Social learning has allowed humans to build up extensive cultural repertoires, enabling them to adapt to a wide variety of environmental and social conditions. However, it is unclear which social learning strategies people use, especially in social contexts where their payoffs depend on the behaviour of others. Here we show experimentally that individuals differ in their social learning strateg...

This paper aims to present a cultural analysis of collaborative technologies in the workplace. It examines gender-segregated work in Saudi-Arabia, and presents two contrasting cases of IT usage that act either to enable or constrain cultural change. Using Structuration Theory, the study exemplifies the dynamic and detailed analysis this lens can provide to cultural IS research. The study also e...

In this paper, we explore how experimental studies of cultural transmission in adult humans can address general questions regarding the ‘who, what, when and how’ of human cultural transmission, and consequently inform a theory of human cultural evolution. Three methods are discussed. The transmission chain method, in which information is passed along linear chains of participants, has been used...

This study uses Trauth’s (2000) Influence-Impact Model as a sensitizing device to examine the influence of four key socio-cultural factors —policy, infrastructure, economy, and culture—on information economy development efforts in Thailand. Our assessment shows that progress has been made but gaps remain. Thailand’s infrastructure challenges include unequal development across regions, a small s...

Building on recent theory stressing multicultural orientation, as well as the development of virtues and dispositions associated with multicultural values, we introduce the construct of cultural humility, defined as having an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented rather than self-focused, characterized by respect and lack of superiority toward an individual's cultural background and exper...

Concepts from cultural attractor theory are now used in domains far from their original home in anthropology and cultural evolution. Yet these concepts have not been consistently characterised. I here distinguish four ways in which the cultural attractor concept has been used and identify three kinds of factors of attraction typically appealed to. Clarifying these explanatory concepts identifie...

This study investigated the structure of the Chinese Material Value Scale (MVS). A two-factor structure, rather than the original three-factor structure, was proposed for China by means of confirmatory factor analysis. Direct evidence showed that the dimensions of success and happiness could be merged together. Both explicit and implicit methods were used to examine the relationship between suc...

In this article, I argue that human social behavior is a product o f the eoevolution of human biology and culture. While critical o f attempts by anthropologists to explain cultural practices as i f they were independent o f the ability o f individual human beings to survive and reproduce, I am also leery of attempts by biologists to explain the consistencies between neo-Darwinian theory and cu...

Environmental problems have contributed to numerous collapses of civilizations in the past. Now, for the first time, a global collapse appears likely. Overpopulation, overconsumption by the rich and poor choices of technologies are major drivers; dramatic cultural change provides the main hope of averting calamity.