Which Negotiators Contribute to Community Formation? Analysis by Agent Based Model

Authored by Shiro Horiuchi

Date Published: 2011-03

Sponsors: No sponsors listed

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

How can people overcome their differences to form a large group? This study addressed this question with an agent-based computer simulation in which individuals are loosely connected in a group. This model revises the Schelling Model (Schelling 1971), in which agents move away from neighbors with different traits, as well as the Axelrod Model (Axelrod 1997), in which agents with diverse features and traits interact with one another. Our model defines a community as the largest group operating during any of the steps in the entire simulation. The question of interest was what types of agents contribute to the formation of large communities when the agents are given various features (F) and traits (Q). The following conclusions emerged from our data. When the ratio of Q/F was low, “modest” agents, who tried to form a group with neighbors with whom they shared the fewest features, contributed most to establishing larger communities. When the ratio of Q/F was high, “moving” agents, who tried to distant from neighbors with different traits, contributed most to forming larger communities. Moving agents contributed more to the formation. of large communities as the length of the simulation increased. These results suggest that “strangers/outsiders” who migrate between groups contribute to community formation when mismatches among agents are most pronounced. This paper thus supports the theoretical significance of the objectivity of strangers/outsiders in the domain of sociology.

Tags

Schelling Model Community Axelrod model outsiders tolerance value