Cooperation in the presence of zealots and assortative interaction
Cooperation in the presence of zealots and assortative interaction lead image
As polarization increases in many parts of the world, the presence of individuals with strong, unchanging opinions may threaten cooperation. Though this phenomenon and its implications are complex, mathematical tools like evolutionary game theory enable researchers to study how large populations of individuals strategically interact to understand how behavior impacts society.
Soumen Majhi used social dilemmas to investigate how zealous individuals impact cooperation. He found that their nature — whether they will always cooperate or defect — has a notable impact on the overall population.
Almost all living systems exhibit cooperation. From bacteria to humans, individuals in a population act together for mutual benefits. Social dilemmas like the Prisoner’s Dilemma are efficient tools for understanding the evolution of cooperation and other behaviors.
In his simulation, Majhi had his population participate in two-player social dilemmas, while incorporating zealous individuals biased to cooperate or defect. Though the population is assumed to be socially well-mixed, individuals with the same strategy are more likely to interact.
“The results show that incorporating zealous cooperators promotes cooperation among ordinary players,” Majhi said. “However, zealous defectors strictly impede the development of cooperation. Nonetheless, the propensity of cooperation improves once the population is subject to the alike interactions, both in the absence and in the presence of committed defectors.”
Regardless of the social dilemma or presence of the zealots, interactions between individuals with the same strategy increased cooperation. This indicates that shared traits or beliefs are influential enough to overcome zealots’ impedance.
Though not all real-world interactions follow the strict rules of an idealized, well-mixed mathematical simulation, investigating cooperation provides insight into human behavior.
Source: “Cooperation driven by alike interactions in presence of social viscosity,” by Soumen Majhi, Chaos (2023). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0153650 .
This paper is part of the Focus Issue on Nonlinear dynamics, synchronization and networks: Dedicated to Juergen Kurths’ 70th birthday, learn more here .
