How Individuals' Self-Image Can Evolve in a Strongly
Constrained Society
with Shared Norms of Behaviour and Learning
Juliette Rouchier
rouchier@ehess.cnrs-mrs.fr
In that paper, we present a set of artificial societies
which economies are all based on one principle, that is commonly pointed
out in economical ethnology: non-merchant economy. Taking inspiration in
the litterature and on a field study, we consider how reputation can be defined
in a group where each one wants to participate to a common dynamics. Each
agent will acquire its own reputation, which has an impact on the way others
want to interact with it. The emergence of gaps in the value of reputation
can lead to more or less stable hierarchies within the group. Each agent
is defined by its wish to participate to the dynamic of exchange, and the
ability it feels to participate in the normal way.
Taking a holistic point of view, we consider that the
position in the society influences the way agents build their representation
of themselves. Interest in participation and self-image evolve when the reinforcement
is introduced, and this influences the structures of hierachies.
Our societies usually exhibit very stable equilibrium.
What is really interesting is that it is possible to separate very different
histories among individual agents, although all of them are identical at
the beginning and are given the same learning abilities. We made the definition
of each simulation depend on as few parameters as possible, so that to be
able to trace the history of each society, and to identify as clearly as
possible individual and social feed backs that have an effect on globla results.
Our discussion is situated on a theoretical field, since we try to compare
holistic and individualist points of view on individual's choices.