A Multi-Agent Simulation of a Social Norm Spreading Mechanism

Abstract

This article attempts to answer two related questions: what is a social
norm? And how does it generalize? It is argued that a social norm is
neither mere sanctioning behaviour, nor behaviour which just satisfi es
other’s expectations; but both conditions are simultaneously required
for a social norm to exist. By means of an agent-based simulation, it is
shown how a reinforcing dynamic between the execution of sanctions
and the generalization of expectations explains the generalization of a
social norm, provided a critical mass of unconditional sanctioners does
exist. Furthermore, it is shown that the larger the social density, the
smaller the critical mass required in the population.