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Culture as an aggregate of individual differences
Kyungil Kim1, Joonghwan Jeon2, Youngjun Park1
1Department of Psychology,Ajou University,Woncheon-dong,Yeongtong-gu,Suwon,Korea443-749.kyungilkim@ajou.ac.krhttp://ajou.ac.kr/~tetrosscyber13@ajou.ac.kr.
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|June 28, 2014
Summary
This study challenges the idea that culture actively maintains social structures. It argues culture is an aggregate of individual differences, not a group-level design for organization, questioning the transmission mechanism.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Social Organization
Background:
- Smaldino argues culture actively maintains and transmits social organizations.
- Culture is viewed as a mechanism for group-level selection and individual differentiation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate Smaldino's argument on culture's role in social organization.
- To investigate the mechanisms of cultural transmission and maintenance in differentiated groups.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of Smaldino's argument.
- Examination of culture as an aggregate of individual psychological differences.
Main Results:
- Culture is an aggregate of individual psychological differences, not a group-level design.
- Smaldino's argument lacks a clear mechanism for group-level trait maintenance and evolution.
Conclusions:
- Culture does not actively maintain social organizations of differentiated individuals.
- The proposed evolutionary pathway for group-level traits requires a more defined transmission mechanism.
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