Charles Efferson
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View article: The cover of randomness: validating implicit methods for the study of sensitive topics
The cover of randomness: validating implicit methods for the study of sensitive topics Open
We review the methods we developed to study female genital cutting in Sudan and sex-selective abortion in Armenia. These methods were untested at the time of our original research, and here we compare the distinct but overlapping approache…
View article: When norm change hurts
When norm change hurts Open
Applied cultural evolution includes any effort to mobilize social learning and cultural evolution to promote behaviour change. Social tipping is one version of this idea based on conformity and coordination. Conformity and coordination can…
View article: How culture shapes choices related to fertility and mortality: Causal evidence at the Swiss language border
How culture shapes choices related to fertility and mortality: Causal evidence at the Swiss language border Open
Results from cultural evolutionary theory often suggest that social learning can lead cultural groups to differ markedly in the same environment. Put differently, cultural evolutionary processes can in principle stabilise behavioural diffe…
View article: Isolating a culture of son preference among Armenian, Georgian and Azeri Parents in Soviet-era Russia
Isolating a culture of son preference among Armenian, Georgian and Azeri Parents in Soviet-era Russia Open
A basic hypothesis is that cultural evolutionary processes sustain differences between groups, these differences have evolutionary relevance and they would not otherwise occur in a system without cultural transmission. The empirical challe…
View article: Identifying culture as cause: Challenges and opportunities
Identifying culture as cause: Challenges and opportunities Open
Causal inference lies at the core of many scientific endeavours. Yet answering causal questions is challenging, especially when studying culture as a causal force. Against this backdrop, this paper reviews research designs and statistical …
View article: Our fragile future under the cumulative cultural evolution of two technologies
Our fragile future under the cumulative cultural evolution of two technologies Open
We derive and analyse a model with unusual features characterizing human activities over the long-run. First, human population dynamics draw heavily on consumer–resource modelling in ecology in that humans must consume biological resources…
View article: Green preferences sustain greenwashing: challenges in the cultural transition to a sustainable future
Green preferences sustain greenwashing: challenges in the cultural transition to a sustainable future Open
Discussions of the environmental impact that revolve around monetary incentives and other easy-to-measure factors are important, but they neglect culture. Pro-environmental values will be crucial when facing sustainability challenges in th…
View article: Agentic processes in cultural evolution: relevance to Anthropocene sustainability
Agentic processes in cultural evolution: relevance to Anthropocene sustainability Open
Humans have evolved culturally and perhaps genetically to be unsustainable. We exhibit a deep and consistent pattern of short-term resource exploitation behaviours and institutions. We distinguish agentic and naturally selective forces in …
View article: Code for simulation model from When norm change hurts
Code for simulation model from When norm change hurts Open
Code for simulation model
View article: Supplementary materials, code for simulations, etc from Our fragile future under the cumulative cultural evolution of two technologies
Supplementary materials, code for simulations, etc from Our fragile future under the cumulative cultural evolution of two technologies Open
We derive and analyse a model with unusual features characterizing human activities over the long-run. First, human population dynamics draw heavily on consumer–resource modelling in ecology in that humans must consume biological resources…
View article: Code for analytical model from When norm change hurts
Code for analytical model from When norm change hurts Open
Code for analytical model
View article: What is the extent of a frequency-dependent social learning strategy space?
What is the extent of a frequency-dependent social learning strategy space? Open
Models of frequency-dependent social learning posit that individuals respond to the commonality of behaviours without additional variables modifying this. Such strategies bring important trade-offs e.g., conformity is beneficial when obser…
View article: Tipping pro-environmental norm diffusion at scale: opportunities and limitations
Tipping pro-environmental norm diffusion at scale: opportunities and limitations Open
Rapid and comprehensive social change is required to mitigate pressing environmental issues such as climate change. Social tipping interventions have been proposed as a policy tool for creating this kind of change. Social tipping means tha…
View article: Promotion of behavioural change for health in a heterogeneous population
Promotion of behavioural change for health in a heterogeneous population Open
Public health policy often involves implementing cost-efficient, large-scale interventions. When mandating or forbidding a specific behaviour is not permissible, public health professionals may draw on behaviour change interventions to ach…
View article: Investigating the Structure of Son Bias in Armenia With Novel Measures of Individual Preferences
Investigating the Structure of Son Bias in Armenia With Novel Measures of Individual Preferences Open
Sex ratios at birth favoring boys are being documented in a growing number of countries, a pattern indicating that families selectively abort females. Son bias also explains why, in many countries, girls have more siblings and are born at …
View article: Policy to activate cultural change to amplify policy
Policy to activate cultural change to amplify policy Open
If you happened to be driving down the road in Sweden at 04:50 1 on 3 September 1967, the Swedish government required you to 2 stop.You then had to move slowly from the left to the right side of 3 the road, and at 05:00 you could continue …
View article: Leading with the (recently) successful? Performance visibility and the evolution of risk taking
Leading with the (recently) successful? Performance visibility and the evolution of risk taking Open
The popular practice of “leading by the successful” is viewed as a hallmark of motivational leadership. A central rationale for leaders to make successful team members salient is that it may induce social learning, where followers strive t…
View article: Collectively jumping to conclusions: social information amplifies the tendency to gather insufficient data
Collectively jumping to conclusions: social information amplifies the tendency to gather insufficient data Open
False beliefs can spread within societies even when they are costly and when individuals share access to the same objective reality. Research on the cultural evolution of misbeliefs has demonstrated that a social context can explain what p…
View article: Collectively jumping to conclusions: Social information amplifies the tendency to gather insufficient data.
Collectively jumping to conclusions: Social information amplifies the tendency to gather insufficient data. Open
False beliefs can spread within societies even when they are costly and when individuals share access to the same objective reality. Research on the cultural evolution of misbeliefs has demonstrated that a social context can explain what p…