Special Issue on Mathematics and Complexity in Human and Life SciencesNo Access

PARAMETER EVALUATION OF A SIMPLE MEAN-FIELD MODEL OF SOCIAL INTERACTION

IGNACIO GALLO

Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Bologna, Italy

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ADRIANO BARRA

Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Bologna, Italy

Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy

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PIERLUIGI CONTUCCI

Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Bologna, Italy

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218202509003863Cited by:43 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

The aim of this work is to implement a statistical mechanics theory of social interaction, generalizing econometric discrete choice models. A class of simple mean-field discrete models is introduced and discussed both from the theoretical and phenomenological point of view. We propose a parameter evaluation procedure and test it by fitting the model against three families of data coming from different cases: the estimated interaction parameters are found to have similar positive values, giving a quantitative confirmation of the peer imitation behavior found in social psychology. Furthermore, all the values of the interaction parameters belong to the phase transition regime suggesting its possible role in the study of social systems.

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