Computational Approaches to Studying the Co-evolution of Networks and Behavior in Social Dilemmas

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Introduction

Our social environment influences much of what we do. To be more precise, individual behavior is often influenced by the social network surrounding the individual. For instance, when we form an opinion about a political issue, we are likely to be influenced by the opinions of our friends, family, and colleagues and likewise, we influence them.

Much sociological research has been devoted to showing how various forms of social influence shape individual action (Marsden and Friedkin 1993). However, social networks are not always rigid structures imposed on us. Often, we have considerable control over our own social relations. Returning to our example, we may be influenced by our friends when forming political opinions, but we are also, to a large extent, free to choose our own friends. Moreover, it is likely that our decisions in choosing friends are in part related to those same opinions. Thus, social networks and the behavior by individuals within those networks develop interdependently or, in other words, co-evolve. What social network structures should we expect to emerge, and how will behavior be distributed in those networks? In a nutshell, this is the general type of problem this book is concerned with. The example of political opinions is one in which social networks and individual characteristics co-evolve and the same holds for many other types of opinions and behavior. This book focuses on the co-evolution of networks and behavior of a particular kind, namely, ...