Why a theory of human nature cannot be based on the distinction between universality and variability: lessons from anthropology

This is a commentary on Henrich et al. The Weirdest people in the world, BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (2010) 33, 61–135. In our commentary, we welcome the critical appraisal of the database used by the behavioral sciences, but we suggest that the authors’ differentiation between variable and universal features is ill conceived and that their categorization of non-WEIRD populations is misleading. We propose a different approach to comparative research, which takes population variability seriously and recognizes the methodological difficulties it engenders.