Léo Fitouchi

Why do humans punish? Our new paper, with @manvir.bsky.social, is out in Psychological Science! With experiments in a small-scale society (Mentawai) & the US, we test whether punitive cognition evolved to deter wrongdoing or restore fairness. link: tinyurl.com/msrmu7cc pdf: tinyurl.com/mvprz8fb

Join us. www.tse-fr.eu/iast-researc...

I am recruiting PhD students this year, so if anyone knows anyone interested in projects related to hunter-gatherer subsistence transition, (in)equality, sharing and material culture, please tell them to be in touch. I have some funds for field oriented projects. Contact details on my dept page.

This week, we talk to @manvir.bsky.social about magic, shamanism, and mythology! youtu.be/m7zLQ6oSbaM?... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e... www.podbean.com/eas/pb-avb7s...

Pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of 'From Questions to Knowledge: Data Analysis for Psychology and Behavioural Science Using R' mybook.to/questionstok...

Why human societies adopt rigid moral rules: The efficiency–robustness trade-off 
🚨Work by Julien Lie-Panis, Léo Fitouchi, Nicolas Baumard & Jean-Baptiste André

The Religion & Spirituality Preconference at @spspnews.bsky.social 2027 is now accepting applications! We're excited for a full day of programming, including talks from @conradhackett.bsky.social, Patty Van Cappellen, Kristin Laurin, & @lfitouchi.bsky.social. More here! 📣 spsp.org/events/annua...

Looking forward to speaking at SPSP Religion & Spirituality Preconference, alongside Conrad Hackett, Patty Van Cappellen, and Kristen Laurin, on Feb 11 in Philadelphia! Submissions are open until October 8: spsp.wufoo.com/forms/2027-p...

Why do human societies adopt rigid moral rules? People often have legitimate reasons for failing to cooperate, yet those reasons are often opaque, allowing opportunists to disguise selfishness as justified hardship. Rigidity preserves cooperation when trust is fragile www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Why do human societies adopt rigid moral rules? Our new paper, led by @jliep.bsky.social, proposes a new model in PNAS @pnas.org! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Why do societies rely on rigid moral rules? Don't lie. Keep your promises. Don't steal. We all recognize there are good reasons to make exceptions. So why are moral rules so often categorical? Our new paper proposes an answer. 🧵

Children learn what is right or wrong selectively from a legitimate authority’s punishment 
‼️Work by Young-eun Lee, Setayesh Radkani & Rebecca Saxe

Research by @lfitouchi.bsky.social & @manvir.bsky.social suggests the tension between (evolutionary) deterrence, and (intuitive) retribution punishment motives is resolved by a model reflecting restoration of mutual benefit between cooperative partners→compensation+deterrence buff.ly/3T6fdvd

"contractualism stands on three theoretical pillars that have stood the test of time and enjoyed widespread influence across the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences: social-contract theory, evolutionary theory, and game theory"

Here's my attempt to convince @lfitouchi.bsky.social, @jbaptistandre.bsky.social, Nicolas Baumard, et al. that the self-control and cooperation-centered account neglects the core of conflicting sexual/reproductive strategies and modern religiosity: open.substack.com/pub/chartyar...

Participants from a small- & a large-scale society "demanded that victims be rewarded in the currency of their loss & that more severe punishment be imposed when victims suffered more, holding aggressor benefit constant." osf.io/preprints/ps... @lfitouchi.bsky.social @manvir.bsky.social #EvPsych

Thrilled to share that our new paper is now out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social: "Who knows what? Bayesian Competence Inference guides Knowledge Attribution and Information Search," with @oliviermorin.bsky.social , @hugoreasoning.bsky.social & @tadegquillien.bsky.social! Link: tinyurl.com/ykyhxcc6

Looking forward to work with @fierycushman.bsky.social and @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social on the moral psychology of authority!

