Teaching is associated with the transmission of opaque culture and leadership across 23 egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies

Despite extensive work on the evolution of cooperation, the roles of teaching and leadership in transmitting opaque cultural norms—foundations of cooperative behaviors—are underexplored. Similarly, while teaching is well-studied in the evolution of instrumental culture, little attention is given to its role in transmitting opaque culture, such as social values and norms. Transmitting opaque culture often requires teaching, and group leaders are well-positioned to facilitate this process. Using comparative ethnographic data, we explore teaching, leadership, and instrumental versus opaque culture, addressing three questions: Is opaque culture primarily transmitted via teaching, which age groups are the primary learners of opaque cultural norms, and whether leaders are disproportionately involved in teaching? Drawing on data from the ethnographic record of 23 egalitarian foraging societies, we find teaching is more strongly associated with transmitting cultural values and kinship knowledge than subsistence skills and is closely linked to opaque culture and leadership. Leader-directed teaching may drive cooperation, suggesting new research avenues.