The WEIRDest people in the world : how the West became psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous Cover Image

Book

The WEIRDest people in the world : how the West became psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous / Joseph Henrich.

Summary:

"Harvard University's Joseph Henrich, Chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, delivers a bold, epic investigation into the development of the Western mind, global psychological diversity, and its impact on the world"-- Provided by publisher.

Perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. If so, you're rather psychologically peculiar. Henrich illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures, marriage, and religion, and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology. Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity, Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would lay the foundation for the modern world. -- adapted from jacket.

Record details

ISBN: 9780374173227
ISBN: 0374173222
Physical Description: xvii, 680 pages : illustrations, maps, charts ; 24 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020.
Copyright: ©2020

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [585]-656) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

WEIRD psychology -- Making a cultural species -- Clans, states, and why you can't get here from there -- The gods are watching, behave! -- WEIRD families -- Psychological differences, families, and the church -- Europe and Asia -- WEIRD monogamy -- Of commerce and cooperation -- Domesticating the competition -- Market mentalities -- Law, science, and religion -- Escape velocity -- The dark matter of history.