Cultural Transmission and the Diffusion of Innovations: Adoption Dynamics Indicate That Biased Cultural Transmission Is the Predominate Force in Behavioral Change

Joseph Henrich · 2001 · American Anthropologist

Summary. This paper challenges the assumption that people adopt innovations through individual cost-benefit analysis. By analyzing adoption curves, the author demonstrates that biased cultural transmission—learning from others based on social preferences—drives innovation diffusion far more than environmental learning alone. The characteristic S-shaped adoption curves observed in real innovations require cultural transmission as the dominant mechanism, suggesting social influence matters more than rational individual decision-making in how new practices spread.

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@article{henrich-2001-cultural-transmission-diffusion-innovations-adoption,
  title   = {Cultural Transmission and the Diffusion of Innovations: Adoption Dynamics Indicate That Biased Cultural Transmission Is the Predominate Force in Behavioral Change},
  author  = {Joseph Henrich},
  journal = {American Anthropologist},
  year    = {2001},
  doi     = {10.1525/aa.2001.103.4.992},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2001.103.4.992}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Cultural Transmission and the Diffusion of Innovations: Adoption Dynamics Indicate That Biased Cultural Transmission Is the Predominate Force in Behavioral Change
AU  - Joseph Henrich
JO  - American Anthropologist
PY  - 2001
DO  - 10.1525/aa.2001.103.4.992
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2001.103.4.992
ER  - 

Details

DOI

10.1525/aa.2001.103.4.992

Countries

Germany

Regions

Europe

Categories

innovation-theory, general-innovation

Added

2026-04-28