A new study led by our Psychology Department has revealed that children play a much bigger role in shaping human culture than previously thought.
The research, published in the journal Behavioural and Brain Sciences, shows that children are not just learning from adults but they are also creating, sharing, and maintaining their own peer cultures.
These peer cultures include games, stories, songs, slang, rules, and even unique knowledge about nature and local environments.
According to the researchers, children aged roughly three to seventeen regularly develop cultural practices that adults may never see.
They also transmit this knowledge to one another, forming traditions that can last for generations.
The study also shows that peer cultures are more than just kids being kids.
The authors found that children often create cultural practices that help communities respond to change. This can include shifts in the environment, social life, or even climate.
Because children spend so much time exploring and experimenting often without direct adult supervision their ideas introduce valuable diversity into a community’s knowledge.
In times of rapid change, this diversity can support resilience and spark new ways of solving problems.
The researchers argue that these findings should change how scientists think about children.
Instead of viewing them mainly as adults in the making, the study calls for recognising children as active contributors to cultural evolution.
The team hopes their findings will inspire further research into how children shape culture, especially in communities where peer groups play a major role in everyday life.
Our Department of Psychology is ranked 84th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 and 12th in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2026. Visit our Psychology webpages for more information on our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
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