Peer-reviewed research
Reverse chronological.
2026
Kapitány, R., Francis, K. B., Wilks, M., Kavanagh, K., & Whitehouse, H. — Children's Belief in Santa Claus and Moral Behavior: A two-wave longitudinal study of children's prosocial behavior during Christmas.
2026
Revach, D., Kavanagh, C., Muzzulini, B., Putra, I. E., Erikha, F., Swandi, N. L. I. D., Kapitány, R., & Whitehouse, H. — The tragedies that bind us: Shared memories, identity fusion, and moral concern among Balinese Hindus following the 2002 Bali bombings.
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations
2026
Kapitány, R., & Kavanagh, C. — Best practices and ethical considerations for crowd-sourced data in the behavioral sciences.
Methods in Psychology Link
2026
Makazhu, I., Kapitány, R., Locke, A., & Monroy, C. — Global tales: exploring cultural variances in parent–child interactions within narrative settings.
Developmental Science, 29(2), e70136 Link
2025
Holmes, J., Zhang, J., Francis, K. B., & Kapitány, R. — Identity Fusion between Imaginary Characters and Oneself during Moral Dilemmas: An examination of cognitive quarantine during adult pretend play.
2025
Asatsa, S., Lew-Levy, S., Kapitány, R., Ringen, E., Ngaari, S. M., & Makunda, J. — Mourning Ritual Participation, Subjective Well-Being, and Prosocial Behaviour among the Luhya People of Kenya.
2025
Asatsa, S., Lew-Levy, S., Gichimu, E., Makunda, J., Mwende, S., & Kapitány, R. — Cultural Transmission During Luhya Mourning Rituals.
2025
Gander, P., Kapitány, R., van Mulukom, V., Semeijn, M., & Szita, K. — Engaging With the Unreal: Introduction to the Special Issue.
Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 45(2), 95–98
2023
Borg, J., Kapitány, R., Buskell, A., Powers, S., Reindl, & Tennie, C. — Evolved Open-Endedness in Cultural Evolution: A New Dimension in Open-Ended Evolution Research.
2022
Kapitány, R., Hampejs, T., & Goldstein, T. — Pretensive Shared Reality: From childhood pretense to adult imaginative play.
Frontiers in Psychology Link
2021
Davis, J. T., Robertson, E., Lew-Levy, S., Neldner, K., Kapitány, R., Nielsen, M., & Hines, M. — Cultural Components of Sex Differences in Color Preference.
Child Development Link
2021
Muzzulini, B., van Mulukom, V., Kapitány, R., & Whitehouse, H. — Shared Flashbulb Memories lead to Identity Fusion: Recalling the Defeat in the Brexit Referendum Produces Strong Psychological Bonds among Remain Campaigners.
2020
Kapitány, R., Kavanagh, C., & Whitehouse, H. — Ritual Morphospace Revisited: The form, function, and factor structure of ritual practice.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: B Link
2020
Kapitány, R., Nelsen, N., Burdett, E., & Goldstein, T. — The Child's Pantheon: An exploration of reality status attributions in Children and Adults.
PLOS ONE Link
2020
Kavanagh, C. M., Kapitány, R., Putra, I. E., & Whitehouse, H. — Exploring the pathways between transformative group experiences and identity fusion.
Frontiers in Psychology Link
2020
Nielsen, M., Langley, M., Shipton, C., & Kapitány, R. — Homo neanderthalensis and the evolutionary origins of ritual in Homo sapiens.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: B Link
2020
Kavanagh, C., & Kapitány, R. — Promoting the Benefits and Clarifying Misconceptions about Preregistration, Preprints, and Open Science for the Cognitive Study of Religion (CSR).
Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion Link
2019
Kapitány, R., Kavanagh, C., Buhrmester, M., Newson, M., & Whitehouse, H. — Ritual, Identity Fusion, and the Inauguration of President Trump: A natural pseudo-experiment of Ritual Modes theory.
Self and Identity Link
2017/19
Kapitány, R., & Nielsen, M. — Ritualized Objects: How We Perceive and Respond to Causally Opaque and Goal Demoted Action.
Journal of Cognition and Culture Link
2018
Kapitány, R., & Kavanagh, C. — A ritual by any other name (Commentary).
Behavior and Brain Sciences Link
2018
Kapitány, R., Kavanagh, C., Whitehouse, H., & Nielsen, M. — Examining memory for ritualized gesture in complex causal sequences.
Cognition Link
2018
Kapitány, R., Davis, J. T., Legare, C., & Nielsen, M. — An experimental examination of object-directed ritualized action in children across two cultures.
PLOS ONE Link
2018
Nielsen, M., Tomaselli, K., & Kapitány, R. — The Influence of Goal Demotion on Children's Reproduction of Ritual Behavior.
Evolution and Human Behavior Link
2017
Kapitány, R., & Nielsen, M. — Are yawns really contagious? A critique and quantification of yawn contagion.
Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology Link
2016
Kapitány, R., & Nielsen, M. — The ritual stance and the precaution system: the role of goal demotion and opacity in ritual and everyday actions.
Religion, Brain & Behavior Link
2016
Wilks, M., Kapitány, R., & Nielsen, M. — Preschool children's learning proclivities: When the ritual stance trumps the instrumental stance.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology Link
2015
Kapitány, R., & Nielsen, M. — Adopting the ritual stance: The role of opacity and context in ritual and everyday actions.
Cognition Link
2015
Nielsen, M., Kapitány, R., & Elkins, R. — The perpetuation of ritualistic actions as revealed by young children's transmission of normative behavior.
Evolution and Human Behavior Link
Media & outreach
Reverse chronological. Selected press coverage, public writing, and public-facing projects.
2019–
present
present
Cultural Evolution Online — Discord community hosting a weekly virtual journal club and themed research discussion, founded March 2019
2024
The Mind Games Podcast — 8-part series interviewing scholars on tabletop role-playing games and research
Available on request
2024
Believing in Santa Claus doesn't make children act nicer at Christmas
New Scientist Link
2024
Believing in Santa Claus does NOT make children act nicer at Christmas — but a surprising festive tradition does
Mail Online Link
2024
Belief in Santa Claus doesn't guarantee kids a spot on the "nice" list
Science.org Link
2023
The Conspiracy — interview with Sasha Sagan, "Strange Rituals" podcast
2020
From Dinosaurs to Disney, Children Take Cues from Adults on Real vs. Make-Believe
Scientific American Link
2020
Ho Ho Hokum
New Scientist Link
2019
Why children really believe in Santa — the surprising psychology behind tradition
The Conversation Link
2017
The Entire Literature on Contagious Yawning Could Be Bogus
Slate Link