Léo Fitouchi
@lfitouchi.bsky.social
Cognitive & evolutionary social scientist. Studying morality, religion, punishment, institutions.
Research fellow at @iastoulouse.bsky.social @tse-fr.eu. PhD ENS Paris.
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/leofitouchi/home
Research fellow at @iastoulouse.bsky.social @tse-fr.eu. PhD ENS Paris.
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/leofitouchi/home
Pinned
Léo Fitouchi
@lfitouchi.bsky.social
· May 6
🧵New paper out in Cognition
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
It's hiring season at @iast.fr!
- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France
www.iast.fr/research-fel...
- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France
www.iast.fr/research-fel...
September 20, 2025 at 9:15 AM
It's hiring season at @iast.fr!
- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France
www.iast.fr/research-fel...
- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France
www.iast.fr/research-fel...
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
👋 Meet Haneul, our Membership Officer/Treasurer!
@haneuljang.bsky.social is a Research Fellow at @iast.fr, studying women's cooperation among BaYaka foragers.
As Membership Officer, she manages new membership, recruiting new members at conferences and explaining the society. (1/2)
#WplusEBS
@haneuljang.bsky.social is a Research Fellow at @iast.fr, studying women's cooperation among BaYaka foragers.
As Membership Officer, she manages new membership, recruiting new members at conferences and explaining the society. (1/2)
#WplusEBS
October 22, 2025 at 3:48 PM
👋 Meet Haneul, our Membership Officer/Treasurer!
@haneuljang.bsky.social is a Research Fellow at @iast.fr, studying women's cooperation among BaYaka foragers.
As Membership Officer, she manages new membership, recruiting new members at conferences and explaining the society. (1/2)
#WplusEBS
@haneuljang.bsky.social is a Research Fellow at @iast.fr, studying women's cooperation among BaYaka foragers.
As Membership Officer, she manages new membership, recruiting new members at conferences and explaining the society. (1/2)
#WplusEBS
Same!
Join me in signing the #JewsDemandAction petition calling on governments around the world to impose meaningful consequences on the Israeli government, including appropriate sanctions, enforcement of ICJ and ICC rulings and warrants, and withholding of arms. jewsdemandaction.org jewsdemandaction.org
Jews Demand Action
jewsdemandaction.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Same!
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
In a new paper, we show from longitudinal UK and France data that income volatility (fluctatuations month to month) are bad for mental and general health. And it is much badder than you would expect given the lowness of the low months:
doi.org/10.1016/j.ss...
doi.org/10.1016/j.ss...
Redirecting
doi.org
October 11, 2025 at 9:25 AM
In a new paper, we show from longitudinal UK and France data that income volatility (fluctatuations month to month) are bad for mental and general health. And it is much badder than you would expect given the lowness of the low months:
doi.org/10.1016/j.ss...
doi.org/10.1016/j.ss...
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
>The Multi-Capital Leadership theory explains why #leadership emerges and why it varies among human societies and throughout individual life histories.
w/@chrisvonrueden.bsky.social & @edhagen.net
#LeadSciSky #HBES 🧪
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
w/@chrisvonrueden.bsky.social & @edhagen.net
#LeadSciSky #HBES 🧪
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The Multi-Capital Leadership Theory - Human Nature
Human leadership and followership take many forms, shaped by the social, economic, political, and cultural contexts of our groups and societies. Underlying this complexity, we argue, are key elements of human social psychology regarding social comparison and the resolution of coordination and collective action problems. The Multi-Capital Leadership (MCL) theory posits that leader emergence and effectiveness depend on perceptions of individuals’ abilities to provide benefits or impose costs in solving challenges of group living, through the deployment of different forms of capital: material, social, somatic (e.g., physical formidability, height, immune functionality), and neural (e.g., knowledge, intelligence, personality, supernatural abilities). We integrate this framework with a review of leadership across human societies, including in non-state and non-industrial contexts, and with novel comparative analyses of ethnographic data. This synthesis highlights how context-specific demands for coordination and collective action, and the accuracy of social comparison, shape the structure and dynamics of leadership and followership across cultures.
