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• Science of Science Project

Postdoctoral Fellow

Integrating behavioral syndromes into social networks: optimal distribution of phenotypes and group stability.

PI(s):	Jennifer Verdolin
Start Date:	1-Sep-2010
End Date:	31-Aug-2013
Keywords:

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Behavioral studies generally assume that all of the individual animals within a social group behave in a similar and predictable manner. In recent years, however, several lines of evidence have emerged that undermine this assumption. For example, there are considerable individual behavioral differences within a social group, and these differences can help structure the group. This variation has been captured somewhat by the concept of behavioral syndromes, where individuals are categorized as being either bold or shy. A fundamental component of behavioral syndromes is that the behavioral responses of individuals are consistent across different contexts. Simultaneously, there has been a surge of interest in adopting the use of social network theory to analyze patterns of interactions among individuals within groups. A major emerging question in the arena of social behavior is: what is the relationship between an individual’s behavioral type and position in a social network? In common parlance, behavioral differences can be expressed as differences in “personality”, and the evolutionarily-stable mix of these personalities could be shaped by frequency-dependent selection. Currently social network theory does not account for 1) how individual differences affect social network outcomes and 2) whether social context influences individual behavior. Similarly, behavioral syndrome theory presently does not consider 1) that the behavioral responses of individuals may not be fixed across contexts and 2) whether or not there is an optimal distribution of behavioral types within groups. Integrating these two emergent fields can make significant contributions to the development of game-theory models of social dynamics. This novel and integrated theoretical work will permit us to conceptualize and analyze a wide range of currently intractable problems involving sociality and may provide new insights into the dynamic nature of decision-making by individuals in the context of their social group.