scholarly journals From disorganized equality to efficient hierarchy: how group size drives the evolution of hierarchy in human societies

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1928) ◽  
pp. 20200693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cedric Perret ◽  
Emma Hart ◽  
Simon T. Powers
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Leaders And Followers ◽  
Hierarchical Groups ◽  
Scalar Stress

A manifest trend is that larger and more productive human groups shift from distributed to centralized decision-making. Voluntary theories propose that human groups shift to hierarchy to limit scalar stress, i.e. the increase in cost of organization as a group grows. Yet, this hypothesis lacks a mechanistic model to investigate the organizational advantage of hierarchy and its role on its evolution. To fill this gap, we describe social organization by the distribution of individuals’ capacity to influence others. We then integrate this formalization into models of social dynamics and evolutionary dynamics. First, our results demonstrate that hierarchy strongly reduces scalar stress, and that this benefit can emerge solely because leaders and followers differ in their capacity to influence others. Second, the model demonstrates that this benefit can be sufficient to drive the evolution of leader and follower behaviours and ultimately, the transition from small egalitarian to large hierarchical groups.

Scham und Autonomie

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-192
Author(s):  
Sonja Rinofner-Kreidl
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Intentional Content ◽  
Conceptual Clarification ◽  
The Social ◽  
Conventional Behavior ◽  
And Control

Autonomy is associated with intellectual self-preservation and self-determination. Shame, on the contrary, bears a loss of approval, self-esteem and control. Being afflicted with shame, we suffer from social dependencies that by no means have been freely chosen. Moreover, undergoing various experiences of shame, our power of reflection turns out to be severly limited owing to emotional embarrassment. In both ways, shame seems to be bound to heteronomy. This situation strongly calls for conceptual clarification. For this purpose, we introduce a threestage model of self-determination which comprises i) autonomy as capability of decision-making relating to given sets of choices, ii) self-commitment in terms of setting and harmonizing goals, and iii) self-realization in compliance with some range of persistently approved goals. Accordingly, the presuppositions and distinctive marks of shame-experiences are made explicit. Within this framework, we explore the intricate relation between autonomy and shame by focusing on two questions: on what conditions could conventional behavior be considered as self-determined? How should one characterize the varying roles of actors that are involved in typical cases of shame-experiences? In this connection, we advance the thesis that the social dynamics of shame turns into ambiguous positions relating to motivation, intentional content,and actors’ roles.

The nature of metacognitive inefficiency in perceptual decision making

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Medha Shekhar ◽  
Dobromir Rahnev
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Perceptual Decision Making ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
Substantial Body ◽  
Confidence Levels ◽  
Continuous Scale ◽  
Competing Models ◽  
Metacognitive Ability ◽  
Confidence Ratings

Humans have the metacognitive ability to judge the accuracy of their own decisions via confidence ratings. A substantial body of research has demonstrated that human metacognition is fallible but it remains unclear how metacognitive inefficiency should be incorporated into a mechanistic model of confidence generation. Here we show that, contrary to what is typically assumed, metacognitive inefficiency depends on the level of confidence. We found that, across five different datasets and four different measures of metacognition, metacognitive ability decreased with higher confidence ratings. To understand the nature of this effect, we collected a large dataset of 20 subjects completing 2,800 trials each and providing confidence ratings on a continuous scale. The results demonstrated a robustly nonlinear zROC curve with downward curvature, despite a decades-old assumption of linearity. This pattern of results was reproduced by a new mechanistic model of confidence generation, which assumes the existence of lognormally-distributed metacognitive noise. The model outperformed competing models either lacking metacognitive noise altogether or featuring Gaussian metacognitive noise. Further, the model could generate a measure of metacognitive ability which was independent of confidence levels. These findings establish an empirically-validated model of confidence generation, have significant implications about measures of metacognitive ability, and begin to reveal the underlying nature of metacognitive inefficiency.

scholarly journals Forecasting and Analysis Tools for Regional Industries’ Dynamics

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Valeriy Semenychev ◽  
Anastasiya Korobetskaya
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Forecast Accuracy ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Russian Regions ◽  
Seasonal Component ◽  
Modeling Analysis ◽  
Splitting Time ◽  
Regions Of Russia

The article is devoted to the author’s approach and tools for regional industries’ modeling, analysis and forecasting, following the general idea of splitting time series into four components: trend, cycles, seasonal component, and residuals. However, the authors introduce new approaches, models, metrics, and identification algorithms, and the components’ interaction structures, having included the analysis of 12 industries in 82 regions of Russia. The models and forecast accuracy were tested on 3–12 month forecasts, thus proving their high accuracy. Therefore, the article proposes not only new systematic econometric tools but a methodology for decision making, developed to provide stable and adequate characteristics of complex non-linear evolutionary dynamics of Russian regions.