New @aeon.co essay just out! On how institutions let us scale trust and cooperation - and when things start to unravel. Big thanks to editor Sam Dresser. For the more technical version, see thread & paper below👇

Applications for our upcoming Summer School have been extended until January 15! 🤝 Apply now: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum... @olkcampbell.bsky.social @maximederex.bsky.social @lfitouchi.bsky.social @cmolho.bsky.social @ccavaille.bsky.social

This week, we talk to @danielnettle.bsky.social about big picture issues in the evolutionary social sciences, craving sugar, income inequality, running, and more! youtu.be/-NPuZSolsEs podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e... www.podbean.com/eas/pb-9hsnf...

In a new Review for @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social -- and my first first-authored paper! -- @manvir.bsky.social and I argue that experience shapes the emergence and evolution of seemingly extraordinary beliefs. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

For the curious, I have put the author accepted manuscript of our new BBS Target Article on researchgate. You can view it here: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣 "Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified." doi.org/10.1017/S014...

It's hiring season at @iast.fr! - 2y research postdoc contract - Full autonomy, you are your own PI - Awesome multidisciplinary environment - All social and behavioral sciences welcome - Seed funding for projects and workshops - Gorgeous city in the south of France www.iast.fr/research-fel...

>The Multi-Capital Leadership theory explains why #leadership emerges and why it varies among human societies and throughout individual life histories. w/@chrisvonrueden.bsky.social & @edhagen.net #LeadSciSky #HBES 🧪 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

thank you to all speakers for all the food for thought!

New commentary out w/ @manvir.bsky.social in Religion, Brain, and Behavior! We argue that social learning fails to explain three patterns in religious belief and practice: SBNR beliefs, strategic endorsement of beliefs, and religious experience. Check it out: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🧠 What?! A meeting just on disgust?! Yes!! 📍 @iast.fr, France | 🗓 Dec 4–5, 2025 💥 Keynotes by Paul Rozin @upenn.edu, @cr-amo.bsky.social, Philip Powell @sheffielduni.bsky.social & Cindy Kam 🌍 From Psychology to Politics, Biology & beyond 🎓 Abstract submissions until Aug 31: forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...

📣 We are excited (or should we say disgusted?) to announce the conference 'Disgust across borders' at IAST! @iast.fr 🗓️ Join us on Dec 4 & 5 for two days full of disgust research across species and disciplines. Registration and abstract submission are open (until Aug 31): forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...

I had the most incredible opportunity to attend the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences at @tse-fr.eu and learn from @lfitouchi.bsky.social , @cmolho.bsky.social & @jorgeapenas.bsky.social on the "Evolution of Human Sociality" Toulouse was warm and welcoming, so was TSE !!

🚨NEW PAPER from the @eegcam.bsky.social!🚨I have never been as proud of something as of the work that finally we can share today: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... - we show how a climatically driven Pan African meta population model explains our species genetic and morphological diversity 🧬💀

"progress in the social sciences is stymied by the widespread misconception that evolution and learning are opposing explanations for behavior... the 'evolution vs. learning' dichotomy is fallacious... explanatory partners rather than explanatory competitors" psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...

Very happy to be giving a talk at my favorite colloquium series! Tune in if you're interested in prosociality, willful ignorance, or cross-cultural research.

- Wikipedia is a global, free to access encyclopaedia of knowledge - Universities are full of experts on all sorts of niche topics - Those experts are under no career incentives to share their knowledge on Wikipedia I feel that something has gone terribly wrong somewhere

You can now submit a commentary on our paper here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal.... We're very much looking forward to reading your commentaries and discussing our hypothesis with you!

Hi friends! I'm now on Bluesky. Looking forward to reading your news & updates. If you're interested in my work, consider following this account. I write about science, philosophy, & culture in peer-reviewed academic journals and popular press magazines. www.laithalshawaf.com/popular-scie...

🦋 Ever wondered what happens when curious minds collide? The Friends of IAST starter kit is now on Bluesky! Fellows, researchers, and thinkers are ready to share ideas, spark debates, and explore new perspectives. 👋Join us—this is just the beginning! #FriendsofIAST#starterkit go.bsky.app/5mQmnLF 👇

🚨Preprint alert 🚨 Forager food-sharing is often portrayed as “a positive insistence on equality” (Woodburn) or an “instinct” to equalise inequalities (Fehr). A new paper with @kris-smith.bsky.social, exploring Hadza reallocation decisions, challenges this view. 1/10 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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