link.springer.com
October 10, 2025 at 7:04 PM
>The Multi-Capital Leadership theory explains why #leadership emerges and why it varies among human societies and throughout individual life histories.
w/@chrisvonrueden.bsky.social & @edhagen.net
#LeadSciSky #HBES 🧪
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
w/@chrisvonrueden.bsky.social & @edhagen.net
#LeadSciSky #HBES 🧪
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
thank you to all speakers for all the food for thought!
A week full of ideas at the offices of the Fyssen Foundation!
Many thanks to Jonathan Lanman, member of the Scientific Council, for initiating this exciting seminar!
Speakers: Pascal Boyer, Robert McCauley, Harvey Witehouse, Ann Taves, Oliver Curry, Leo Fitouchi, Zachary Garfield, Julia Ebner
Many thanks to Jonathan Lanman, member of the Scientific Council, for initiating this exciting seminar!
Speakers: Pascal Boyer, Robert McCauley, Harvey Witehouse, Ann Taves, Oliver Curry, Leo Fitouchi, Zachary Garfield, Julia Ebner
October 9, 2025 at 3:38 PM
thank you to all speakers for all the food for thought!
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
New commentary out w/ @manvir.bsky.social
in Religion, Brain, and Behavior! We argue that social learning fails to explain three patterns in religious belief and practice: SBNR beliefs, strategic endorsement of beliefs, and religious experience. Check it out:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
in Religion, Brain, and Behavior! We argue that social learning fails to explain three patterns in religious belief and practice: SBNR beliefs, strategic endorsement of beliefs, and religious experience. Check it out:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Strategy and experience required: Social learning cannot explain the varieties of supernatural belief
Published in Religion, Brain & Behavior (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:13 PM
New commentary out w/ @manvir.bsky.social
in Religion, Brain, and Behavior! We argue that social learning fails to explain three patterns in religious belief and practice: SBNR beliefs, strategic endorsement of beliefs, and religious experience. Check it out:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
in Religion, Brain, and Behavior! We argue that social learning fails to explain three patterns in religious belief and practice: SBNR beliefs, strategic endorsement of beliefs, and religious experience. Check it out:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
« Je voudrais un toit pour mon fils » : le nombre d’enfants à la rue avant la rentrée atteint un nouveau record
« Je voudrais un toit pour mon fils » : le nombre d’enfants à la rue avant la rentrée atteint un nouveau record
Le 7ᵉ baromètre de l’Unicef et de la Fédération des acteurs de la solidarité fait état de 2 159 enfants laissés sans solution d’hébergement au soir du 18 août, après que leur famille a réussi à joindre le 115.
www.lemonde.fr
August 27, 2025 at 10:33 PM
« Je voudrais un toit pour mon fils » : le nombre d’enfants à la rue avant la rentrée atteint un nouveau record
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
🧠 What?! A meeting just on disgust?! Yes!!
📍 @iast.fr, France | 🗓 Dec 4–5, 2025
💥 Keynotes by Paul Rozin @upenn.edu, @cr-amo.bsky.social, Philip Powell @sheffielduni.bsky.social & Cindy Kam
🌍 From Psychology to Politics, Biology & beyond
🎓 Abstract submissions until Aug 31: forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...
📍 @iast.fr, France | 🗓 Dec 4–5, 2025
💥 Keynotes by Paul Rozin @upenn.edu, @cr-amo.bsky.social, Philip Powell @sheffielduni.bsky.social & Cindy Kam
🌍 From Psychology to Politics, Biology & beyond
🎓 Abstract submissions until Aug 31: forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...
August 22, 2025 at 2:39 PM
🧠 What?! A meeting just on disgust?! Yes!!
