LEVYNA conducted field research in Mauritius
The vice-rector for Research and Doctoral Studies at Masaryk University has awarded two LEVYNA graduates - Dan Řezníček and Radim Chvaja with a price for excellent results during their Ph.D. studies. The price also extends to the graduates’ mentors as a recognition of their important role in the success of LEVYNA’s Ph.D. students. David Václavík and Radek Kundt were awarded for mentoring Dan Řezníček, and Martin Lang for mentoring Radim Chvaja. Moreover, Dan’s dissertation also received the award of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts!
In his dissertation (and forthcoming publications!), Dan Řezníček investigated the transmission of intergroup aggression through prestige, credible displays, and coalitionary signals. On the other hand, Radim Chvaja proposed in his dissertaion a costly signaling theory of pilgrimage and investigated whether costly pilgrimages increase pilgrims‘ trustworthiness. Both dissertations are available on the respective links below:
In a new study published in Human Nature, LEVYNA was part of a team lead by A.K. Willard, studying how witchcraft beliefs affect social norms and behaviors. Specifically, researchers investigated whether witchcraft is regarded to be motivated by envy and how this notion influences community interactions. The findings show that, while witchcraft accusations were common, they were mostly directed at persons suspected of acting out of envy.