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Department of Archaeology

 

Biography

I hold an MSc in Human Evolution and Behaviour from University College London (2024) and a BSc in Psychology from Heriot-Watt University, Dubai. Before beginning my PhD in Biological Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, I worked as a psychology laboratory coordinator, contributing to research on the cognitive science of religion and intergroup conflict. My academic interests arise from a broader aim to understand the foundations of human thought and behaviour. Supported by the Gates Cambridge Trust, my doctoral research explores how cognitive and cultural processes together have enabled humans to innovate and transmit knowledge across generations.

Research

My research investigates the role of causal understanding in cumulative cultural evolution, particularly in the emergence and maintenance of complex technological culture. I aim to challenge the view that humans accumulate culture passively through blind imitation, examining instead the extent to which causal reasoning supports cultural accumulation. Moreover, my work explores how individual cognition interacts with population dynamics to drive the accumulation of cultural knowledge over generations. Ultimately, I hope to contribute to our understanding of the cognitive and social foundations of human evolutionary success.

Key Publications

Key publications

Šaffa, G., Sherbaji, S., & Mace, R. (2024). The cultural evolution of religious celibacy driven by marriage patterns across different world religions. Nature Communications. (Manuscript submitted).

Andersson, P. A., et al. (2024). Anger and disgust shape judgments of social sanctions across cultures, especially in high individual autonomy societies. Scientific Reports, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-55815-x

Szekely, A., et al. (2024). Changes in social norms during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic across 43 countries. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44999-5

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., et al. (2022). Gendered self-views across 62 countries: A test of competing models. Social Psychological and Personality Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221129687

Maitner, A. T., et al. (2022). Emotional and behavioral reactions to resource violations across cultures: Similarities and differences among dignity, honor, and face cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221211065108

Eriksson, K., et al. (2021). Perceptions of the appropriate response to norm violation in 57 societies. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21602-9

Bosson, J. K., et al. (2021). Psychometric properties and correlates of precarious manhood beliefs in 62 nations.Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022121997997

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., et al. (2020). Country-level and individual-level predictors of men’s support for gender equality in 42 countries. European Journal of Social Psychology.https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2696

Teaching and Supervisions

Research supervision

Primary Supervisor: Dr Mark Dyble

Job Titles

PhD Student in Biological Anthropology

General Info

Not available for consultancy
Research Expertise / Fields of study
Human Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology
Human Evolution
Cultural Evolution

Affiliations

Person keywords
Human behavioural ecology
Evolutionary anthropology
Biological anthropology
Cultural evolution
Cumulative cultural evolution
Subjects
Biological Anthropology
Themes
Science, Technology and Innovation
Human Evolutionary Studies