📍 @iast.fr, France | 🗓 Dec 4–5, 2025
💥 Keynotes by Paul Rozin @upenn.edu, @cr-amo.bsky.social, Philip Powell @sheffielduni.bsky.social & Cindy Kam
🌍 From Psychology to Politics, Biology & beyond
🎓 Abstract submissions until Aug 31: forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...
📍 @iast.fr, France | 🗓 Dec 4–5, 2025
💥 Keynotes by Paul Rozin @upenn.edu, @cr-amo.bsky.social, Philip Powell @sheffielduni.bsky.social & Cindy Kam
🌍 From Psychology to Politics, Biology & beyond
🎓 Abstract submissions until Aug 31: forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
📣 We are excited (or should we say disgusted?) to announce the conference 'Disgust across borders' at IAST! @iast.fr
🗓️ Join us on Dec 4 & 5 for two days full of disgust research across species and disciplines.
Registration and abstract submission are open (until Aug 31): forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...
🗓️ Join us on Dec 4 & 5 for two days full of disgust research across species and disciplines.
Registration and abstract submission are open (until Aug 31): forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...
July 2, 2025 at 12:59 PM
📣 We are excited (or should we say disgusted?) to announce the conference 'Disgust across borders' at IAST! @iast.fr
🗓️ Join us on Dec 4 & 5 for two days full of disgust research across species and disciplines.
Registration and abstract submission are open (until Aug 31): forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...
🗓️ Join us on Dec 4 & 5 for two days full of disgust research across species and disciplines.
Registration and abstract submission are open (until Aug 31): forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
I had the most incredible opportunity to attend the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences at @tse-fr.eu and learn from @lfitouchi.bsky.social , @cmolho.bsky.social & @jorgeapenas.bsky.social on the "Evolution of Human Sociality"
Toulouse was warm and welcoming, so was TSE !!
Toulouse was warm and welcoming, so was TSE !!
June 25, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I had the most incredible opportunity to attend the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences at @tse-fr.eu and learn from @lfitouchi.bsky.social , @cmolho.bsky.social & @jorgeapenas.bsky.social on the "Evolution of Human Sociality"
Toulouse was warm and welcoming, so was TSE !!
Toulouse was warm and welcoming, so was TSE !!
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
🚨NEW PAPER from the @eegcam.bsky.social!🚨I have never been as proud of something as of the work that finally we can share today: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... - we show how a climatically driven Pan African meta population model explains our species genetic and morphological diversity 🧬💀
Pan-African metapopulation model explains Homo sapiens genetic and morphological evolution
Emerging evidence has challenged the traditional view of a single-region origin for Homo sapiens, suggesting instead that our species arose and diversified across multiple geographically distinct popu...
www.biorxiv.org
May 23, 2025 at 12:50 PM
🚨NEW PAPER from the @eegcam.bsky.social!🚨I have never been as proud of something as of the work that finally we can share today: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... - we show how a climatically driven Pan African meta population model explains our species genetic and morphological diversity 🧬💀
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
"progress in the social sciences is stymied by the widespread misconception that evolution and learning are opposing explanations for behavior... the 'evolution vs. learning' dichotomy is fallacious... explanatory partners rather than explanatory competitors" psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
May 22, 2025 at 4:51 PM
"progress in the social sciences is stymied by the widespread misconception that evolution and learning are opposing explanations for behavior... the 'evolution vs. learning' dichotomy is fallacious... explanatory partners rather than explanatory competitors" psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
"Shamanism" by @manvir.bsky.social is now out. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/730339.... It's a deep, original, and fun book—highly recommended. My blurb:
May 20, 2025 at 6:06 PM
"Shamanism" by @manvir.bsky.social is now out. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/730339.... It's a deep, original, and fun book—highly recommended. My blurb:
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
Very happy to be giving a talk at my favorite colloquium series! Tune in if you're interested in prosociality, willful ignorance, or cross-cultural research.
