The Human Sociality Lab studies how people use social relationships to navigate the impacts of environmental, social, and economic change on their well-being, health, and livelihoods. We approach this problem from multiple perspectives, looking at individual psychology and decision-making, relationship formation and maintenance, the structure of social networks, and the impacts of local institutions.
Our research programs include:
Understudied social relationships
Biological kinship, same-community relationships, and antagonistic intergroup relationships have been a throughline of research in the social, behavioral, and evolutionary sciences. In the HSL, we study nonkin relationships, chosen family relationships, and long-distance social relationships – understudied but crucial relationships for navigating environmental, social, and economic change, past and present. See our work on long-distance relationships, the flexibility of parochial altruism, and godparents for recent examples.
Climate change adaptation
Individuals and households use strategies to reduce the risks of climate impacts – to adapt to them. In the HSL, we study which adaptations are created, modified, shared, and used; the environmental predictors of which adaptations are used; and whether adaptations that reduce risks to livelihood can increase risks to health. For more, see our work on remittances, culture and climate adaptation, and climate change and health in Kenya.