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ID: 138078

Geography of ethnocentrism / Bausch, Andrew W

Bausch, Andrew W	Article
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Summary/Abstract

Hammond and Axelrod use an evolutionary agent-based model to explore the development of ethnocentrism. They argue that local interactions permit groups, relying on in-group favoritism, to overcome the Nash equilibrium of the prisoner’s dilemma and sustain in-group cooperation. This article shows that higher levels of cooperation evolve when groups are dropped from the model, breaking the link between ethnocentrism and cooperation. This article then generalizes Hammond and Axelrod’s model by parameterizing the underlying geographical assumptions they make about the evolutionary environment. This more general model shows that their findings are sensitive to these assumptions and that small changes to the assumed geography of reproduction significantly affect the probabilities of finding ‘‘ethnocentric’’ behaviors. The model presented here indicates that it is not local interactions, per se, but settings where interactions are highly likely to be with close relatives that lead to ‘‘ethnocentrism’’ as modeled by Hammond and Axelrod.

Key Words

Ethnocentrism ; Prisoner’s Dilemma ; Agent - Based Models ; Eevolutionary Models ; Contingent Cooperation

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ID: 109935

Local convergence and global diversity: from interpersonal to social influence / Flache, Andreas; Macy, Michael W

Flache, Andreas	Journal Article
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2011.

Summary/Abstract

How can minority cultures resist assimilation into a global monolith in an increasingly "small world"? Paradoxically, Axelrod found that local convergence can actually preserve global diversity if cultural influence is combined with homophily, the principle that "likes attract." However, follow-up studies showed that this diversity collapses under random cultural perturbation. The authors discovered a new source of this fragility-the assumption in Axelrod's model that cultural influence is interpersonal (dyadic). The authors replicated previous models but with the more empirically plausible assumption that influence is social-people can be simultaneously influenced by several network neighbors. Computational experiments show that cultural diversity then becomes much more robust than in Axelrod's original model or in published variations that included either social influence or homophily but not both. The authors conclude that global diversity may be sustained not by cultural experimentation and innovation but by the ability of cultural groups to discourage those activities.

Key Words

Social Networks ; Cultural Diversity ; Homophily ; Cultural Drift ; Social Influence ; Agent - Based Models

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