By comparing how wild and doctrinal religious traditions differently influence social behaviours, trust networks, and cooperation, we aim to understand whether these ancient forms of spirituality originally evolved because they provided tangible social benefits, or whether they emerged as incidental by-products of human cognitive capacities. Our findings will provide insights into how these enduring psychological elements of wild religion can potentially be utilized to promote social integration, cooperation, and cohesion in modern, culturally diverse societies.

Our research on misfortune, cohesion and resilience explores the personal and social consequences of managing misfortune across cultures and contexts. These include natural disasters such as the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake, responses to personal loss across diverse traditions in Los Angeles, and social bonding associated with funeral in 2022 for Queen Elizabeth II in London.