This weeks's Cooperation Colloquium:
Catherine Molho @cmolho.bsky.social
Guilt drives prosocial behavior across countries
Date: May 23
Time: 15:00 UTC+2 (Vienna) / 9 am ET (NYC)
Sign up: list.ku.dk/postorius/li...
Catherine Molho @cmolho.bsky.social
Guilt drives prosocial behavior across countries
Date: May 23
Time: 15:00 UTC+2 (Vienna) / 9 am ET (NYC)
Sign up: list.ku.dk/postorius/li...
May 19, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Very happy to be giving a talk at my favorite colloquium series! Tune in if you're interested in prosociality, willful ignorance, or cross-cultural research.
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
- Wikipedia is a global, free to access encyclopaedia of knowledge
- Universities are full of experts on all sorts of niche topics
- Those experts are under no career incentives to share their knowledge on Wikipedia
I feel that something has gone terribly wrong somewhere
- Universities are full of experts on all sorts of niche topics
- Those experts are under no career incentives to share their knowledge on Wikipedia
I feel that something has gone terribly wrong somewhere
May 17, 2025 at 10:00 AM
- Wikipedia is a global, free to access encyclopaedia of knowledge
- Universities are full of experts on all sorts of niche topics
- Those experts are under no career incentives to share their knowledge on Wikipedia
I feel that something has gone terribly wrong somewhere
- Universities are full of experts on all sorts of niche topics
- Those experts are under no career incentives to share their knowledge on Wikipedia
I feel that something has gone terribly wrong somewhere
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
You can now submit a commentary on our paper here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal.... We're very much looking forward to reading your commentaries and discussing our hypothesis with you!
May 16, 2025 at 2:07 PM
You can now submit a commentary on our paper here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal.... We're very much looking forward to reading your commentaries and discussing our hypothesis with you!
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
Hi friends! I'm now on Bluesky. Looking forward to reading your news & updates.
If you're interested in my work, consider following this account. I write about science, philosophy, & culture in peer-reviewed academic journals and popular press magazines.
www.laithalshawaf.com/popular-scie...
If you're interested in my work, consider following this account. I write about science, philosophy, & culture in peer-reviewed academic journals and popular press magazines.
www.laithalshawaf.com/popular-scie...
Popular Science
POPULAR SCIENCE WRITING Detecting Bullshit Should You Trust the Myers-Briggs Personality Test? [ English ] [ Portuguese ] [ Turkish ] [ Spanish ] Detecting Bull**it (Online Version) [...
www.laithalshawaf.com
May 15, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Hi friends! I'm now on Bluesky. Looking forward to reading your news & updates.
If you're interested in my work, consider following this account. I write about science, philosophy, & culture in peer-reviewed academic journals and popular press magazines.
www.laithalshawaf.com/popular-scie...
If you're interested in my work, consider following this account. I write about science, philosophy, & culture in peer-reviewed academic journals and popular press magazines.
www.laithalshawaf.com/popular-scie...
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
Harmless bodily pleasures are moralized because they are perceived as reducing self-control and cooperativeness @lfitouchi.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
May 12, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Harmless bodily pleasures are moralized because they are perceived as reducing self-control and cooperativeness @lfitouchi.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
🦋 Ever wondered what happens when curious minds collide? The Friends of IAST starter kit is now on Bluesky! Fellows, researchers, and thinkers are ready to share ideas, spark debates, and explore new perspectives.
👋Join us—this is just the beginning! #FriendsofIAST#starterkit
go.bsky.app/5mQmnLF 👇
👋Join us—this is just the beginning! #FriendsofIAST#starterkit
go.bsky.app/5mQmnLF 👇
May 9, 2025 at 2:13 PM
🦋 Ever wondered what happens when curious minds collide? The Friends of IAST starter kit is now on Bluesky! Fellows, researchers, and thinkers are ready to share ideas, spark debates, and explore new perspectives.
