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Rebecca Sear

@rebeccasear.bsky.social

11K followers 3.7K following 2.6K posts

Director of the Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London @brunelcce.bsky.social. President of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association @ehbea.bsky.social https://www.rebeccasear.org/

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Rebecca Sear, is a British anthropologist and academic, who specialises in evolutionary anthropology, demography and human behavioural ecology. Since 2024, she has been director of the Centre for Culture and Evolution at Brunel University London. She previously taught at the London School of Economics, Durham University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. .. more

Psychology 45%

Sociology 15%

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 10h

“When disaggregated into growth, reproduction & lifespan, human life history is appropriately characterized not as slow or fast, but as hybrid…describing human life history as slow inevitably leads to the assumption that energy constraints are the norm in non-industrialized societies & for the past”

Twenty Years Later: Growth Rates and Life Histories in Twenty‐Two Small‐Scale Societies

This commentary on Growth Rates and Life Histories in Twenty-Two Small-Scale Societies overviews the original publication and its contributions, and reviews advances in the field of human growth and ...

doi.org

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Rebecca Sear

Matt Houlbrook @tricksterprince.bsky.social · 16h

This really is interesting. We talk a bit about the close relationship between Men's Liberation and feminism in 1980s Britain - and how that progressive impulse dissipated - in Men and Masculinities in Modern Britain.

See (open access) www.manchesterhive.com/display/9781...

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Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 18h

This is interesting: “I analyze the puzzling trajectory of Men’s Liberation, which went from an ally to liberal feminism in the 1970s to the crucible of the antifeminist Men’s Rights’ movement in the 1980s”

US Men’s Liberation in the 1970s: Autopsy of a Movement

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 18h

“We used the empirical results of our study to recommend several improvements to the new publishing model introduced by eLife as for example, increasing transparency, masking author identity or increasing the number of expert reviewers”

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Scientific publishing without gatekeeping: an empirical investigation of eLife’s new peer review process - Scientometrics

At the end of January 2023, eLife introduced a new publishing model (alongside the old-traditional-publishing model): all manuscripts submitted as preprints are peer-reviewed and published if they are deemed worthy of review by the editorial team (“editorial triage”). The model abandons the gatekeeping function and retains the previous “consultative approach to peer review”. Even under the changed conditions, the question of the quality of judgements in the peer review process remains. In this study, the reviewers’ ratings of manuscripts submitted to eLife were examined in terms of both descriptive comparisons of peer review models, and the following selected quality criteria of peer review: interrater agreement and interrater reliability. eLife provided us with the data on all manuscripts submitted in 2023 according to the new publishing model (group 3, N = 3,846), as well as manuscripts submitted according to the old publishing model (group 1: N = 6,592 submissions from 2019; group 2: N = 364 submissions from 2023). The interrater agreement and interrater reliability for the criteria “significance of findings” and “strength of support” were similarly low, as previous empirical studies for gatekeeping journals have shown. The fairness of peer review is not or only slightly compromised. We used the empirical results of our study to recommend several improvements to the new publishing model introduced by eLife as for example, increasing transparency, masking author identity or increasing the number of expert reviewers.

link.springer.com

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 18h

“we synthesize the literature into five core themes—definitions of sexism and misogyny, disciplinary divergences, automated detection methods, associated challenges, and design-based interventions”

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Divided by discipline? A systematic literature review on the quantification of online sexism and misogyny using a semi-automated approach - Scientometrics

