Evolutionary anthropology postdoc at Mannheim

/in

3-Year Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Fellow

Humans possess an unparalleled capacity to learn socially from others with extraordinary fidelity. This capacity has given rise to complex, cumulative culture. And cumulative culture, in turn, has been essential for the success humans have enjoyed in recent evolutionary history. Unsurprisingly, then, social learning receives centre-stage attention in evolutionary anthropology and related evolutionary sciences. Important, but unanswered questions include: What social learning strategies do people employ in everyday life? Moreover, do individuals differ in the social learning strategies they use? And if they do, what explains those differences, both at the proximate and the ultimate level? Does strategy-use, for example, differ as a function of learners’ demographics, their life-history strategies, basic personality traits, the cultural context, or historical/generational trends?

Your tasks include:

  • Collaboration with members of the ERC project on social learning, especially social learning in everyday life via experience sampling methodology (together with Dr. Haun and Dr. Hofmann) and personality differences in the use of social learning strategies (together with Dr. Cenni and Dr. Mesoudi).
  • Teaching seminars (in English or German language) in the area of social and/or personality psychology (broadly defined!). The successful job candidate can chose the topics for teaching themselves. Examples are courses on “social learning,” “cultural evolution,” “sociobiology,”
    “evolutionary social psychology/anthropology,” “(behavioural) genetics ofsocial behaviour,” or “evolutionary genetics of personality.”
  • (Co-)Supervision of theses at the Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD level

Your profile:

  • PhD in evolutionary anthropology or related evolutionary sciences, such
    as behavioural ecology, evolutionary biology, or evolutionary psychology.
  • Keen interests in social learning, experience sampling methodology/
    ambulatory assessment, and personality and, ideally, expertise in (some
    of) those areas.

Deadline for applications: April 15th, 2024

Position starts: between Aug 1 to Oct 1, 2024

PDF with full details: http://www.psy.de/evo.pdf