Arnaud Tognetti

Research description

An interdisciplinary approach

My work focuses on the evolutionary and psychological mechanisms underlying human cooperation and our behavioural immunity. I expanded my initial approach based on behavioural ecology by developing research programs including approaches from behavioural economics and psychology. My research has covered topics such as the influence of sexual selection on the evolution of cooperation and the existence of phenotypic cues (facial, vocal or olfactory) of cooperativeness and sickness. I have also expanded the scope of my research to include cross-species comparison by testing the influence of cooperativeness on mate choice in two other social species, the mound-building mouse and sociable weavers. My new research project 'To avoid or not to avoid? The influence of kinship on the behavioral defense against infectious diseases' financed by the Swedish Research Council investigates the existence of phenotypic cues of disease and their influence on interpersonal decision-making, and how kinship mediates our approach-avoidance behaviours towards sick individuals.