A Model for Make-or-Buy Decisions in Engineering Design Services Sector: A Case Study from Turkey

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (04) ◽  
pp. 1850038
Author(s):  
Z. Aytan Ediz ◽  
M. Atilla Öner ◽  
Y. Can Erdem ◽  
Nesimi Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Administrative Support ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Cluster Membership ◽  
Services Sector ◽  
Engineering Company

Make-or-buy decision is an important factor affecting the profitability of the firms in all sectors. The goal of this study is to propose a model for firms in engineering design services sector for make-or-buy decisions. A survey was conducted to determine the importance percentages given in an engineering company in make-or-buy decisions and a model was developed. The results of the case study show intriguing clusters of company personnel. As the lack of consensus among company managers and personnel may inhibit the successful implementation of the developed strategy, we use K-Means Clustering to determine the different perspectives of different groups of employees (managers, senior engineers, junior engineers, technical and administrative support personnel) which may contribute to the understanding of social dynamics of decision making within the company. 4-cluster and 5-cluster analysis results indicate the need for further study on the dynamics of cluster membership.

The Development of Domains of Moral and Conventional Norms, Coordination in Decision-Making, and the Implications of Social Opposition

2019 ◽  
pp. 195-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliot Turiel ◽  
Audun Dahl
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Psychological Development ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Developmental Pathway ◽  
Social Convention ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Social Decisions ◽  
Moral Domain ◽  
Personal Jurisdiction

This chapter discusses norms in the domains of morality, social convention, and personal jurisdiction from the perspective of psychological development. Many studies have documented that by a young age children think in different ways about each of these domains and that each represents a different developmental pathway. Reasoning about the moral domain, which is a main focus of the chapter, is connected with emotions, and the development of moral judgments stems from individuals’ reciprocal social interactions in direct and everyday experiences. Whereas the domains of norms are distinct, many social situations include considerations from different domains and, therefore, social decisions often involve processes of coordination of weighing those differing and sometimes conflicting considerations. After discussion of processes of coordination, the chapter considers ways that individuals reflect upon the fairness of systems of social organization and coordinate acceptance of norms and opposition to norms through their moral judgments.

Conflict Resolution and Ethical Decision-Making for Engineering Professionals in Global Organizations

2015 ◽  
pp. 204-227
Author(s):  
Charles R. Feldhaus ◽  
Julie Little ◽  
Brandon Sorge
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Ethical Climate ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Unethical Practices ◽  
Leaders And Followers ◽  
And Mathematics

As an introduction to recognizing individual and organizational conflict as well as ethical issues within global firms, the goals of this chapter are to equip Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) professionals, especially those in engineering, with solid decision-making tools, including self-awareness, ethical perspectives and theories, ethical decision-making models, and various conflict resolution approaches. Given the current challenges in business and industry that have often led to unethical practices, and ultimately conflict, it is critical that both organizational leaders and followers possess the necessary tools and perspectives to create an ethical climate that deals appropriately with various types of conflict. This chapter examines new trends in conflict coaching and the delivery of ethics training in an effort to provide the aforementioned tools and perspectives.

scholarly journals Decision-Making in a Real-Time Business Simulation Game: Cultural and Demographic Aspects in Small Group Dynamics

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (03) ◽  
pp. 779-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Bragge ◽  
Henrik Kallio ◽  
Tomi Seppälä ◽  
Timo Lainema ◽  
Pekka Malo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Operations Management ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Dynamic Decision Making ◽  
Simulation Game ◽  
Business Simulation

Simulated virtual realities offer a promising but currently underutilized source of data in studying cultural and demographic aspects of dynamic decision-making (DDM) in small groups. This study focuses on one simulated reality, a clock-driven business simulation game, which is used to teach operations management. The purpose of our study is to analyze the characteristics of the decision-making groups, such as cultural orientation, education, gender and group size, and their relationship to group performance in a real-time processed simulation game. Our study examines decision-making in small groups of two or three employees from a global manufacturing and service operations company. We aim at shedding new light on how such groups with diverse background profiles perform as decision-making units. Our results reveal that the profile of the decision-making group influences the outcome of decision-making, the final business result of the simulation game. In particular, the cultural and gender diversity, as well as group size seem to have intertwined effects on team performance.

Caste and the Decline of Political Homogeneity

1973 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 799-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. Somjee
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Socialization ◽  
Urban Community ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Concerns ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between the traditional social organization of India, based on the principle of hierarchy, and the newly introduced democratic institutions and procedures, based on the principle of equality, has been a subject of diverse interpretations. The more significant of these interpretations are that the social organization has subsumed the new political system, and that the various units of social organization, namely, castes, have developed voluntary bodies or caste associations of their own in order to enter into an operative relationship with the new political system. The latter interpretation also implies that the democratic political socialization in India has been taking place by means of the caste associations. This study takes a hard look at such interpretations and points out that the internal cohesion of the social organization materially alters when it moves away from its primary social concerns—ritual, pollution, and endogamy—to nontraditional concerns. This change is reflected in the fact that highly fragmented decision-making processes of castes in nontraditional matters often lead to their substantial vote against candidates of their own castes. Such political differentiation within castes has occurred before the advent of certain caste associations, and in some cases despite them. These and other assertions are substantiated through data collected in a rural and an urban community where fieldwork designed to understand their political dynamics extended over a number of years.

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