Research

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Cultural system

Theory of cultural evolution

We aim at contributing to a general theory of cultural evolution, by taking relationships between cultural elements into account.

Major evolutionary transitions

Evolutionary transitions in humans

To understand how humans became cultural beings, among other things, we need to understand animals' cognitive mechanisms and in what way humans are different.

Corporal punishment

Social norms

We study how social norms change and are maintained. Generally, we look at metanorms, that is, norms about norms, but we also study norms within particular domains.

Polity transitions

Empirical studies of cultural evolution

We carry out empirical studies of cultural evolution within a large variety of areas, including language, democracy, legal systems and more.

Demographic transition

The demographic transition

Through mathematical modelling, we have shown that cultural evolution, in constrast to biological evolution, can lead to declines in fertility.

Contact us

Head
Magnus Enquist

Researchers
See staff page