2026 Michael Gurven: Social Sciences and Humanities Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Social Sciences and Humanities	83	307	260	141	119	329	30572

Overview

Michael Gurven is affiliated with the University of California, Santa Barbara in the United States. Their research spans multiple disciplines with a focus on Medicine and Psychology. Within these fields, their work touches on subfields such as Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Physiology, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Genetics, and Social Psychology.

The scientist's main research topics include:

Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Primate Behavior and Ecology
Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
Birth, Development, and Health
Diet and metabolism studies
Health disparities and outcomes
Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet

Michael Gurven has contributed to numerous scholarly articles and book publications. Among recent papers authored or co-authored by them are:

"Daily energy expenditure through the human life course" (2021), published in Science
"A standard calculation methodology for human doubly labeled water studies" (2021), published in Cell Reports Medicine
"Energy compensation and adiposity in humans" (2021), published in Current Biology
"WEIRD bodies: mismatch, medicine and missing diversity" (2020), published in Evolution and Human Behavior
"The life history of human foraging: Cross-cultural and individual variation" (2020), published in Science Advances

In addition to journal articles, Gurven has book publications including:

"Human Behavioral Ecology" (2024), published by Cambridge University Press

The researcher's work has appeared frequently in venues such as:

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Evolution and Human Behavior
Science Advances
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Evolution Medicine and Public Health

Collaboration features prominently in their career, with frequent co-authors including:

Benjamin C. Trumble
Hillard Kaplan
Jonathan Stieglitz
Thomas S. Kraft
Paul L. Hooper

Best Publications

“Economic man” in cross-cultural perspective: Behavioral experiments in 15 small-scale societies

Joseph Henrich;Robert Boyd;Samuel Bowles;Colin Camerer

2784
Citations
Costly Punishment Across Human Societies

Joseph Henrich;Richard McElreath;Abigail Barr;Jean Ensminger

2248
Citations
Markets, religion, community size, and the evolution of fairness and punishment.

Joseph Henrich;Jean Ensminger;Richard McElreath;Abigail Barr

1769
Citations
Genetic traces of ancient demography

Henry C. Harpending;Mark A. Batzer;Michael Gurven;Lynn B. Jorde

814
Citations
An epigenetic clock analysis of race/ethnicity, sex, and coronary heart disease

Steve Horvath;Michael Gurven;Morgan E. Levine;Benjamin C. Trumble

764
Citations
Longevity Among Hunter‐ Gatherers: A Cross‐Cultural Examination

Michael Gurven;Hillard Kaplan

746
Citations
Human adaptations for the visual assessment of strength and fighting ability from the body and face

Aaron Nathaniel Sell;Leda Cosmides;John Tooby;Daniel Sznycer

739
Citations
To give and to give not: The behavioral ecology of human food transfers

Michael Gurven

737
Citations
Intergenerational wealth transmission and the dynamics of inequality in small-scale societies.

Monique Borgerhoff Mulder;Samuel Bowles;Tom Hertz;Adrian Bell

636
Citations
How universal is the Big Five? Testing the five-factor model of personality variation among forager-farmers in the Bolivian Amazon.

Michael Gurven;Christopher von Rueden;Maxim Massenkoff;Hillard Kaplan

577
Citations
"It's a Wonderful Life". signaling generosity among the Ache of Paraguay.

Michael Gurven;Wesley Allen-Arave;Kim Hill;Magdalena Hurtado

570
Citations
Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

Herman Pontzer;Yosuke Yamada;Hiroyuki Sagayama;Philip N. Ainslie

536
Citations
Growth rates and life histories in twenty-two small-scale societies.

Robert Walker;Michael Gurven;Kim Hill;Andrea Migliano

494
Citations
Small-scale societies exhibit fundamental variation in the role of intentions in moral judgment.

H Clark Barrett;Alexander H Bolyanatz;Alyssa N Crittenden;Daniel M. T. Fessler

448
Citations
Why do men seek status? Fitness payoffs to dominance and prestige

Christopher von Rueden;Michael Gurven;Hillard Kaplan

439
Citations
The evolutionary and ecological roots of human social organization.

Hillard S. Kaplan;Paul L. Hooper;Michael Gurven

400
Citations
Natural sleep and its seasonal variations in three pre-industrial societies.

Gandhi Yetish;Hillard Kaplan;Michael Gurven;Brian M. Wood

385
Citations
Why do men hunt? a reevaluation of "Man the Hunter" and the sexual division of labor

Michael Gurven;Kim Hill

381
Citations
Coronary atherosclerosis in indigenous South American Tsimane: a cross-sectional cohort study.

Hillard Kaplan;Randall C Thompson;Benjamin C Trumble;L Samuel Wann

361
Citations
The multiple dimensions of male social status in an Amazonian society.

Christopher von Rueden;Michael Gurven;Hillard Kaplan

352
Citations
How long does it take to become a proficient hunter? Implications for the evolution of extended development and long life span.

Michael Gurven;Hillard Kaplan;Maguin Gutierrez

337
Citations
Adaptations in humans for assessing physical strength from the voice

Aaron Nathaniel Sell;Gregory A. Bryant;Leda Cosmides;John Tooby

333
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Hillard Kaplan Chapman University

Christopher von Rueden University of Richmond

Richard McElreath Max Planck Society

Frank W. Marlowe University of Cambridge

Caleb E. Finch University of Southern California

Monique Borgerhoff Mulder University of California, Davis

Steven J. C. Gaulin University of California, Santa Barbara

Eric Alden Smith University of Washington

Rebecca Sear London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Hooman Allayee University of Southern California

External Links

Personal website of Michael Gurven Google Scholar page

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