For pdfs of my published papers and preprints, please visit my ResearchGate page or contact me directly at kevintoyhong@gmail.com or zehong@um.edu.mo
Peer-reviewed Articles
Hong, Z. When Rituals Fail: Rationalization, Bayesianism, and Predictive Processing. Evolutionary Anthropology, forthcoming.
Hong, Z. Chance as a (non)explanation: a cross-cultural examination of folk understanding of chance and coincidence. Psychological Review, in press.
Hong, Z., & Chen, Y. (2024). Persuading the emperors: a quantitative historical analysis of political rhetoric in traditional China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1-10.
Hong, Z. (2024). The Cultural Evolution of Games of Chance – a Historical Investigation of Chinese Gambling. Human Nature, 35, 89-113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-024-09471-9
Hong, Z. & Henrich, J. (2024). Instrumentality, Empiricism, and Rationality in Nuosu Divination. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2024.2363761
Hong, Z., Slingerland, E., & Henrich, J. (2024). Magic and Empiricism in Early Chinese Rainmaking – a Cultural Evolutionary analysis. Current Anthropology, 65(2), 343-363.
Hong, Z. & Henrich, J. (2024). The Cultural Evolution of Payoff Currencies and the Construction of Causal Theories. American Anthropologist, 126(1), 71-82.
Hong, Z. (2024). The Cognitive Origin and Cultural Evolution of Taboos in Human Societies. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 30(3), 724-742.
Hong, Z. (2024). Evolutionary Social Science – Past, Present and Future 演化社会科学 ——历史，现状和展望 (In Chinese). Social Research Methods Review 社会学方法评论, in press.
Hong, Z. & Zinin, S. (2023). The Psychology and Social Dynamics of Fetal Sex Prognostication in China: Evidence from Historical Data. American Anthropologist, 125(3), 519-531.
Hong, Z. (2023). The Evolution of Inclusive Folk Biological Labels and the Cultural Maintenance of Meaning. Human Nature, 34, 177-201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-023-09446-2
Hong, Z. (2023). The Cultural Evolution of Medical Technologies: A Model of Sequential Treatment in the Medical Setting. Human Nature, 34, 64–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-02309441-7
Hong, Z. (2022). Ghost, Divination, and Magic among the Nuosu: An Ethnographic Examination from Cognitive and Cultural Evolutionary Perspectives. Human Nature, 33, 349-379.
Hong, Z. (2022). Combining Conformist and Payoff Bias in Cultural Evolution: An Integrated Model for Human Decision Making. Human Nature, 33, 463-484.
Hong, Z. (2022). A Cognitive Account of Manipulative Sympathetic Magic. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 12(3), 254-270. DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006294
Hong, Z. (2022). Dream Interpretation from a Cognitive and Cultural Evolutionary Perspective: The Case of Oneiromancy in Traditional China. Cognitive Science, 46: e13088. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.13088
Xiao, E., Jin, J., Hong, Z., & Zhang, J. (2022). The Relationship Between Children and Their Maternal Uncles: A Unique Parenting Mode in Mosuo Culture. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 873137-873137.
Henrich, J., Blasi, D., Curtin, C., Davis, H., Hong, Z., Kelly, D., & Kroupin, I. (2022). A Cultural Species and its Cognitive Phenotypes. Review of Philosophy and Psychology. 14(2), 349-386.
Hong, Z. & Henrich, J. (2021). The Cultural Evolution of Epistemic Practices – the Case of Divination. Human Nature, 32, 622-651. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110–021–09408–6
Hong, Z. (2021). The Population Dynamics of the Placebo Effect and Its Role in the Evolution of Medical Technology. Human Ecology, 50(1), 11-12.
Hong, Z. (2020). Modelling the On–going Natural Selection of Educational Attainment in Contemporary Societies. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 493, 110210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2020.110210
Book Reviews, Invited Commentaries and Encyclopedia Entries
Hong, Z. & Boudry, M. Is religion just make-believe, or only for some WEIRD people? : A Call for More Evidence and Caution. Religion, Brain & Behavior, forthcoming. (Book Review)
Hong, Z. (2024). Divination. In: Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Religious Psychology and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38971-9_1447-1
Hong, Z. (2023). A Need to Better Understand the Evolutionary Process of Beliefs about Gods’ Concerns. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 1-3. DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2023.2178490. (Commentary)
Hong, Z. (2023). The Value of Sociogenomics in Understanding Genetic Evolution in Contemporary Human Populations. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, E217. doi:10.1017/S0140525X22002424 (Commentary)
Hong, Z. (2022). The Ritual Stance does not Apply to Magic in general. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 45, E258. doi:10.1017/S0140525X2200139X. (Commentary)
Manuscripts submitted
Hong, Z. Does Fiction Come Naturally? Rethinking Fictional Storytelling across Human Societies. Revise & Resubmit requested by Psychological Inquiry.
Hong, Z. & Henrich, J. The Base-Rate Fallacy in Performance Judgements. Revise & Resubmit requested by Cognition.
Hong, Z., Zhang, C. & Wang, A. Evidential vulnerability of religious beliefs in the context of petitionary prayers. Revise & Resubmit requested by Cognitive Science.
Hong, Z. An Imagined Golden Past: The Cognitive Foundations of Decline Narratives in Human Societies. Revise & Resubmit requested by Human Nature.
Chen, Y., Atari, M., Slingerland, E., Hong, Z., Fu, X., Wang, H., … Henrich, J. Psychological Change and Kinship Intensity in China over Two Millennia. Under review.
Hong, Z. & Chen, Y. The Rhetoric of Disenchantment: Ghost Belief and Secular Critique in Early Twentieth-Century China. Under review.
Rukeye T. & Hong, Z. The Logic of Hot and Cold: Cognitive and Cultural Dynamics of Food Beliefs in a Uyghur community. Under review.
Hong, Z. Randomization, Ritual, and Cultural Evolution: Revisiting Omar Khayyam Moore’s “Divination: A New Perspective”. Under review.
Hong, Z. The Calendar in the Body: Cognition, Culture, and the Allure of Numerological Correspondence. Under review.
Manuscripts in preparation
Hong, Z., Wang, Y. & Chen. Y. Rain Magic in late Qing and Early Republic China: A Cognitive-Historical Analysis. In preparation.
Hong, Z. Beyond (Irresolvable) Causal Opacity: The Instrumental Logic of Magical Rituals. In preparation.
Books
Hong, Z. (2025). Divination: A Cognitive Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Popular Science Writings & Media Coverage
The Biological and Cultural Nature of Homo Sapiens (人类的文化性和生物性) – Book review of
The Secret of Our Success by Joseph Henrich (In Chinese)
Cultural Taboos Arise from a Basic Feature of the Human Mind. Psyche.co.
The Age of Digital Divination. Sapiens.org
Ze (Kevin) Hong 