Personnel Information

写真a

Masahito MORITA


Title

Associate Professor

Field

Field of Economics

Date of Birth

1988

Mail Address

E-mail address

Homepage URL

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Masahito-Morita

Profile

I am a human behavioral ecologist/evolutionary anthropologist. My research examines fertility decline, (allo)parental investment, child/adolescent development, and cultural evolution. I completed my PhD at SOKENDAI, and then had some postdoc/faculty positions at Kyoto University, The University of Tokyo, University of Human Arts and Sciences, and Nanzan University. Since October 2025, I have been an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Economics at Siga University.
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Research Interests 【 display / non-display 】

  • human behavioral ecology

  • evolutionary anthropology

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Graduating School 【 display / non-display 】

  • Osaka City University， Faculty of Science， Department of Biology

    University， 2011.03， Graduated

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Graduate School 【 display / non-display 】

  • The Graduate University for Advanced Studies， School of Advanced Sciences， Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems

    Doctor's Course， 2016.03， Completed

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Degree 【 display / non-display 】

  • Doctor of Philosophy， Life Science / Evolutionary biology， The Graduate University for Advanced Studies， Coursework， 2016.03

  • Bachelor of Science， Life Science / Ecology and environment， Osaka City University， Coursework， 2011.03

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Campus Career 【 display / non-display 】

  • Shiga University Faculty of Economics Department of Economics,Business,and Social Systems Department of Social Systems，Associate Professor， 2025.10 - Now

  • Shiga University Graduate School of Economics，Associate Professor， 2025.10 - Now

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Association Memberships 【 display / non-display 】

  • Human Behavior and Evolution Society of Japan， 2010 - Now

  • Japan Ethological Society， 2011 - Now

  • The Japan Society of Health Sciences of Mind and Body， 2022 - Now

  • The Anthropological Society of Nippon， 2023 - Now

  • The Science of Modest Human Understanding， 2025 - Now

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Research Areas 【 display / non-display 】

  • Life Science / Evolutionary biology

  • Life Science / Ecology and environment

  • Life Science / Physical anthropology

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Papers 【 display / non-display 】

  • Adolescence as a key period of identity development and connectedness: a comparative autophotography study in England and Japan， Journal of Adolescent Research， vol.Online First (p.合計 34 pp. - ) ， 2025.08, Emmott, EH., Ihara, Y., Tokumasu, Y., Nozaki, M., Saito, A., Kawamoto, T., Ito, S., Hassan, A., Brown, LJ., Dennett, T., Crane, A., Borra, C., Nesci, A., Morita, M.

    DOI:10.1177/07435584251349497, Research paper (scientific journal)， Multiple Authorship

    Authorship：Last author  

  • Childcare support and child social development in Japan: investigating the mediating role of parental psychological condition and parenting style， Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences， vol.376 (1827) (p.20200025 - ) ， 2021.05, Morita, M., Saito, A., Nozaki, M., Ihara, Y.

    DOI:10.1098/rstb.2020.0025, Research paper (scientific journal)， Multiple Authorship

    Authorship：Lead author,　Corresponding author  

  • Behaviours of dyads sitting outside in New York's Times Square: exploratory observation using webcam videos， Journal of Human Ergology， vol.48 (2) (p.69 - 81) ， 2019, Morita, M.

    DOI:10.11183/jhe.48_2.69, Research paper (scientific journal)， Single Author

    Authorship：Lead author,　Corresponding author  

  • Parental condition and infant sex at birth in the Japan Environment and Children's Study: a test of the Trivers–Willard hypothesis， Letters on Evolutionary Behavioral Science， vol.8 (2) (p.40 - 44) ， 2017.12, Morita, M., Go, T., Hirabayashi, K., Heike, T., Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS) Group

    DOI:10.5178/lebs.2017.63, Research paper (scientific journal)， Multiple Authorship

    Authorship：Lead author,　Corresponding author  

  • Does sexual conflict between mother and father lead to fertility decline? A questionnaire survey in a modern developed society， Human Nature， vol.27 (2) (p.201 - 219) ， 2016.03, Morita, M., Ohtsuki, H., Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, M.

    DOI:10.1007/s12110-016-9254-y, Research paper (scientific journal)， Multiple Authorship

    Authorship：Lead author,　Corresponding author  

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Review Papers 【 display / non-display 】

  • Human musical capacity and products should have been induced by the hominin-specific combination of several biosocial features: a three-phase scheme on socio-ecological, cognitive, and cultural evolution， Evolutionary Anthropology， vol.33 (4) (p.e22031 - ) ， 2024.08, Morita, M., Nishikawa, Y., Tokumasu, Y.

    DOI:10.1002/evan.22031, Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (scientific journal), Multiple Authorship

  • Human behavioral ecology， In: Shackelford, T. K., Weekes-Shackelford V. A. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham.， vol.Living Edition (p.合計 4 pp. - ) ， 2019.02, Morita, M.

    DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1380-1, Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (other), Single Author

  • Demographic studies enhance the understanding of evolutionarily (mal)adaptive behaviors and phenomena in humans: a review on fertility decline and an integrated model， Population Ecology， vol.60 (1–2) (p.143 - 154) ， 2018.04, Morita, M.

    DOI:10.1007/s10144-017-0597-y, Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (scientific journal), Single Author

  • An evolutionary perspective on child sciences: towards interdisciplinary studies [in Japanese]， Child Science， vol.13 (p.33 - 36) ， 2017.03, Morita, M.

    Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (scientific journal), Single Author

  • The relationship between evolutionary studies of human behavior and society: with reference to the sociobiology debate [in Japanese with an English abstract]， Japanese Journal of Ecology， vol.66 (3) (p.549 - 560) ， 2016.12, Morita, M.

    DOI:10.18960/seitai.66.3_549, Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (scientific journal), Single Author

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Awards 【 display / non-display 】

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Research Grants & Projects 【 display / non-display 】

  • ，Exploring cultural evolutionary dynamics via multi-dimensional representation and modeling of archaeological and anthropological data，Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A)Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A)，Collaboration in Japan，2025 - 2029，Shiga University / Nanzan University

  • ，The integrated understanding of evolutionarily (mal)adaptive behaviours and phenomena in humans [Declined]，OtherOverseas Research Fellowships of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science，2022 - 2024，London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

  • ，Adolescent sociality across cultures: establishing a Japan-UK collaboration，OtherESRC-AHRC UK-Japan Connections Grant，International Collaboration，2018 - 2021，University College London

  • ，Evolutionary approaches to fertility decline and human reproductive strategies，Grant-in-Aid for JSPS FellowsGrant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows，2013 - 2016，SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies)

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Charge of on-campus class subject 【 display / non-display 】

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Charge of off-campus class subject 【 display / non-display 】

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Media Coverage 【 display / non-display 】

  • 2023.05.05

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Academic Activities 【 display / non-display 】

  • Reviewer

    Role(s)： Peer review

    2025.04 - 202603

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