👋Join us—this is just the beginning! #FriendsofIAST#starterkit
go.bsky.app/5mQmnLF 👇
👋Join us—this is just the beginning! #FriendsofIAST#starterkit
go.bsky.app/5mQmnLF 👇
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
🚨Preprint alert 🚨
Forager food-sharing is often portrayed as “a positive insistence on equality” (Woodburn) or an “instinct” to equalise inequalities (Fehr). A new paper with @kris-smith.bsky.social, exploring Hadza reallocation decisions, challenges this view. 1/10 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Forager food-sharing is often portrayed as “a positive insistence on equality” (Woodburn) or an “instinct” to equalise inequalities (Fehr). A new paper with @kris-smith.bsky.social, exploring Hadza reallocation decisions, challenges this view. 1/10 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The 'I' in Egalitarianism: Hadza Hunter-Gatherers Averse to Inequality Primarily when Personally Unfavourable
Many anthropologists and economists contend that humans are characterized by strong, universal, other-regarding equality preferences with deep evolutionary root
papers.ssrn.com
March 26, 2025 at 2:20 PM
🚨Preprint alert 🚨
Forager food-sharing is often portrayed as “a positive insistence on equality” (Woodburn) or an “instinct” to equalise inequalities (Fehr). A new paper with @kris-smith.bsky.social, exploring Hadza reallocation decisions, challenges this view. 1/10 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Forager food-sharing is often portrayed as “a positive insistence on equality” (Woodburn) or an “instinct” to equalise inequalities (Fehr). A new paper with @kris-smith.bsky.social, exploring Hadza reallocation decisions, challenges this view. 1/10 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
📢 We're now on Bluesky!
Follow us for insights on:
🧠 Interdisciplinary research
🎤 Talks, workshops & conferences
🎧 Podcasts
🧐 Science outreach
#Science #Research #Interdisciplinary #IAST #Toulouse #AcademicLife
Follow us for insights on:
🧠 Interdisciplinary research
🎤 Talks, workshops & conferences
🎧 Podcasts
🧐 Science outreach
#Science #Research #Interdisciplinary #IAST #Toulouse #AcademicLife
April 17, 2025 at 3:45 PM
📢 We're now on Bluesky!
Follow us for insights on:
🧠 Interdisciplinary research
🎤 Talks, workshops & conferences
🎧 Podcasts
🧐 Science outreach
#Science #Research #Interdisciplinary #IAST #Toulouse #AcademicLife
Follow us for insights on:
🧠 Interdisciplinary research
🎤 Talks, workshops & conferences
🎧 Podcasts
🧐 Science outreach
#Science #Research #Interdisciplinary #IAST #Toulouse #AcademicLife
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
"good sociological theories must be compatible with good psychological theories, which in turn must be compatible with good biological theories, which must be compatible with good chemical theories, which must be compatible with good theory from physics"
What makes a good social science theory, and why the evolutionary model of the actor is one - Theory and Society
This paper presents the rules of science in general as the rules of social science and describes what makes a good theory in both science generally and social science specifically. We argue that good ...
link.springer.com
May 9, 2025 at 12:38 AM
"good sociological theories must be compatible with good psychological theories, which in turn must be compatible with good biological theories, which must be compatible with good chemical theories, which must be compatible with good theory from physics"
Reposted by Léo Fitouchi
New paper from @lfitouchi.bsky.social:
Why do people moralize harmless bodily pleasures?
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Why do people moralize harmless bodily pleasures?
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Harmless bodily pleasures are moralized because they are perceived as reducing self-control and cooperativeness
Why do many people morally condemn unrestrained indulgence in bodily pleasures—such as gluttony, masturbation, and drinking alcohol—even when these be…
www.sciencedirect.com
May 6, 2025 at 9:38 AM
New paper from @lfitouchi.bsky.social:
Why do people moralize harmless bodily pleasures?
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Why do people moralize harmless bodily pleasures?
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧵New paper out in Cognition
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...
May 6, 2025 at 9:45 AM
🧵New paper out in Cognition
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...