What makes inventions become traditions?

Susan E. Perry (), Alecia Carter (), Jacob Foster (), Sabine Noebel () and Marco Smolla ()
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Susan E. Perry: Unknown
Alecia Carter: Unknown
Jacob Foster: Unknown
Sabine Noebel: Unknown, IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse
Marco Smolla: Unknown

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Abstract: Although anthropology was the first academic discipline to investigate cultural change, many other disciplines have made noteworthy contributions to understanding what influences the adoption of new behaviors. Drawing on a broad, interdisciplinary literature covering both humans and nonhumans, we examine (1) which features of behavioral traits make them more transmissible, (2) which individual characteristics of inventors promote copying of their inventions, (3) which characteristics of individuals make them more prone to adopting new behaviors, (4) which characteristics of dyadic relationships promote cultural transmission, (5) which properties of groups (e.g., network structures) promote transmission of traits, and (6) which characteristics of groups promote retention, rather than extinction, of cultural traits. One of anthropology's strengths is its readiness to adopt and improve theories and methods from other disciplines, integrating them into a more holistic approach; hence, we identify approaches that might be particularly useful to biological and cultural anthro pologists, and knowledge gaps that should be filled.

Keywords: cultural change; innovation; cultural diffusion; social learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo
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Published in Annual Review of Anthropology, 2022, vol. 51 (n° 1), pp.419-436. ⟨10.31235/osf.io/8ma5q⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03947000

DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/8ma5q

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