Modelling social norms in multiagent systems

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Abstract
Social norms are cultural phenomena that naturally emerge in human societies and help to prescribe and proscribe normative patterns of behaviour. In recent times, the discipline of multi-agent systems has been used to model social norms in an artificial society of agents. In this paper we review norms in multi-agent systems and then explore a series of norms in a simulated urban traffic setting. Using game-theoretic concepts we define and offer an account of norm stability. Particularly in small groups, a relatively small number of individuals with cooperative attitude are needed for the norm of cooperation to evolve and be stable. In contrast, in larger populations, a larger proportion of cooperating individuals are required to achieve stability.