Esther Herrmann

Children from six cultures reliably help their peers—but in different ways

Helping others is an integral part of human sociality, but systematic cross-cultural comparisons of children’s helping behavior are rare. Existing work has mainly focused on interactions between adults and children, paying less attention to peer dynamics—which are more relevant i...

Human and chimpanzee leaders are more risk-loving

Leadership and risk-taking are often assumed to be interrelated, but this assumption has rarely been investigated empirically in humans or other species. Analyzing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and observer reports from two African chimpanzee sanctuaries, this...