Abstract
Statistical physics models of social systems with a large number of members, each interacting with a subset of others, have been used in very diverse domains such as culture dynamics, crowd behavior, information dissemination and social conflicts. We observe that such models rely on the fact that large societal groups display surprising regularities despite individual agency. Unlike physics phenomena that obey Newton’s third law, in the world of humans the magnitudes of action and reaction are not necessarily equal. The effect of the actions of group n on group m can differ from the effect of group m on group n. We thus use the spin language to describe humans with this observation in mind. Note that particular individual behaviors do not survive in statistical averages. Only common characteristics remain. We have studied two-group conflicts as well as three-group conflicts. We have used time-dependent Mean-Field Theory and Monte Carlo simulations. Each group is defined by two parameters which express the intra-group strength of interaction among members and its attitude toward negotiations. The interaction with the other group is parameterized by a constant which expresses an attraction or a repulsion to other group average attitude. The model includes a social temperature T which acts on each group and quantifies the social noise. One of the most striking features is the periodic oscillation of the attitudes toward negotiation or conflict for certain ranges of parameter values. Other striking results include chaotic behavior, namely intractable, unpredictable conflict outcomes.
Highlights
Statistical physics studies large systems of interacting particles using their microscopic properties [1]
Statistical physics models are suitable for investigating social systems which are composed of a large number of individuals who interact with each other under a social ambiance which can be associated with the temperature in physics
These models have been used to study complex social systems such as culture dynamics, crowd behavior, information dissemination and social conflict. This is possible [2,3] because the average over large societal groups washes away individual particularities and retains only common characteristics at the end
Summary
Statistical physics studies large systems of interacting particles using their microscopic properties [1]. Statistical physics models are suitable for investigating social systems which are composed of a large number of individuals who interact with each other under a social ambiance which can be associated with the temperature in physics. These models have been used to study complex social systems such as culture dynamics, crowd behavior, information dissemination and social conflict. This is possible [2,3] because the average over large societal groups washes away individual particularities and retains only common characteristics at the end.
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