Shared Norms and the Evolution of Ethnic Markers

The publication and mathematical model upon which this ABM is based shows one mechanism that can lead to stable behavioral and cultural traits between groups. A fitness advantage is conferred on interacting agents when they share the same behavioral norms or beliefs. However, agents are not able see another agent’s behavior prior to interacting. Only an external marker trait is visible. With a probability of interacting with an agent that shares the same marker, the agents with the greatest fitness tend to survive generations, and distinct behaviors (culture) and markings (ethnicity) can become fixed within populations and become stably fixed in contrast to neighboring populations. Due to constraints of the original mathematical model, accurate replication of model results in this ABM requires minimum group sizes of at least 1000 agents. Performance of this model under Netlogo is very limited with these group sizes.