The social cognitive evolution of myths: Collective narratives of shared pasts as markers for coalitions' communicative and cooperative prowess

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

To understand why humans put much effort into celebrating cultural myths, it is crucial to approach this phenomenon as part of humans' broader social cognitive evolution. Specifically, humans' unique capacity to bond with others through shared/collective representations of shared experiences has likely caused individuals to use myths to assess not only coalitions' fitness interdependence, but also their cooperative prowess.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere195
JournalThe Behavioral and brain sciences
Volume47
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jan 2025

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Copyright © The Author(s), 2025.

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