Several computational tools have been developed to detect and identify sexism, misogyny, and gender-based hate speech, particularly on online platforms. These tools draw on insights from both social science and computer science. Given the increasing concern over gender-based discrimination in digital spaces, the contested definitions and measurements of sexism, and the rise of interdisciplinary efforts to understand its online manifestations, a systematic literature review is essential for capturing the current state and trajectory of this evolving field. In this review, we make four key contributions: (1) we synthesize the literature into five core themes—definitions of sexism and misogyny, disciplinary divergences, automated detection methods, associated challenges, and design-based interventions; (2) we adopt an interdisciplinary lens, bridging theoretical and methodological divides across social psychology, computer science, and gender studies; (3) we highlight critical gaps, including the need for intersectional approaches, the under-representation of non-Western languages and perspectives, and the limited focus on proactive design strategies beyond text classification; and (4) we offer a methodological contribution by applying a rigorous semi-automated systematic review process guided by PRISMA, establishing a replicable standard for future work in this domain. Our findings reveal a clear disciplinary divide in how sexism and misogyny are conceptualized and measured. Through an evidence-based synthesis, we examine how existing studies have attempted to bridge this gap through interdisciplinary collaboration. Drawing on both social science theories and computational modeling practices, we assess the strengths and limitations of current methodologies. Finally, we outline key challenges and future directions for advancing research on the detection and mitigation of online sexism and misogyny.

link.springer.com

Reposted by Rebecca Sear

EHBEA @ehbea.bsky.social · 21h

🚨AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT🚨

EHBEA is calling for SELF-nominations for their New Investigator Award.

If you are doing, or know someone, some really cool research as an early-career researcher please don’t hesitate to apply!

DEADLINE: December 19th, 2025

Here is the form👇
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

EHBEA-2026-New-Investigator-Award-nomination-form.docx

2026 NEW INVESTIGATOR AWARD Self-nomination Form Please submit this application form by e-mail to the EHBEA Secretary [email protected]. Next Deadline: 5pm (GMT), 19th DECEMBER 2026 ...

docs.google.com

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Reposted by Mel Bartley, Philip N. Cohen

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 22h

"Harmonised data on the fertility histories of four British cohorts are now available for the scientific community to download from the UK Data Service"
cls.ucl.ac.uk/research-on-...

Research on fertility and families enhanced with new harmonised cohort data | CLS

Harmonised data on the fertility histories of four British cohorts are now available for the scientific community to download from the UK Data Service.

cls.ucl.ac.uk

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 1d

If you're expecting the call, just stay awake all night. That'll show 'em

Reposted by Rebecca Sear

Confront-Eugenics @confronteugenics.bsky.social · 1d

Upcoming talk by the historian of eugenics Marius Turda!
👉 wienerholocaustlibrary.org/event/findin...
🗓 Tuesday 4th November, 6.30pm, London

Finding Ivy exhibition talk: Disability, Dehumanisation and Extermination, with Prof Marius Turda - The Wiener Holocaust Library

Held as part of the Finding Ivy: a life worthy of life exhibition events series. In this talk Marius Turda will discuss the eugenically-driven and state-sponsored determination to eugenically ‘purify’...

wienerholocaustlibrary.org

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 1d

Why does every story about Nobel prize winners receiving the call involve them being woken in the middle of the night? Do the Nobel people not understand how time zones work or is it a deliberate strategy to generate fun stories about confused winners...?

Kate Holterhoff, PhD @kateholterhoff.com · 2d

We are all Dr. Brunkow 😴
“Dr. Brunkow said she did not expect to win a Nobel Prize. ‘My phone rang, and I saw a number from Sweden and thought, well that’s just spam of some sort, so I disabled the phone and went back to sleep,’“ www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/h...

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Is Awarded for Work on Immune Systems

www.nytimes.com

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 1d

In work on relationships between evolutionary psychology & the manosphere, it's been suggested the relationship may be two-way. Ideas from ev psych inform the manosphere but also the manosphere may influence ev psych. Wonder if the idea that "women are the protected sex" is an example of the latter

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Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Mohammad Atari

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 1d

“The idea that humans evolved to be protective & sensitive to harm directed towards women appears increasingly popular in evolutionary psych [but] ethnographic evidence conflict with this perspective, [which seems] rooted in contemporary WEIRD values rather than an evolved psychological mechanism”

Did humans evolve to 'protect' women?

