Simple individual-level rules can generate complex group-level behavior worth simulating.
Evidence
Agent-based models simulate the behavior of individuals through the creation of virtual agents who follow preprogrammed rules. These rules are often derived from existing psychological theories. What is of interest, however, is what emerges from the interactions among these agents (Goldstone & Janssen, 2005). Two decades of research on ODT has resulted in an impressive array of studies that demonstrate that the needs for inclusion and differentiation can have profound effects on the perceptions, judgments, and behavior of individuals (Leonardelli, Pickett, & Brewer, 2010). For this Festschrift volume in honor of Marilynn Brewer’s prolific research career, it seemed fitting to take the study of optimal distinctiveness to a different level of analysis and explore the patterns of group behavior that emerge from a system of autonomous agents who follow one very simple rule: seek optimal distinctiveness. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 815
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the reader’s prejudice-psychology thread: agent-based simulation is a method for testing how individual-level identity motives like optimal distinctiveness scale into group formation and fragmentation, relevant to how ingroup/outgroup boundaries emerge rather than just how they are maintained.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 815