Prestige bias

Prestige bias is a mechanism of social learning in which individuals preferentially copy high-status individuals, regardless of whether the copied behavior is demonstrably successful. In cultural evolution, prestige bias functions as an accelerator: it allows beneficial innovations to spread rapidly through a population by attaching them to individuals who are already socially salient. However, prestige bias also creates pathways for the spread of maladaptive behaviors — costly displays, status signals, and practices that enhance prestige without improving fitness. The bias is particularly powerful in human populations because prestige is decoupled from dominance: humans track not just who can coerce them but who possesses knowledge they want. Prestige bias is one of the mechanisms that drives cultural group selection by allowing successful groups to export their norms and practices to neighboring populations through the movement of prestigious individuals.