Bietti, L.M., Tilston, O., & Bangerter, A. (2018). Storytelling as adaptive collective sensemaking. TopiCS in Cognitive Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12358
Abstract
Storytelling represents a key element in the creation and
propagation of culture. Three main accounts of the adaptive function of storytelling include
(a) manipulating the behavior of the audience to enhance the fitness of the narrator, (b) transmitting
survival-relevant information while avoiding the costs involved in the first-hand acquisition of that
information, and (c) maintaining social bonds or group-level cooperation. We assess the substantial
evidence collected in experimental and ethnographic studies for each account. These accounts do
not always appeal to the specific features of storytelling above and beyond language use in general.
We propose that the specific adaptive value of storytelling lies in making sense of
non-routine, uncertain, or novel situations, thereby enabling the collaborative development of previously
acquired skills and knowledge, but also promoting social cohesion by
strengthening intragroup identity and clarifying intergroup relations.
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