The Emergence of Groups and Inequality through Co-Adaptation.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of groups and of inequality is often traced to pre-existing differences, exclusionary practices, or resource accumulation processes, but can the emergence of groups and their differential success simply be a feature of the behaviors of a priori equally-capable actors who have mutually adapted? Using a simple model of behavioral co-adaptation among agents whose individual actions construct a common environment, we present evidence that the formation of unequal groups is endemic to co-adaptive processes that endogenously alter the environment; agents tend to separate into two groups, one whose members stop adapting earliest (the in-group), and another comprising agents who continue to adapt (the out-group). Over a wide range of model parameters, members of the in-group are rewa

SUBMITTER: Atwell J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4928893 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature