RECIPROCITY AND THE EMERGENCE OF POWER LAWS IN SOCIAL NETWORKS

DOI10.1142/S0129183106009473zbMATH Open1125.91430arXivphysics/0603005MaRDI QIDQ5481856FDOQ5481856

Authors: Michael Schnegg 

Publication date: 24 August 2006

Published in: International Journal of Modern Physics C (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Research in network science has shown that many naturally occurring and technologically constructed networks are scale free, that means a power law degree distribution emerges from a growth model in which each new node attaches to the existing network with a probability proportional to its number of links (=degree). Little is known about whether the same principles of local attachment and global properties apply to societies as well. Empirical evidence from six ethnographic case studies shows that complex social networks have significantly lower scaling exponents gamma ~ 1 than have been assumed in the past. Apparently humans do not only look for the most prominent players to play with. Moreover cooperation in humans is characterized through reciprocity, the tendency to give to those from whom one has received in the past. Both variables -- reciprocity and the scaling exponent -- are negatively correlated ($r=-0.767,sig=0.075$). If we include this effect in simulations of growing networks, degree distributions emerge that are much closer to those empirically observed. While the proportion of nodes with small degrees decreases drastically as we introduce reciprocity, the scaling exponent is more robust and changes only when a relatively large proportion of attachment decisions follow this rule. If social networks are less scale free than previously assumed this has far reaching implications for policy makers, public health programs and marketing alike.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0603005

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zbMATH Keywords

reciprocityscale free networksanthropologycross cultural comparison

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Social networks; opinion dynamics (91D30) Time-dependent statistical mechanics (dynamic and nonequilibrium) (82C99)

Cites Work

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Cited In (13)

• Editorial: Tails and ties
• CLUSTERIZATION, FRUSTRATION AND COLLECTIVITY IN RANDOM NETWORKS
• Random networks with heterogeneous reciprocity
• EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE STRUCTURE OF A SOCIAL NETWORK AND HUMAN DYNAMICS IN A VIRTUAL SOCIETY
• Reciprocity in directed networks
• The strength of long-range ties in population-scale social networks
• AGGREGATE DYNAMICS IN AN EVOLUTIONARY NETWORK MODEL
• The gravitational law of social interaction
• OPTIMIZATION OF HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURES OF INFORMATION FLOW
• DYNAMICS OF NETWORKS AND OPINIONS
• Triadic closure dynamics drives scaling laws in social multiplex networks
• Reciprocity networks and the participation problem
• Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks

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