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Comic-book superheroes and prosocial agency: a large-scale quantitative analysis of the effects of cognitive factors on popular representations

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Comic-book superheroes and prosocial agency: a large-scale quantitative analysis of the effects of cognitive factors on popular representations. / Carney, James; MacCarron, Pádraig.
In: Journal of Cognition and Culture, Vol. 17, No. 3-4, 10.2017, p. 306–330.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Carney, J & MacCarron, P 2017, 'Comic-book superheroes and prosocial agency: a large-scale quantitative analysis of the effects of cognitive factors on popular representations', Journal of Cognition and Culture, vol. 17, no. 3-4, pp. 306–330. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685373-12340009

APA

Carney, J., & MacCarron, P. (2017). Comic-book superheroes and prosocial agency: a large-scale quantitative analysis of the effects of cognitive factors on popular representations. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 17(3-4), 306–330. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685373-12340009

Vancouver

Carney J, MacCarron P. Comic-book superheroes and prosocial agency: a large-scale quantitative analysis of the effects of cognitive factors on popular representations. Journal of Cognition and Culture. 2017 Oct;17(3-4):306–330. Epub 2017 Oct 6. doi: 10.1163/15685373-12340009

Author

Carney, James ; MacCarron, Pádraig. / Comic-book superheroes and prosocial agency : a large-scale quantitative analysis of the effects of cognitive factors on popular representations. In: Journal of Cognition and Culture. 2017 ; Vol. 17, No. 3-4. pp. 306–330.

Bibtex

@article{66e60bb8cfd948efae06a39d92dc31f4,
title = "Comic-book superheroes and prosocial agency: a large-scale quantitative analysis of the effects of cognitive factors on popular representations",
abstract = "We argue that the counterfactual representations of popular culture, like their religious cognates, are shaped by cognitive constraints that become visible when considered in aggregate. In particular, we argue that comic-book literature embodies core intuitions about sociality and its maintenance that are activated by the cognitive problem of living in large groups. This leads to four predictions: comic-book enforcers should (1) be punitively prosocial, (2) be quasi-omniscient, (3) exhibit kin-signalling proxies and (4) be minimally counterintuitive. We gauge these predictions against a large sample of 19,877 characters that were derived from 72,611 comics using data scraping techniques. Our results corroborate the view that cognitive constraints exercise a selective effect on the transmission of popular culture.",
author = "James Carney and P{\'a}draig MacCarron",
year = "2017",
month = oct,
doi = "10.1163/15685373-12340009",
language = "English",
volume = "17",
pages = "306–330",
journal = "Journal of Cognition and Culture",
issn = "1567-7095",
publisher = "Brill",
number = "3-4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Comic-book superheroes and prosocial agency

T2 - a large-scale quantitative analysis of the effects of cognitive factors on popular representations

AU - Carney, James

AU - MacCarron, Pádraig

PY - 2017/10

Y1 - 2017/10

N2 - We argue that the counterfactual representations of popular culture, like their religious cognates, are shaped by cognitive constraints that become visible when considered in aggregate. In particular, we argue that comic-book literature embodies core intuitions about sociality and its maintenance that are activated by the cognitive problem of living in large groups. This leads to four predictions: comic-book enforcers should (1) be punitively prosocial, (2) be quasi-omniscient, (3) exhibit kin-signalling proxies and (4) be minimally counterintuitive. We gauge these predictions against a large sample of 19,877 characters that were derived from 72,611 comics using data scraping techniques. Our results corroborate the view that cognitive constraints exercise a selective effect on the transmission of popular culture.

AB - We argue that the counterfactual representations of popular culture, like their religious cognates, are shaped by cognitive constraints that become visible when considered in aggregate. In particular, we argue that comic-book literature embodies core intuitions about sociality and its maintenance that are activated by the cognitive problem of living in large groups. This leads to four predictions: comic-book enforcers should (1) be punitively prosocial, (2) be quasi-omniscient, (3) exhibit kin-signalling proxies and (4) be minimally counterintuitive. We gauge these predictions against a large sample of 19,877 characters that were derived from 72,611 comics using data scraping techniques. Our results corroborate the view that cognitive constraints exercise a selective effect on the transmission of popular culture.

U2 - 10.1163/15685373-12340009

DO - 10.1163/15685373-12340009

M3 - Journal article

VL - 17

SP - 306

EP - 330

JO - Journal of Cognition and Culture

JF - Journal of Cognition and Culture

SN - 1567-7095

IS - 3-4

ER -