Alex Mesoudi

10.2k total citations · 3 hit papers
97 papers, 5.6k citations indexed

About

Alex Mesoudi is a scholar working on Sociology and Political Science, Cultural Studies and Social Psychology. According to data from OpenAlex, Alex Mesoudi has authored 97 papers receiving a total of 5.6k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 76 papers in Sociology and Political Science, 70 papers in Cultural Studies and 38 papers in Social Psychology. Recurrent topics in Alex Mesoudi's work include Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (71 papers), Language and cultural evolution (70 papers) and Cultural Differences and Values (28 papers). Alex Mesoudi is often cited by papers focused on Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (71 papers), Language and cultural evolution (70 papers) and Cultural Differences and Values (28 papers). Alex Mesoudi collaborates with scholars based in United Kingdom, United States and Canada. Alex Mesoudi's co-authors include Andrew Whiten, Kevin N. Laland, Michael J. O’Brien, Stephen J. Lycett, Alex Thornton, Kerstin Schillinger, Simon Blanchet, Étienne Danchin, Benoît Pujol and Anne Charmantier and has published in prestigious journals such as Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología.

In The Last Decade

Alex Mesoudi

95 papers receiving 5.4k citations

Hit Papers

align trajectories

What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

Beyond DNA: integrating inclusive inheritance into an extended theory of evolution

2011 435 citations Étienne Danchin, Anne Charmantier et al. Nature Reviews Genetics profile →
Cultural Evolution

2011 422 citations Alex Mesoudi profile →
What is cumulative cultural evolution?

2018 185 citations Alex Mesoudi et al. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences profile →

Peers

Countries citing papers authored by Alex Mesoudi

Since Specialization

Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Alex Mesoudi's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Alex Mesoudi with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Alex Mesoudi more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Alex Mesoudi

Since Specialization

Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Alex Mesoudi. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Alex Mesoudi. The network helps show where Alex Mesoudi may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Alex Mesoudi

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Alex Mesoudi. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Alex Mesoudi based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Alex Mesoudi. Alex Mesoudi is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

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20 of 20 papers shown

#	Work	Indexed citations
1	Social learning preserves both useful and useless theories by canalizing learners’ exploration 2025 ·Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ·Maxime Derex, Jean‐François Bonnefon, Robert Boyd, Richard McElreath, Alex Mesoudi	2
2	From information free-riding to information sharing: how have humans solved the cooperative dilemma at the heart of cumulative cultural evolution? 2025 ·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ·Alex Mesoudi, (unknown), Keith Jensen, Lei Chang	0
3	A formal test using agent-based models of the circumscription theory for the evolution of social complexity 2024 ·Journal of Archaeological Science ·(unknown), Alex Mesoudi	0
4	Analogy as a Catalyst for Cumulative Cultural Evolution 2021 ·Trends in Cognitive Sciences ·(unknown), Alex Mesoudi, Paul E. Smaldino	26
5	Cultural selection and biased transformation: two dynamics of cultural evolution 2021 ·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ·Alex Mesoudi	24
6	Cumulative Cultural Evolution within Evolving Population Structures 2020 ·Trends in Cognitive Sciences ·Maxime Derex, Alex Mesoudi	67
7	Prestige-biased social learning: current evidence and outstanding questions 2019 ·Palgrave Communications ·(unknown), Alex Mesoudi	107
8	Cultural evolution of emotional expression in 50 years of song lyrics 2019 ·Evolutionary Human Sciences ·(unknown), Alberto Acerbi, Alex Mesoudi	41
9	How Do People Become W.E.I.R.D.? Migration Reveals the Cultural Transmission Mechanisms Underlying Variation in Psychological Processes 2016 ·PLoS ONE ·Alex Mesoudi, Kesson Magid, (unknown)	38
10	Multilevel processes and cultural adaptation: examples from past and present small-scale societies 2016 ·Ecology and Society ·Victòria Reyes-García, Andrea L. Balbo, Erik Gómez‐Baggethun, Maximilien Guèze, Alex Mesoudi, Peter J. Richerson, Xavier Rubio‐Campillo, Isabel Ruíz-Mallén, Stephen Shennan	33
11	If we are all cultural Darwinians what’s the fuss about? Clarifying recent disagreements in the field of cultural evolution 2015 ·Biology & Philosophy ·Alberto Acerbi, Alex Mesoudi	93
12	Do Online Voting Patterns Reflect Evolved Features of Human Cognition? An Exploratory Empirical Investigation 2015 ·PLoS ONE ·(unknown), Alex Mesoudi	12
13	From cultural traditions to cumulative culture: parameterizing the differences between human and nonhuman culture 2014 ·Journal of Theoretical Biology ·(unknown), Stephen J. Lycett, Alex Mesoudi	51
14	Sex-Biased Sound Symbolism in English-Language First Names 2013 ·PLoS ONE ·Benjamin J. Pitcher, Alex Mesoudi, Alan G. McElligott	39
15	Beyond DNA: integrating inclusive inheritance into an extended theory of evolution breakdown → 2011 ·Nature Reviews Genetics ·Étienne Danchin, Anne Charmantier, Frances A. Champagne, Alex Mesoudi, Benoît Pujol, Simon Blanchet	435
16	Variable Cultural Acquisition Costs Constrain Cumulative Cultural Evolution 2011 ·PLoS ONE ·Alex Mesoudi	102
17	Introduction; Integrating Genetic and Cultural Evolutionary Approaches to Language 2011 ·Human Biology ·Alex Mesoudi, Alan G. McElligott, David Adger	6
18	How cultural evolutionary theory can inform social psychology and vice versa. 2009 ·Psychological Review ·Alex Mesoudi	117
19	Towards a unified science of cultural evolution 2006 ·Behavioral and Brain Sciences ·Alex Mesoudi, Andrew Whiten, Kevin N. Laland	388
20	PERSPECTIVE: IS HUMAN CULTURAL EVOLUTION DARWINIAN? EVIDENCE REVIEWED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 2004 ·Evolution ·Alex Mesoudi, Andrew Whiten, Kevin N. Laland	183

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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