ABSTRACT

W hat makes some cultural ideas and practices more successful than oth-ers? Why do some cultural variants-fairy tales, epics, jokes, urban legends, symbols, or baby names-survive for decades (or centuries), whereas others are forgotten by the time of the next gossip cycle? The etiquette norm that, “It is boorish to wipe one’s nose on one’s cap or clothing,” has persisted since at least 1530, whereas the norm “If given a napkin, put it over either the left shoulder or the left forearm,” has not. Why? Why has the European fairy tale of “Little Red Riding Hood” persisted and crossed cultural boundaries but the tale of “Hans My Hedgehog” largely disappeared? In the United States and Great Britain, why did the use of biblical names for boys-such as Nathan and Samuel-decline during the early to middle part of the 20th century and then rise again by the 1980s?