article_snippet.sent: ‘When researchers discuss the forces that shaped human history, there is considerable disagreement as to whether our behaviour is primarily determined by culture or by the environment," said evolutionary ecologist Dr Botero.
article_snippet.sent: ‘our wanted to throw away all preconceived notions regarding these processes and look at all the potential drivers together to see how different aspects of the human experience may have contributed to the behavioural patterns we see today.
article_snippet.sent: The study, published in PNAS, took into account variables associated with the environment, history, and culture and involved experts in biology, ecology, linguistics, anthropology, and theology.
article_snippet.sent: evolutionary ecologist
article_snippet.sent: ‘The goal became not just to look at the ecological variables, but to look at the whole thing. '
article_snippet.sent: Once we accounted for as many other factors as we could, we wanted to see if we could still detect an environmental effect,’ Dr Botero said.
article_snippet.sent: The overall picture is that these beliefs are ultimately shaped by a combination of historical, ecological, and social factors.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Botero believes that this study is just the tip of the iceberg in examining human behaviour from a cross-disciplinary standpoint.
highlights_snippet.sent: Study was conducted by National Evolutionary Synthesis Centre, Durham .
  