Community involvement in the study of human social behaviour

Sign up here for in-person or online attendance! Everyone who signs up will receive the online link, in case they need it.

Community involvement in the study of human social behaviour: the case of the contrade of Siena, Italy

Speakers: Adam Kenny, Ilse Pit, Laura Fortunato

This Calleva-funded research project, led by Laura Fortunato, aims to investigates the effect of group dynamics on social behaviour in humans, focusing on factors related to cooperation and competition (see https://callevacentre.org/current-projects/).

The project involves data collection in the Italian city of Siena. The city centre has been historically divided into 17 contrade, roughly equivalent to districts. Members of the contrade feel strong allegiance towards the district they are affiliated with, forming close-knit communities that engage in related activities and rituals throughout the year. The key event in the Sienese calendar is the world-famous palio, a bareback horse race featuring the contrade, which is held in the central city square twice over the summer months. As such, the contemporary contrade provide an ideal setting to study patterns of social interaction within and between naturally occurring human groups.

The seminar will present completed and ongoing studies conducted as part of this research project, focusing on (i) insights on cooperation and competition from the contrade, and (ii) key scientific and ethical challenges that arise in conducting research with human participants in a field-based setting. Our community-centred approach aims to mitigate these challenges by emphasising community involvement in study design, the sharing of data, and the dissemination of results to the communities involved. We argue that these considerations are central to scientific rigour in the study of human behaviour.

Host or Publisher Calleva Centre for Evolution and Human Science at Magdalen College