Mittal Dhruv, Constantino Sara M, Vasconcelos Vítor V
Computational Science Lab, Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
PNAS Nexus. 2024 Jul 25;3(8):pgae302. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae302. eCollection 2024 Aug.
The world is grappling with emerging, urgent, large-scale problems, such as climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and pandemics, which demand immediate and coordinated action. Social processes like conformity and social norms can either help maintain behaviors (e.g. cooperation in groups) or drive rapid societal change (e.g. rapid rooftop solar uptake), even without comprehensive policy measures. While the role of individual heterogeneity in such processes is well studied, there is limited work on the expression of individuals' preferences and the role of anticonformists-individuals who value acting differently from others-especially in dynamic environments. We introduce anticonformists into a game-theoretical collective decision-making framework that includes a complex network of agents with heterogeneous preferences about two alternative options. We study how anticonformists' presence changes the population's ability to express evolving personal preferences. We find that anticonformists facilitate the expression of preferences, even when they diverge from prevailing norms, breaking the "spiral of silence" whereby individuals do not act on their preferences when they believe others disapprove. Centrally placed anticonformists reduce by five-fold the number of anticonformists needed for a population to express its preferences. In dynamic environments where a previously unpopular choice becomes preferred, anticonformists catalyze social tipping and reduce the "cultural lag," even beyond the role of committed minorities-that is, individuals with a commitment to a specific cause. This research highlights the role of dissenting voices in shaping collective behavior, including their potential to catalyze the adoption of new technologies as they become favorable and to enrich democracy by facilitating the expression of views.
世界正在应对诸如气候变化、污染、生物多样性丧失和大流行病等新出现的、紧迫的、大规模的问题，这些问题需要立即采取协调一致的行动。从众和社会规范等社会过程既可以有助于维持行为（例如群体中的合作），也可以推动社会的快速变革（例如屋顶太阳能的迅速普及），即使没有全面的政策措施。虽然个体异质性在这些过程中的作用已得到充分研究，但关于个体偏好的表达以及反从众者（即重视与他人采取不同行动的个体）的作用的研究却很有限，尤其是在动态环境中。我们将反从众者引入一个博弈论集体决策框架，该框架包括一个由对两种替代方案有不同偏好的主体组成的复杂网络。我们研究反从众者的存在如何改变群体表达不断演变的个人偏好的能力。我们发现，反从众者有助于偏好的表达，即使他们偏离了主流规范，打破了“沉默螺旋”，即当个体认为他人不赞同时，他们不会按照自己的偏好行事。处于中心位置的反从众者将群体表达偏好所需的反从众者数量减少了五倍。在动态环境中，当一个先前不受欢迎的选择变得更受欢迎时，反从众者会催化社会 tipping 并减少“文化滞后”，甚至超出了坚定少数群体（即对特定事业有坚定信念的个体）的作用。这项研究强调了不同声音在塑造集体行为中的作用，包括它们在新技术变得有利时催化新技术采用以及通过促进观点表达来丰富民主的潜力。
