Conformist transmission amplifies majority traits toward fixation across generations.
Evidence
At the population level, conformist transmission causes more common traits to increase in frequency. If cultural transmission is unbiased, then, barring the action of other forces, transmission will leave the frequency of the traits unchanged from one generation to the next. For example, if 60% of a population is performing a certain behavior, barring other forces, 60% of the population in the next generation also will perform that behavior. In contrast, conformist transmission would increase the frequency of the trait from 60% in one generation to, say, 65% in the next generation. All other factors being equal, the frequency of the most prevalent trait will continually increase from one generation to the next. If it were the only transmission bias, conformist transmission would rapidly cause the most frequent cultural traits to become the only cultural traits. Operating among other learning mechanisms (mechanisms that select, prioritize, and evaluate different kinds of social and environmental information) and under constraining external conditions, conformist transmission creates a directional force that tends to establish and maintain cultural norms. — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 24
Categorization
- XREF: This is the formal population-genetics-style machinery underpinning Henrich’s later popular treatment in ‘The Secret of Our Success.’ — connects to: Conformist transmission means overcopying the majority beyond its base rate — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 180; Conformist transmission skews trait frequency toward the population majority beyond unbiased copying. — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 124; Conformist transmission means copying the commonest behavior more than its frequency warrants (+2 more)
- DEEPTHINKING: The mechanism’s logic (frequency-of-copying serving as a sign of adaptiveness) is a genuinely dense, non-obvious feedback argument central to a whole research program.
Broader Connections
- Conformist transmission skews trait frequency toward the population majority beyond unbiased copying.
#expands(0.95) — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 124 - Conformist transmission means copying the commonest behavior more than its frequency warrants
#expands(0.90) - Conformist transmission biases learners toward adopting a population’s most frequent cultural traits.
#expands(0.90) — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 23 - Conformist transmission increases behavioral adoption odds above population frequency.
#expands(0.85) — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 34