The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous

Most psychological studies take place in universities with university students as the subjects. These have been used to generalize human behavior. However, it turns out that they are finding results for a very peculiar group of people that do not really represent the world as a whole. These people are WEIRD -Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic. They are an anomaly in the world today and in the history of humanity.

How did WEIRD society come about? The author discusses a number of reasons. Among them, the Catholic church jumps to the front. Ironically, while the church was at the vanguard of the changes, once the ball got rolling, it moved past the church, leaving the church as the more "conservative" group today. Prior to the influence of the church, ties to family and clan were of primary importance. 

The church marriage and family policy ripped apart these relationships. Marriages would often take place within families, with cousin marriage common. The church clamped down on that, even going to the extent of prohibiting marriage up to sixth cousins. This helped to spread people outside of small family groups. This also helped to encourage people to trust people outside of their family and form guilds and other groups.

Monogamy was also the law of the land. Many cultures have allowed men to take multiple wives. This gave women the advantage of getting their desired mate, regardless of his marital status. However, it left a group of men with no marriage prospects. These people would be willing to take excessive risks, thereby disrupting society. By encouraging monogamy, the church increased the prospects of men and societal stability.

The church helped to create an individualistic society. The protestant reformation kicked this in to high gear. People were responsible for their own well-being. People were not responsible for the actions of others. Their individual mind state is viewed as more important than outcomes. Concepts of "natural rights" were viewed as logical. Documents such as the Magna Carta and Declaration of Independence were rooted in these concepts.

This WEIRD society encouraged more people to work together for the benefit of everybody. An analytical, logical approach was used allowing for widespread technical growth. This helped lead to these cultures dominating others. They represent the root of the common western culture today. This individualistic culture dominates today. There is a quest to adopt more and more new individual rights. This is the logical continuation of this culture. However, this culture remains just a unique culture that is dominating today. It is not necessarily the best or the ultimate. Today, we continue to see conflicts where the individualistic culture attempts to adopt other groups.