Why the West Is Weird

If you’re reading this, you may well be more self-focused, more trusting of strangers, and less likely to conform to the group than a majority of humans.

In a word, you may be WEIRD. People in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic places—like the U.S., Canada, and much of Europe—show a range of differences in thinking, on average, compared with the rest of the world, explains Joseph Henrich, Harvard’s Chair of Human Evolutionary Biology. His book The WEIRDest People in the World offers a sweeping account of how and why such differences arose between (and within) countries.

You trace WEIRD-style thinking to rules about family set by the Catholic Church centuries ago. Why start there?

Many societies around the world have figured out ways to build tightly bonded kin networks, which shape how people think, their strategies and motivations. But in ending polygamy, the Church ended the ability to create large numbers of marriage-based alliances, and stopping cousin or in-law marriage meant people had to marry strangers, preventing these tight, interwoven networks. The question then is what kinds of psychologies help one navigate the new social world.

How did new social structures bolster individualism, one tendency that’s stronger in WEIRD contexts?

Without clans or other tight networks, individuals have to go out and build their own social relationships. So they have to advertise features of themselves. What do I have to offer? I have to hone certain attributes and abilities that make me unique and someone who might be a good business partner or apprentice or spouse. That changes the game. Then you get the beginning of laws and organizations built around the individual.

Do some parts of the West show this legacy more than others?

We find differences even within the same countries. And I argue that things like your willingness to trust strangers matter. For example, in Northern Italy, compared with Southern Italy, you get high levels of blood donations, and people are more willing to use checks and keep a lot of money in banks.

Why is it important for people in WEIRD cultures to take an outside view of them?

If you look at psychology textbooks, most of the studies come from these societies. The word people is thrown around as if what you’re reading is about people in general, but a lot of it is about one peculiar cultural slice that emerged in the last few centuries.