Dr. Ze HONG, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, has been appointed Associate Editor of Human Nature (JCR Q1), a leading international journal in anthropological research. With an impact factor ranking in the top 15% of its field, the journal is recognized for its rigorous peer-review process and interdisciplinary focus on evolutionary psychology, evolutionary anthropology, and behavioral sciences.

The associate editor position is reserved for scholars with an established record of high-quality research in relevant fields, involving manuscript evaluation and academic discourse facilitation. This appointment acknowledges Dr. Hong’s scholarly contributions to cognitive science and cultural studies.

Dr. Hong recently also published two significant research outputs. His paper “Chance as a (non)explanation: A cross-cultural examination of folk understanding of chance and coincidence” in Psychological Review—a premier psychology journal—systematically examines cross-cultural cognitive differences in perceiving “chance”, demonstrating humans’ universal tendency to attribute events to causal explanations (natural, moral, or supernatural) rather than randomness. The study innovatively integrates psychological experiments with cultural evolutionary theory.

His monograph Divination: A Cognitive Perspective (Cambridge University Press) proposes an original theoretical framework analyzing divination as a “cognitive technology” for managing uncertainty across cultures. Supported by UM’s Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences under its “Excellent Publication Scheme”, the book is currently transitioning to open-access availability.

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