Fashion vs. Function in Cultural Evolution: The Case of Dog Breed Popularity

Stefano Ghirlanda; Alberto Acerbi; Harold Herzog; James A. Serpell

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0074770

Fashion vs. Function in Cultural Evolution: The Case of Dog Breed Popularity

Stefano Ghirlanda^*, Alberto Acerbi, Harold Herzog, James A. Serpell

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Arts

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

78 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between characteristics of dog breeds and their popularity between years 1926 and 2005. We consider breed health, longevity, and behavioral qualities such as aggressiveness, trainability, and fearfulness. We show that a breed's overall popularity, fluctuations in popularity, and rates of increase and decrease around popularity peaks show typically no correlation with these breed characteristics. One exception is the finding that more popular breeds tend to suffer from more inherited disorders. Our results support the hypothesis that dog breed popularity has been primarily determined by fashion rather than function.

Original language	English
Article number	74770
Number of pages	6
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	8
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074770
Publication status	Published - 11 Sept 2013

Keywords

RANDOM DRIFT
TRANSMISSION
TEMPERAMENT

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title = "Fashion vs. Function in Cultural Evolution: The Case of Dog Breed Popularity",

abstract = "We investigate the relationship between characteristics of dog breeds and their popularity between years 1926 and 2005. We consider breed health, longevity, and behavioral qualities such as aggressiveness, trainability, and fearfulness. We show that a breed's overall popularity, fluctuations in popularity, and rates of increase and decrease around popularity peaks show typically no correlation with these breed characteristics. One exception is the finding that more popular breeds tend to suffer from more inherited disorders. Our results support the hypothesis that dog breed popularity has been primarily determined by fashion rather than function.",

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author = "Stefano Ghirlanda and Alberto Acerbi and Harold Herzog and Serpell, {James A.}",

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AU - Ghirlanda, Stefano

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AU - Serpell, James A.

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AB - We investigate the relationship between characteristics of dog breeds and their popularity between years 1926 and 2005. We consider breed health, longevity, and behavioral qualities such as aggressiveness, trainability, and fearfulness. We show that a breed's overall popularity, fluctuations in popularity, and rates of increase and decrease around popularity peaks show typically no correlation with these breed characteristics. One exception is the finding that more popular breeds tend to suffer from more inherited disorders. Our results support the hypothesis that dog breed popularity has been primarily determined by fashion rather than function.

KW - RANDOM DRIFT

KW - TRANSMISSION

KW - TEMPERAMENT

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Fashion vs. Function in Cultural Evolution: The Case of Dog Breed Popularity

Abstract

Keywords

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