Cultural Evolution
I study how ideas, institutions and religions change over time, using the same methods that are used to study biological evolution. As one of the project managers of the V-Dem project at the University of Gothenburg I have analysed how countries become democracies, for example in The Matthew effect in political science (2020). In Women’s rights in democratic transitions (2017) we show that women’s civil liberties tend to come before democracy, not after.
I have also done research on the evolution of religion. In Divine placebo (2019) I show how health rules and placebo effects may have made religions more successful. Together with colleagues I showed in 2021 that “Dunbar’s number”, the idea that we can only have 150 close relationships, does not hold up (Dunbar’s number deconstructed). Most recently I have written about how thinking itself has evolved (Res Cogitans, 2024).
Biological Evolution
In my biological research I have used phylogenetic methods to understand why males and females differ, in body size, in brain structure and in immune function. The articles on sex differences in size in mammals and in immune function are among my most cited. During my postdoc at the University of Virginia I investigated what determines how many parasite species an animal has. The data are available in the Global Mammal Parasite Database.
