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The Trojan horse of historical myths: Emotion-driven narratives as a strategy for coalitional recruitment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2025

Petra Pelletier Open the ORCID record for Petra Pelletier [Opens in a new window]  and
Nicolas Fay Open the ORCID record for Nicolas Fay [Opens in a new window]
Petra Pelletier*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Social Psychology: Contexts and Regulation (EA 4471), University of Paris Cité, Paris, France [email protected]; [email protected]
Nicolas Fay
Affiliation:
School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia [email protected]
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Sijilmassi et al. offer a cognitive account of historical myths, which they present as a cognitive technology designed to recruit coalitional support. We argue this account is incomplete, and that a comprehensive explanation of historical myths must include a central role for human emotions. In particular, emotion-driven narratives have the capacity to recruit coalitional support, which is critical to large-scale human cooperation and social cohesion.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e187
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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