Professor Alex bentley

University of Tennessee



Recent publications



  • Yewell, D., R.A. Bentley & B.D. Horne (2024) Perceived social influence on vaccination decisions: A COVID-19 case study. Springer Nature Social Sciences 4: 125.
  • Bentley R.A., B.D. Horne, J. Borycz J, et al. (2024) Cultural evolution, disinformation, and social division. Adaptive Behavior 32(2) 189–203.
  • O'Brien, M.J., S. Valverde, S. Duran‐Nebreda, B. Vidiella, R.A. Bentley (2024) Punctuated equilibrium at 50: Anything there for evolutionary anthropology? Yes definitely. Evolutionary Anthropology 33: e22009.
  • Bentley, R.A., S. Valverde, J. Borycz, B. Vidiella, B.D. Horne, S. Duran-Nebreda, M. J. O’Brien (2023) Is disruption decreasing, or is it accelerating? Advances In Complex Systems 26(2): 2350006.
  • Carrignon, S., R.A. Bentley, M.J. O'Brien (2023) Estimating two key dimensions of cultural transmission from archaeological data. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 72: 101545.
  • Bentley, R.A., J. Borycz, B.D. Horne (2023). Climate complacency reflects cultural values of nations. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology 5: 100137.
  • Horne, B.D., N.M. Rice, C.A. Luther, ... R.A. Bentley (2023). Generational effects of culture and digital media in former Soviet Republics. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications 10: 172.
  • Bentley, R.A. (2022). Prehistory of kinship. Annual Review of Anthropology 51: 137–154.
  • Vidiella, B., S. Carrignon, R.A. Bentley, M.J. O’Brien, S. Valverde (2022). A cultural evolutionary theory that explains both gradual and punctuated change. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 19: 20220570.
  • Duran-Nebreda, S., M.J. O’Brien, M.J., R.A. Bentley, S. Valvaerde (2022). Dilution of expertise in the rise and fall of collective innovation. Humanities & Social Science Communications 9: 365.
  • Borycz, J.D., B.D. Horne, R.A. Bentley (2022) Forking paths of cultural complexity: A case study of research paradigms. Advances in Complex Systems 25(2): 2240004.
  • Rice, NM, BD Horne, CA Luther, JD Borycz, SL Allard, DJ Ruck, M Fitzgerald, O Manaev, BC Prins, M Taylor, RA Bentley (2022). Monitoring event-driven dynamics on Twitter: a case study in Belarus. Springer Nature Social Sciences 2: Article 36.
  • Houle, C., D.J. Ruck, R.A. Bentley, S. Gavrilets (2022). Inequality between identity groups and social unrest. J. R. Soc. Interface 19: 20210725.
  • Pritchard, A., M. Silk, S. Carrignon, R.A. Bentley, N. Fefferman (2022). Balancing timeliness of reporting with increasing testing probability for epidemic data. Infectious Disease Modelling 7: 106-116.
  • Carrignon, S., R.A. Bentley, M.J. Silk, N.H Fefferman (2022). How social learning shapes the efficacy of preventative health behaviors in an outbreak. PLOS ONE 17(1): e0262505.
  • Pritchard AJ, M.J. Silk, S. Carrignon, R.A. Bentley, NH Fefferman (2022). How reported outbreak data can shape individual behavior in a social world. Journal of Public Health Policy 43(3):360-378
  • Shteynberg, G., J.B. Hirsh, J. Garthoff, R.A. Bentley (2022). Agency and identity in the collective self. Personality and Social Psychology Review 26(1): 35-56.
  • Silk, M.J., S. Carrignon, R.A. Bentley, N.H Fefferman (2022). How communities learn about infection risk can impact the success of non-pharmaceutical interventions against epidemics. BMC Public Health: article 13.
  • Bentley, R.A., S. Carrignon, D.J. Ruck, S. Valverde, M.J. O’Brien (2021). Neutral models are a tool, not a syndrome. Nature Human Behaviour 5(7): 807-808.
  • Ruck, D. J., R.A. Bentley, J. Borycz (2021). Early warning of vulnerable counties in a pandemic using socio- economic variables. Economics & Human Biology 41: 100988
  • Silk, M.J., S. Carrignon, R.A. Bentley, N.H Fefferman (2021). Improving pandemic mitigation policies through coupled dynamics of risk perception and infection. Proc. R. Soc. B 288: 20210834.
  • Ruck, D. J., R.A. Bentley, J. Borycz (2021). Early warning of vulnerable counties in a pandemic using socio- economic variables. Economics & Human Biology 41: 100988.
  • Ruck, D J., J. Borycz, R.A. Bentley (2021). Cultural values predict national COVID-19 death rates. SN Social Sciences 1(3), article 74.
  • Bentley, R.A., D.J. Ruck, W. Moritz, M.J. O’Brien (2021). Evolution of initiation rites during the Austronesian dispersal. Science Progress 104(3): 1–16.
  • Bentley, R.A., B. Pradier, A.A. Kyaw, T.O. Pryce (2021) Kinship and migration in prehistoric Mainland Southeast Asia: The isotopic evidence. Archaeol. Res. Asia 25: 100260.


About me



Professor of Anthropology at University of Tennessee (UTK). At UTK, Bentley has taught data science, anthropology and archaeology, and designed the first version of "Data Science and Discovery," (DS 201) for the Data Science interdisciplinary minor at UTK. Another course, “Big-data social sciences” won the 2019 UTK Student Government Association Open Education award. Publications include three books with M.IT. Press, and journal articles on cultural evolution past and present. At UTK, Bentley has served as an associate dean and as department head. Previously he head of Comparative Cultural Studies at University of Houston, and head of Anthropology and Archaeology at University of Bristol (UK). Bentley was at UK universities from 2001 to 2015, including University College London, Durham University and University of Bristol.



College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies,
University of Tennessee



University of Tennessee, 1621 Cumberland Ave. SH 502, Knoxville TN 37996