CSH Lecture by Robert Kreuzbauer

“Behavioral Micro-Theories: Identifying Best Signaling Strategies to Examine Cultural Equilibria”

Cultural evolutionary models are based on crude assumptions to simulate evolutionary pathways. Social psychologists have been frequently criticizing these assumptions as being unrealistic, but without offering any alternative framework to examine cultural evolutionary paths or equilibria. In this talk Robert Kreuzbauer proposed behavioral micro-theories as a possible approach to integrate social psychological research with cultural evolutionary mechanisms. More specifically, he stated that a behavioral micro-theory would start with a specific cultural equilibrium (e.g. engagement rituals) and then tries to identify actors’ best signaling strategies, which under specific ecological contexts, should lead to the respective equilibrium (e.g., diamond rings as engagement gift). He showed findings from a series of experimental studies where best signaling strategies for collective action within consumer cultural contexts were identified, which can potentially explain specific consumer cultural equilibria (e.g. high and low range luxury goods; counter-cultural goods such as ripped jeans or art movements). He also discussed implications for research about collective action and group coordination and how current cultural evolutionary research could benefit from the integration of behavioral micro-theories.