معرفی
Dr. Joseph Henrich is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology and Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He directs the Culture, Cognition, and Coevolution Lab, focusing on evolutionary approaches to psychology, cultural transmission, and the coevolution of genes and culture. His research explores how cultural learning drives human sociality, cooperation, and institutional complexity across diverse societies like Amazonia, Chile, and Fiji.
His guiding research questions address human evolution's drivers, the interplay between cultural and genetic evolution, and the origins of large-scale cooperation. He integrates ethnographic methods with experimental economics and psychology to analyze topics from prestige dynamics to the psychological impacts of WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) societies. Major publications include The WEIRDest People in the World and The Secret of Our Success, which examine cultural evolution's role in shaping global psychological diversity and economic development.
Henrich's lab develops formal models linking micro-level social learning to macro-level cultural phenomena, emphasizing how cultural practices influence cognition and decision-making. His work challenges assumptions of psychological universality in cognitive science by highlighting the need for cross-cultural and historical methodologies. Current projects explore surname diversity's role in innovation, ritual effects on prosociality, and the evolution of moralizing religions.