Ethnography complicates a convenient narrative

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Rebecca Sear

Ruth Mace @ruthmace.bsky.social · 2d

African harps as units of cultural evolution: a cladistic analysis on their morphology. New paper by Salome Strauch et al| Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

African harps as units of cultural evolution: a cladistic analysis on their morphology | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core

African harps as units of cultural evolution: a cladistic analysis on their morphology - Volume 7

www.cambridge.org

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Reposted by Rebecca Sear, Jean‐Baptiste André, David W. Lawson

EHBEA @ehbea.bsky.social · 2d

EHBEA is looking for new PRESIDENT and SECRETARY for 2026-2029! 👀

If you know of anybody who could represent EHBEA, nominate them as president!

If you know with good organisational skills, nominate them as secretary!

DEADLINE: 16/12/2026

HERE IS THE FORM 👇

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

EHBEACommitteeNominationForm_Pres_Sec.doc

EHBEA Committee 2026-2029: Nomination Form The EHBEA Steering Committee is calling for nominations for the following open committee positions for 2026-2029. You are invited to nominate one or more c...

docs.google.com

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Reposted by Rebecca Sear

Kate Holterhoff, PhD @kateholterhoff.com · 2d

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Is Awarded for Work on Immune Systems

www.nytimes.com

63 520 3.3K

Reposted by Rebecca Sear

Annals of Human Biology @annalshumanbio.bsky.social · 2d

🗣️COMMENTARY

A timely piece for AHB addresses the current public health divide in the U.S., highlighting the need to ‘create space for dialogue rather than continued confrontation’, and how academics can better reach communities their research impacts

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Whose health? Whose truth? Navigating the “Make America Healthy Again” – public health divide

Published in Annals of Human Biology (Vol. 52, No. 1, 2025)

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Will Jennings, Kai Arzheimer, Rebecca Sear , and 10 more Will Jennings, Kai Arzheimer, Rebecca Sear, Robert Huber, Alessandro Nai, Richard Hayton, Matthijs Rooduijn, Christian Rauh, Caterina Froio, Stuart J. Turnbull‐Dugarte, Daphne Halikiopoulou, Tarik Abou‐Chadi, Roos Vonk

Teresa Völker @tevoelker.bsky.social · 2d

New paper out with @dasalgon.bsky.social: “Far-Right Agenda Setting: How the Far Right influences the Political Mainstream” doi.org/10.1017/S1475676525100066 #openaccess in @ejprjournal.bsky.social🧵

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Reposted by Rebecca Sear, Martin J. Smith

Elizabeth Gadd @lizziegadd.bsky.social · 3d

Adding my voice to the chorus battling to retain an increased focus on people, culture, and environment in the next REF... wonkhe.com/blogs/the-ba...

The battle for people, culture and environment

Lizzie Gadd makes the case for embracing People, Culture and Environment and sets out why reverting to REF 2021 would be a mistake

wonkhe.com

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Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Rebecca Sear, Erol Akçay , and 2 more Lisa W. Fazio, Rebecca Sear, Erol Akçay, Larry W. Hunter, David Spurrett

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 3d

I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...

1/14

jeremymberg.github.io

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 3d

George Monbiot on Steven Pinker’s book Enlightenment Now: “Under-researched and over-claiming, deferring to authority rather than data, sloppy and derivative, Pinker insults the Enlightenment principles he claims to defend”

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 28d

Tell me about it. I've had his number for a while, on other matters: www.monbiot.com/2018/03/09/c...

