Theory and Observation in Cultural Transmission
SciencePublished 1 October 1982
Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Marcus W. Feldman, K. H. Chen, Sanford M. Dornbusch
Citations475
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score10.42
SNIP6.62
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TL;DR
A survey designed to evaluate the importance of some components of cultural transmission on a variety of traits showed that religion and politics are mostly determined in the family, a mode of transmission which guarantees high evolutionary stability and maintenance of high variation between and within groups.
Abstract
Cultural phenomena may show considerable stability over time and space. Transmission mechanisms responsible for their maintenance are worthy of theoretical and empirical inquiry; they are complex and each possible pathway has different effects on evolutionary stability of traits, as can be shown theoretically. A survey designed to evaluate the importance of some components of cultural transmission on a variety of traits showed that religion and politics are mostly determined in the family, a mode of transmission which guarantees high evolutionary stability and maintenance of high variation between and within groups.
Keywords
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