HBES

Culture pre-conference: what happens when you ask people about people’s ability to acquire food on a desert island? Just from faces - people tend to agree. Adar Eisenbruch. #SPSP2026

An ancient mass grave reveals targeted killing of women and children in the Early Iron Age dlvr.it/TRB9TN

The replication of experiments can lead to the acceptance of incorrect conclusions, as illustrated by the public goods game. hbes.com/what-the-repli…

Risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections may be elevated for women during the days when the endometrium is receptive to embryo implantation (“the implantation window”). Using data from three daily diary studies (>2,500 data-points), new research published in Evolution and Human Behavior supports lower sexual motivation in women during the days of the estimated implantation window. hbes.com/decreased-sexu…

HBES members: Nominations are open for the 2026 Evolution in the Public Eye Award 🏆 Help recognize those who have gone above and beyond in communicating human evolutionary science and countering misinformation. Self-nominations are welcome. 🗓 Deadline: Feb 7 🔗 Nominate here: forms.gle/VXJgczHA1irDDN… Last year’s winner: Ed Hagen.

HBES 2026 registration is officially open! hbes.com/hbes-2026-regi… The conference will take place in Rabat, Morocco, with both in-person and online attendance options. Early bird registration runs until March 29, 2026. The announcements include on-campus accommodation options (student residences and a campus hotel just minutes from the venue), a conference gala dinner, guided excursions to Roman ruins, and joint programming with CES. There’s also an open call for Special Activities, with proposals due March 15. Even better, free childcare will be provided during the conference for children aged 11 months to 6 years. We look forward to an exciting meeting that brings together research across human behavior, evolution, and culture.

hbes.com/engineering-fe….

What makes some stories genuinely scary? New research shows that fear in fiction is driven not just by danger, but by protagonist vulnerability: the imbalance between a weak hero and an overwhelmingly powerful threat. Across 691 films, IMDb fear tags, and viewers’ heart rates, vulnerability consistently predicted fear better than genre labels alone.

Evolutionary explanations often emphasize differences between men and women. But genetic correlations between sexes are usually very high. That means selection on one sex often pulls the other along. Default assumption should be shared genetic architecture—unless there’s strong evidence otherwise. hbes.com/is-he-a-good-d…

In a Tibetan community transitioning from subsistence farming to market work, men’s networks became more kin-focused as market participation increased, while friendships loosened. Women’s core networks stayed dense and stable across market involvement. hbes.com/71032-2/

This shows how nonverbal communication tightly regulates sexual coordination revealing deep evolutionary links between emotions, coordination, and communication. By @M_Francesconi & Elisabetta Palagi hbes.com/when-faces-fal…

In bonobo sex, it’s not just about pelvic movement. Partners mirror each other’s facial expressions in a rapid, automatic exchange that drives peak sexual stimulation, and when this mimicry stops, sexual intensity drops immediately.... 🧵👇

📢 Deadline Extension Announcement We would like to inform you that the submission deadline has been extended to January 18th. Full guidelines and submission requirements are available on the conference website. 🔗 Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/hbes2026

The Future of HBES Committee is working to identify challenges and opportunities facing HBES. As part of this effort, we are holding small focus groups to hear perspectives. If you are interested in participating, please sign up here 👇 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

⏰Last call! Submissions for #HBES2026 close today. If you’re planning to submit an abstract, now’s the moment airess.fgses-um6p.ma/hbes2026 See you in Rabat!

Good news for HBES members 📢 You now have full electronic access to Evolution and Human Behavior — including archived issues back to 1998. Log in to HBES → Journal → Online access.

⏰ Friendly reminder! The abstract submission deadline is January 16. Looking forward to seeing your work at #HBES2026 in Rabat 🇲🇦 Don’t miss it! airess.fgses-um6p.ma/hbes2026

“I thought we were just friends.” At what age do sexual misperception biases emerge? New research with adolescents (16–19) shows when—and how—over- and under-perception of romantic interest begins to take shape. Read more 👇 🔗 hbes.com/i-thought-we-w…

The Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Toulouse School of Economics offers jobs for Postdoctoral Researchers with a PhD in psychology, cognitive science, anthropology, or related disciplines. Deadline for application: January 23, 2026 tse-fr.eu/groups/departm…

Seeing patterns where they don’t exist is deeply human—and well documented. Now, a new study just published in E&HB shows this in children as young as 3. Read more🔗👇 hbes.com/hot-hand-think…