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Sensitivity of collective outcomes identifies pivotal components.

ABSTRACT: A social system is susceptible to perturbation when its collective properties depend sensitively on a few pivotal components. Using the information geometry of minimal models from statistical physics, we develop an approach to identify pivotal components to which coarse-grained, or aggregate, properties are sensitive. As an example, we introduce our approach on a reduced toy model with a median voter who always votes in the majority. The sensitivity of majority-minority divisions to changing voter behaviour pinpoints the unique role of the median. More generally, the sensitivity identifies pivotal components that precisely determine collective outcomes generated by a complex network of interactions. Using perturbations to target pivotal components in the models, we analyse datasets from political voting, finance and Twitter. Across these systems, we find remarkable variety, from systems dominated by a median-like component to those whose components behave more equally. In the context of political institutions such as courts or legislatures, our methodology can help describe how changes in voters map to new collective voting outcomes. For economic indices, differing system response reflects varying fiscal conditions across time. Thus, our information-geometric approach provides a principled, quantitative framework that may help assess the robustness of collective outcomes to targeted perturbation and compare social institutions, or even biological networks, with one another and across time.

SUBMITTER: Lee ED

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7328396 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sensitivity of collective outcomes identifies pivotal components.

Lee Edward D ED Katz Daniel M DM Bommarito Michael J MJ Ginsparg Paul H PH

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface 20200603 167

A social system is susceptible to perturbation when its collective properties depend sensitively on a few pivotal components. Using the information geometry of minimal models from statistical physics, we develop an approach to identify pivotal components to which coarse-grained, or aggregate, properties are sensitive. As an example, we introduce our approach on a reduced toy model with a median voter who always votes in the majority. The sensitivity of majority-minority divisions to changing vot ...[more]

PMID: 32486948

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Project description:In this article, we review the conceptions of Collective Effervescence (CE) -a state of intense shared emotional activation and sense of unison that emerges during instances of collective behavior, like demonstrations, rituals, ceremonies, celebrations, and others- and empirical approaches oriented at measuring it. The first section starts examining Émile Durkheim's classical conception on CE, and then, the integrative one proposed by the sociologist Randall Collins, leading to a multi-faceted experience of synchronization. Then, we analyze the construct as a process emerging in collective encounters when individuals contact with social ideal and values, referring to the classical work of Serge Moscovici as well as those more recent empirical approaches. Third, we consider CE as a set of intense positive emotions linked to processes of group identification, as proposed by authors of the Social Identity Theory tradition. Finally, we describe CE from the perspective of self-transcendence (e.g., emotions, experiences), and propose a unified description of this construct. The second section shows the results of a meta-analytical integration (k = 50, N = 182,738) aimed at analyzing CE's proximal effects or construct validity (i.e., Individual Emotions and Communal Sharing) as well as its association with more distal variables, such as Collective Emotions, Social Integration, Social Values and Beliefs and Empowerment. Results indicate that CE strongly associates with Individual Emotions -in particular, Self-Transcendent Emotions- and Communal Sharing constructs (e.g., Group Identity, Fusion of Identity), providing construct validity. Among the distal effects of CE, it is associated with Collective Positive Emotions, long-term Social Integration (e.g., Ingroup Commitment), Social Values and Beliefs and Empowerment-related variables (e.g., Wellbeing, Collective Efficacy, Collective Self-Esteem). Among the moderation analyses carried out (e.g., study design, CE scale, type of collective gathering), the effects of CE in demonstrations are noticeable, where this variable is a factor that favors other variables that make collective action possible, such as Group Identity (r pooled = 0.52), Collective Efficacy (r pooled = 0.37), Negative and Self-Transcendent Emotions (r pooled = 0.14 and 0.58), and Morality-related beliefs (r pooled = 0.43).

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Sensitivity of collective outcomes identifies pivotal components.

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Sensitivity of collective outcomes identifies pivotal components.

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