Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-44mx8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-20T17:50:10.745Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Uncertainty reduction as an alternative explanation of historical myths

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2025

David J. Grüning Open the ORCID record for David J. Grüning [Opens in a new window]  and
Joachim I. Krueger
David J. Grüning*
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany [email protected] Department of Survey Design and Methodology, GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany
Joachim I. Krueger
Affiliation:
Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA [email protected]
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We agree with Sijilmassi et al. that historical myths are a tool for coalition recruitment. We argue, however, that a close fit between an evolved entity and an identified function does not imply that the latter is the critical evolutionary trigger. We also propose an alternative individual-centric explanation: Historical myths reduce uncertainty by providing cognitive and behavioral guidance.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e180
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Barber, N. (2011). A cross-national test of the uncertainty hypothesis of religious belief. Cross-Cultural Research, 45(3), 318–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397111402465CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burling, R. (1986). The selective advantage of complex language. Ethology and Sociobiology, 7(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/0162-3095(86)90011-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gračanin, A., Bylsma, L. M., & Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M. (2017). The communicative and social functions of human crying. In Fernández-Dols, J.-M. & Russell, J. A. (Eds.), The science of facial expression (pp. 217–233). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Grüning, D. J., & Krueger, J. I. (2023). Indeterminism belief protects against uncertainty: First empirical findings. Discover Psychology, 3, 26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44202-023-00086-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krueger, J. I., & Grüning, D. J. (2021). Psychological perversities and populism. In Forgas, J. P., Crano, W. D., & Fiedler, K. (Eds.), The psychology of populism (pp. 125–142). Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krueger, J. I., & Grüning, D. J. (2023). Strategy, trust, and freedom in an uncertain world. In Forgas, J. P., Crano, W. D., & Fiedler, K. (Eds.), The psychology of insecurity (pp. 150–169). Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krueger, J. I., & Grüning, D. J. (2024). Dostoevsky at play: Between risk and uncertainty in Roulettenburg. In Edokimova, S. (Ed.), Dostoevsky's the gambler: The allure of the wheel (pp. 59–86). Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Smith, B. D. (2015). A comparison of niche construction theory and diet breadth models as explanatory frameworks for the initial domestication of plants and animals. Journal of Archaeological Research, 23, 215–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-015-9081-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vingerhoets, A. J., & Bylsma, L. M. (2016). The riddle of human emotional crying: A challenge for emotion researchers. Emotion Review, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073915586226CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M., Ven, N., & Velden, Y. (2016). The social impact of emotional tears. Motivation and Emotion, 40(3), 455–463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-016-9543-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, R., & Hamilton, M. (2011). Social complexity and linguistic diversity in the Austronesian and Bantu population expansions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278(1710), 1399–1404. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1942CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zickfeld, J., & Grüning, D. J. (2021). A meta-analysis on the autonomic nervous system correlates of human emotional crying. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/axjd5Google Scholar