Conformist transmission skews trait frequency toward the population majority beyond unbiased copying.
Evidence
Individuals acquire their genotype by genetic transmission. Then, during cultural transmission individuals experience both unbiased transmission and conformist transmission from three individuals drawn randomly from the subpopulation. In unbiased transmission, a subpopulation receives behavioral traits 1 and 2 in proportion to their representation in the previous generation. The conformist effect increases or decreases the frequency of a behavioral trait according to its prevalence in the previous generation. — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 124
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Conformist transmission means overcopying the majority beyond its base rate — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 180; Conformist transmission amplifies majority traits toward fixation across generations. — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 24; Conformist transmission biases learners toward adopting a population’s most frequent cultural traits. — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 23 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Conformist transmission means copying the commonest behavior more than its frequency warrants
#expands(0.96) - Conformist transmission is triggered by difficulty, uncertainty, and stakes
#expands(0.78) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 181