2026 Harvey Whitehouse: Psychology Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Psychology	46	6319	5878	641	609	138	12623

Overview

Harvey Whitehouse is affiliated with the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Their research spans primarily the social sciences and psychology, with a notable focus in sociology and political science as well as social psychology. Their work addresses topics such as evolutionary game theory and cooperation, cultural differences and values, social and intergroup psychology, culture, economy and development studies, interactions between religion and society, religion, spirituality and psychology, and political violence including terrorism and counterterrorism.

Whitehouse has contributed to several frequent publication venues, including Religion Brain & Behavior, where they have been published nine times. Other notable venues include Scientific Reports, PLoS ONE, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and the Journal of Cognitive Historiography.

Among their recent papers are:

"Rewarding the good and punishing the bad: The role of karma and afterlife beliefs in shaping moral norms" (2020), published in Evolution and Human Behavior
"Disentangling the evolutionary drivers of social complexity: A comprehensive test of hypotheses" (2022), published in Science Advances
"Testing the Big Gods hypothesis with global historical data: a review and 'retake'" (2022), published in Religion Brain & Behavior
"Tradition and invention: The bifocal stance theory of cultural evolution" (2022), published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences
"The Development of Identity Fusion" (2021), published in Perspectives on Psychological Science

The scholar has frequently collaborated with other researchers, including Pieter François (15 joint works), Peter Turchin (12 joint works), Christopher Kavanagh (12 joint works), Martha Newson (12 joint works), and Daniel Hoyer (9 joint works).

Whitehouse has also published books, such as Inheritance, released by Harvard University Press in 2024.

Best Publications

Modes of Religiosity: A Cognitive Theory of Religious Transmission

Harvey Whitehouse

1469
Citations
When group membership gets personal: A theory of identity fusion.

William B. Swann Jr.;Jolanda Jetten;Ángel Gómez;Harvey Whitehouse

953
Citations
Is It Good to Cooperate? Testing the Theory of Morality-as-Cooperation in 60 Societies

Oliver Scott Curry;Daniel Austin Mullins;Harvey Whitehouse

699
Citations
The Ties That Bind Us: Ritual, Fusion, and Identification

Harvey Whitehouse;Jonathan A. Lanman

550
Citations
Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor

Oliver Scott Curry;Lee A. Rowland;Lee A. Rowland;Caspar J. Van Lissa;Caspar J. Van Lissa;Sally Zlotowitz

544
Citations
Inside the Cult: Religious Innovation and Transmission in Papua New Guinea

Harvey Whitehouse

505
Citations
Brothers in arms: Libyan revolutionaries bond like family

Harvey Whitehouse;Brian McQuinn;Michael Buhrmester;William B. Swann

471
Citations
Religion and morality.

Ryan McKay;Harvey Whitehouse

359
Citations
Rites of terror : Emotion, metaphor and memory in Melanesian initiation cults

Harvey Whitehouse

333
Citations
The cultural morphospace of ritual form ☆: Examining modes of religiosity cross-culturally

Quentin D. Atkinson;Quentin D. Atkinson;Harvey Whitehouse

310
Citations
Stick to the script: The effect of witnessing multiple actors on children’s imitation

Patricia A. Herrmann;Cristine H. Legare;Paul L. Harris;Harvey Whitehouse

296
Citations
Quantitative historical analysis uncovers a single dimension of complexity that structures global variation in human social organization.

Peter Turchin;Thomas E. Currie;Harvey Whitehouse;Pieter François

292
Citations
Modes of religiosity: towards a cognitive explanation of the sociopolitical dynamics of religion

Harvey Whitehouse

286
Citations
Arguments and Icons: Divergent Modes of Religiosity

Harvey Whitehouse

281
Citations
Theorizing religions past : archaeology, history, and cognition

Harvey Whitehouse;Luther H. Martin

269
Citations
Wrath of God: religious primes and punishment

Ryan McKay;Charles Efferson;Harvey Whitehouse;Ernst Fehr

252
Citations
Imitative flexibility and the development of cultural learning.

Cristine H. Legare;Nicole J. Wen;Patricia A. Herrmann;Harvey Whitehouse

248
Citations
Retraction Note: Complex societies precede moralizing gods throughout world history.

Harvey Whitehouse;Pieter François;Patrick E. Savage;Patrick E. Savage;Thomas E. Currie

235
Citations
The evolution of extreme cooperation via shared dysphoric experiences

Harvey Whitehouse;Jonathan Jong;Michael D. Buhrmester;Ángel Gómez

233
Citations
Synchrony and Physiological Arousal Increase Cohesion and Cooperation in Large Naturalistic Groups.

Joshua Conrad Jackson;Jonathan Jong;Jonathan Jong;David Bilkey;Harvey Whitehouse

212
Citations
Task-specific effects of ostracism on imitative fidelity in early childhood☆

Rachel E. Watson-Jones;Cristine H. Legare;Harvey Whitehouse;Jennifer M. Clegg

203
Citations
Dying for the group: Towards a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice.

Harvey Whitehouse

201
Citations
In-Group Ostracism Increases High-Fidelity Imitation in Early Childhood

Rachel E. Watson-Jones;Harvey Whitehouse;Cristine H. Legare

192
Citations
Shared Negative Experiences Lead to Identity Fusion via Personal Reflection

Jonathan Jong;Harvey Whitehouse;Christopher Kavanagh;Justin Lane

154
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Ryan McKay Royal Holloway University of London

William B. Swann The University of Texas at Austin

Cristine H. Legare The University of Texas at Austin

Ángel Gómez National University of Distance Education

Fernand Gobet London School of Economics and Political Science

Amy Bogaard University of Oxford

Brock Bastian University of Melbourne

Mark Nielsen University of Queensland

Elaine Reese University of Otago

Ara Norenzayan University of British Columbia

External Links

Wikipedia of Harvey Whitehouse Personal website of Harvey Whitehouse

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