Coffee with Joe Henrich on Cultural Psychology and Evolution
In this Coffee with... episode, Joe Henrich challenges the representation of European descent populations in studies, explores the role of genes in cultural evolution, and emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration in research.
In this enlightening talk, Joe Henrich delves into the intriguing concepts explored in his book, The WEIRDest People in the World. Henrich challenges the prevailing notion that European descent populations, often utilized as subjects in behavioral economics and psychology studies, accurately represent global societies. Contrary to this assumption, he posits that these populations exist on the extreme end of the psychological diversity spectrum.
Henrich further delves into the intricate relationship between culture and genes, asserting that genetic factors likely have minimal influence on cultural evolution. Unveiling the origins of individualistic societies in Europe, Henrich investigates the transformative impact of Christianity on the dissolution of tribal patterns and extended kin networks within certain populations. Additionally, he shares insights into his lab's innovative methods for extracting psychological measures from textual sources, underscoring the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing research in this field.
In these videos, we chat with prominent scholars visiting FAIR and NHH. This is great for us here at NHH, but we want to share the experience with others. We, therefore, aim to post about four videos per year where we interview leading scholars for about 10 minutes over a cup of coffee.