Junqi
- Lingnan College, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Minoru Karasawa
- Department of Psychology, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Peter Kuppens
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, Leuven, Flanders, Belgium
| | - Siri Leknes
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Müjde Peker
- Department of Psychology, MEF University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Cesar Pelay
- Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Distrito Capital, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
| | - Afroditi Pina
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
| | - Marianna Sachkova
- Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moskva, Russian Federation
| | - Tamar Saguy
- Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | | | - Florencia Sortheix
- Swedish School of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jennifer Tong
- School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Victoria Wai-lan Yeung
- Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, New Territories, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Jacob Duffy
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - William B. Swann
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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27
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Hua X, Greenhill SJ, Cardillo M, Schneemann H, Bromham L. The ecological drivers of variation in global language diversity. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2047. [PMID: 31053716 PMCID: PMC6499821 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09842-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Language diversity is distributed unevenly over the globe. Intriguingly, patterns of language diversity resemble biodiversity patterns, leading to suggestions that similar mechanisms may underlie both linguistic and biological diversification. Here we present the first global analysis of language diversity that compares the relative importance of two key ecological mechanisms - isolation and ecological risk - after correcting for spatial autocorrelation and phylogenetic non-independence. We find significant effects of climate on language diversity, consistent with the ecological risk hypothesis that areas of high year-round productivity lead to more languages by supporting human cultural groups with smaller distributions. Climate has a much stronger effect on language diversity than landscape features, such as altitudinal range and river density, which might contribute to isolation of cultural groups. The association between biodiversity and language diversity appears to be an incidental effect of their covariation with climate, rather than a causal link between the two.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xia Hua
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, 0200, Australia.
- Macroevolution and Macroecology Group, Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, 0200, Australia.
| | - Simon J Greenhill
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, 0200, Australia
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Marcel Cardillo
- Macroevolution and Macroecology Group, Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, 0200, Australia
| | - Hilde Schneemann
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, 0200, Australia
- Macroevolution and Macroecology Group, Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, 0200, Australia
- Meme Programme, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Lindell Bromham
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, 0200, Australia
- Macroevolution and Macroecology Group, Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, 0200, Australia
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28
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Minocher R, Duda P, Jaeggi AV. Explaining marriage patterns in a globally representative sample through socio-ecology and population history: A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis using a new supertree. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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