Contrary to Reason

Steven Pinker claims to champion Enlightenment values. But his latest book is an affront to them

www.monbiot.com

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Reposted by Joanna Bryson, David W. Lawson

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 3d

If one man marries two women, another man must go unmarried, right? No. Demography matters. If sex ratios are skewed towards women, then polygyny can exist alongside universal marriage for men (who want to marry women). If only more people understood demography 😊

Hampton Gaddy @hggaddy.bsky.social · 3d

🚨 The Economist has been telling you for years that polygamy causes civil war by locking men out of marriage. A new article with @rebeccasear.bsky.social and @anthrolog.bsky.social explains that the demography of marriage markets doesn't actually work that way. 🧵

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

High rates of polygyny do not lock large proportions of men out of the marriage market | PNAS

There is a widespread belief, in both the scholarly literature and the popular press, that polygyny prevents large numbers of men from marrying by ...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Rebecca Sear

Lynda Boothroyd @drboothroyd.bsky.social · 3d

Say you were looking for a free, online textbook to use in your teaching of #EvoPSych, Human Behavioural Ecology, Cultural Evolution (or all combined)... which of these titles would tempt you most?

(see post below...)

#EHBEA
#HBES
#CulturalTransmisison
#HigherEduction
#TLHE

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Reposted by Rebecca Sear

Hampton Gaddy @hggaddy.bsky.social · 3d

Even though the demography is clear, the idea that polygamy is unsustainable and is the root of male-vs-male violence is super influential in political science, incel groups (⚠️), and theories about the evolution of monogamy. In the article, we talk through all three sets of discourse (13/14)

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Reposted by Philip N. Cohen, Rebecca Sear, Cameron Campbell , and 4 more Philip N. Cohen, Rebecca Sear, Cameron Campbell, Valerie Mueller, Patrick Präg, Alice Reid, David W. Lawson

Hampton Gaddy @hggaddy.bsky.social · 3d

High rates of polygyny do not lock large proportions of men out of the marriage market | PNAS

There is a widespread belief, in both the scholarly literature and the popular press, that polygyny prevents large numbers of men from marrying by ...

www.pnas.org

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 3d

The conflation of academic freedom with free speech has predictable consequences. A Cambridge academic who made scientifically indefensible claims has had complaints against him dismissed on the grounds that his claims were "lawful free speech". This doesn't end well for science.

Uni clears don accused of ‘abhorrent racism’

The University's internal investigation launched last year has dismissed all complaints against Nathan Cofnas, and found his ideas 'represented lawful free speech'

www.varsity.co.uk

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 3d

Unfortunately, new legislation initiated by the previous UK government on free speech in higher education conflates freedom of speech and academic freedom

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Amia Srinivasan · Cancelled: Can I speak freely?

Most of us would find it horrible to be told that we aren’t worth engaging with, that our views are socially...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 3d

Cites this excellent piece: "A university isn’t a town square where anyone has the right to say anything they like... Universities contribute to society not by producing more speech, but by producing better speech. Our business is quality, not quantity"

academicmatters.ca/free-speech-...

Free speech and the battle for the university - Academic Matters

At the University of Waterloo, a controversial talk had the faculty association looking for creative ways to respond. How did the faculty [...]

academicmatters.ca

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Reposted by Joanna Bryson

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 3d

Thoughtful piece on the distinction between freedom of speech and academic freedom, and how the former is being mobilised to erode the latter:

"Under freedom of speech, the distinction between true and false is irrelevant. Academic freedom is about seeking truth or producing better knowledge"

Knowledges from the classroom | Amsterdam University Press Journals Online

Amsterdam University Press is a leading publisher of academic books, journals and textbooks in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our aim is to make current research available to scholars, students, ...

www.aup-online.com

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 3d

"We test the "social capital buffer" hypothesis, which posits that greater social connectedness promotes risk-taking by buffering against negative outcomes [Bangladesh]....findings reveal that social capital does not uniformly promote or constrain risk-taking"

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

OSF

doi.org

Reposted by Rebecca Sear

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3d

'Mann, whose book Science Under Siege with co-author Peter Hotez was published last month, urged scientists in the US to speak out against the political pressures on research and higher education, even if there is a risk to their careers'.

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 4d

‘US anti-science stance poses global existential threat’.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...

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