Of Ants and Men: Political Polarization Might Mirror Ant Behavior (IMAGE)
Caption
Princeton computational ecologist Chris Tokita and his adviser Corina Tarnita found that division of labor and political polarization -- two social phenomena not typically considered together -- may be driven by the same processes. Their model shows that the emergence of division of labor and polarized social networks both require the combination of social influence and interaction bias. As both social influence and interaction bias increase, the behavior of individuals becomes more specialized (i.e., biased) and individuals increasingly interact with those who are similar. 'Social influence' refers to the tendency of individuals to become similar to those they interact with, and 'interaction bias' leads us to interact with others who are already like us.
Credit
Chris Tokita, Princeton University
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