Staff profile

I am a cross-cultural psychologist. My main interest is in understanding human behavioural adaptation to ensure the survival of offspring and kin. My work integrates evolutionary biology/psychology and behavioural sciences.

Currently, I am working on how to protect children from air pollution in Nepal and Indonesia, two countries with significant air pollution issues. This research methodology includes self-report questionnaires, behavioural observation, and health interventions.

In my previous postdoc at UCL, I researched how cultures, such as ethnicities, regions of residence, and religion, influenced the development of empathy and prosocial behaviour in Indonesia, a country with high cultural diversity, using questionnaires, experimental behaviour, and observational experiments.

My PhD research focused on homosexuality in Indonesia using an evolutionary approach. I tested the kin selection hypothesis, facial femininity, and the older brother effect in homosexual men. In my PhD, I was also involved in projects about handedness in a non-industrialized society and local adaptation of people who live in a risky area (i.e., volcano). During my PhD, I employed a diverse range of research methods, such as questionnaires, genealogical data, interviews, experimental behaviour, and economic games.

• Cross-cultural psychology
• Evolution and development of empathy
• Evolution of homosexuality

Journal Article

• How evolutionary behavioural sciences can help us understand behaviour in a pandemic
  Arnot, M., Brandl, E., Campbell, O. L. K., Chen, Y., Du, J., Dyble, M., Emmott, E. H., Ge, E., Kretschmer, L. D. W., Mace, R., Micheletti, A. J. C., Nila, S., Peacey, S., Deniz Salali, G., & Zhang, H. (2020). How evolutionary behavioural sciences can help us understand behaviour in a pandemic. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, 2020(1), 264–278. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoaa038
• Evolution of the bitter taste receptor TAS2R38 in colobines
  Purba, L. H. P. S., Widayati, K. A., Suzuki-Hashido, N., Itoigawa, A., Hayakawa, T., Nila, S., Juliandi, B., Suryobroto, B., & Imai, H. (2020). Evolution of the bitter taste receptor TAS2R38 in colobines. Primates, 61(3), 485-494. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-020-00799-1
• Handedness heritability in industrialized and nonindustrialized societies
  Nurhayu, W., Nila, S., Widayati, K. A., Rianti, P., Suryobroto, B., & Raymond, M. (2020). Handedness heritability in industrialized and nonindustrialized societies. Heredity, 124(2), 313-324. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-019-0274-3
• Male Homosexual Preference: Femininity and the Older Brother Effect in Indonesia
  Nila, S., Crochet, P.-A., Barthes, J., Rianti, P., Juliandi, B., Suryobroto, B., & Raymond, M. (2019). Male Homosexual Preference: Femininity and the Older Brother Effect in Indonesia. Evolutionary Psychology, 17(4), Article 147470491988070. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704919880701
• Kin Selection and Male Homosexual Preference in Indonesia
  Nila, S., Barthes, J., Crochet, P.-A., Suryobroto, B., & Raymond, M. (2018). Kin Selection and Male Homosexual Preference in Indonesia. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(8), 2455-2465. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1202-y
• Are right- and left-handedness relevant as general categories in a non-industrialized country?
  Nurhayu, W., Nila, S., Raymond, M., & Suryobroto, B. (2018). Are right- and left-handedness relevant as general categories in a non-industrialized country?. Acta ethologica, 21(1), 21-28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-017-0279-y
• Dietary Variation of Long Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Telaga Warna, Bogor, West Java
  Nila, S., Suryobroto, B., & Widayati, K. A. (2014). Dietary Variation of Long Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Telaga Warna, Bogor, West Java. HAYATI Journal of Biosciences, 21(1), 8-14. https://doi.org/10.4308/hjb.21.1.8