Abstract
Agent-based modelling (ABM) proves successful as a methodology for the social sciences. To continue bridging the micro-macro link in social simulations and applying ABM in real-world conditions, conventional and often simplified models of decision-making have to be utilized and extended into psychologically plausible models. We demonstrate the contribution of such models to enhance validation and forecasts in social simulations with two examples concerned with sustainable behavior. We start with the Consumat framework to demonstrate the contribution of an established psychological plausible decision-making model in various scenarios of sustainable behavior. Then we use the SiMA-C model to explain how different psychological factors generate social behavior and show how a detailed model of decision-making supports realistic empirical validation and experimentation. A scenario of social media prompting of environmental-friendly behavior exemplifies the details of how individual decision-making is influenced by the social context. Both examples, Consumat and SiMA-C, emphasize the importance of psychological realism in modelling behavioral dynamics for simulations of sustainable behavior and provide explanations on the psychological level that enable the development of social policies on the individual level.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Castelfranchi, C.: Cognitive architecture and contents for social structures and interactions. In: Cognition and Multi-Agent Interaction. Cambridge University Press, New York (2006)
Viale, R.: Methodological Cognitivism: Vol. 1: Mind, Rationality, and Society. Springer, Berlin (2012)
Gilbert, N.: When does social simulation need cognitive models? In: Sun, R. (ed.) Cognition and Multi-Agent Interaction. Cambridge University Press, New York (2006)
Jager, W., Janssen, M.: The need for and development of behaviourally realistic agents. In: Multi-Agent Simulations, I.I. (ed.) Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 2581, pp. 36–49. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Sun, R.: Cognition and Multi-Agent Interaction. Cambridge University Press, New York (2006)
Maslow, A.H.: Motivation and Personality. Harper and Row, New York (1954)
Max-Neef, M.: Development and human needs. In: Ekins, P., Max-Neef, M. (eds.) Real-life Economics: Understanding Wealth Creation. Routledge, London/New York (1992)
Jager, W., Janssen, M.A., De Vries, H.J.M., De Greef, J., Vlek, C.A.J.: Behaviour in commons dilemmas: Homo economicus and Homo psychologicus in an ecological-economic model. Ecol. Econ. 35, 357–379 (2000)
Cialdini, R.B., Goldstein, N.J.: Social influence: compliance and conformity. Anu. Rev. Psychol. 55, 591–621 (2004)
Janssen, M.A., Jager, W.: Stimulating diffusion of green products—co-evolution between firms and consumers. J. Evol. Econ. 12(3), 283–306 (2002)
Bravo, G., Vallino, E., Cerutti, A.K., Pairotti, M.B.: Alternative scenarios of green consumption in Italy: an empirically grounded model. Environ. Model. Software 47, 225–234 (2013)
Natalini, D., Bravo, G.: Encouraging sustainable transport choices in american households: results from an empirically grounded agent-based model. Sustainability 6(1), 50–69 (2014)
Schoenmacker, G.H.: Agent-based consumer modeling. Master thesis, Department of Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen (2013). http://scripties.fwn.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/scripties/Kunstmatigeintellige/Master/2014/Schoenmacker.G./
Kangur, A.: STECCAR: simulating the transition to electric cars using the consumat agent rationale. Master’s thesis, Institute of Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen (2014) http://scripties.fwn.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/scripties/Kunstmatigeintellige/Master/2014/Kangur.A.M.A./
Kangur, A., Jager, W., Verbrugge, R., Bockarjova, M.: Hybrid or full electric, that’s the question: an agent-based model exploring the diffusion of electric vehicles. Journal of Environmental Psychology. In: Jager, W., Ernst, A. (eds.) Special issue “Social simulation in environmental psychology” (accepted)
Jager, W., Janssen, M.A., Vlek, C.A.J.: How uncertainty stimulates over-harvesting in a resource dilemma: three process explanations. J. Environ. Psychol. 22(3), 247–263 (2002)
Brouwers, L., Verhagen, H.: Applying the CONSUMAT model to flood management policies. In: Müller, J., Seidel, M. (eds.) 4th Workshop on Agent-Based Simulation, pp. 29–34. SCS, Montpellier (2003)
Speelman, E.N.: Gaming and simulation to explore resilience in contested agricultural landscapes. PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands, p. 221. ISBN: 978-90-6173-904-9 (2014). See http://edepot.wur.nl/301294
Acosta-Michlik, L., Espaldon, V.: Assessing vulnerability of selected farming communities in the Philippines based on a behavioural model of agent’s adaptation to global environmental change. Glob. Environ. Chang. 18, 554–563 (2008)
Mialhe, F., Becuc, N., Gunnelld, Y.: An agent-based model for analyzing land use dynamics in response to farmer behaviour and environmental change in the Pampanga delta (Philippines). Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 161, 55–69 (2012)
Van Duinen, R., Filatova, T., Jager, W., Van der Veen, A.: Going beyond perfect rationality: drought risk, economic choices and the influence of social networks. Ann. Reg. Sci. pp 1–35 (2015)
Verhagen, H., Johansson, M., Jager, W.: Games and online research methods. Fielding, N.G., Lee, R.M., Blank, G. (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods, 2nd edn. Sage Publications Inc. (2016)
Dietrich, D., Fodor, G., Zucker, G., Bruckner, D.: Simulating the Mind—A Technical Neuropsychoanalytic Approach. Springer, Vienna (2009)
Schaat, S., et al.: ARS: An AGI Architecture. Proceedings of the 7th conference on Artificial General Intelligence, LNAIC, pp. 155–164. Springer, Switzerland (2014)
Schaat, S., et al.: Socio-cognitive agents for the simulation of environmental-friendly consumer decisions. In: International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction, pp. 851–856, Xian (2015)
Schaat, S.: SiMA-C: a foundational mental architecture. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Brain Inspired Cognitive Architectures, July 2016
Damasio, A.R.: Descartes’ error and the future of human life. Sci. Am. 271(4), 15–20 (1994)
Slovic, P., Finucane, M., Peters, E., MacGregor, D.G.: The affect heuristic. In: Gilovich, T., Griffin, D., Kahneman, D. (eds.) Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment, pp. 397–420. Cambridge University Press, New York (2002)
Kahneman, D.: Thinking, Fast and Slow. Penguin, London (2011)
Simon, H.A.: Rational choice and the structure of the environment. Psychol. Rev. 63(2), 129–138 (1956)
Schaat, S., et al.: Emotion in consumer simulations for the development and testing of recommendations for marketing strategies. In: Proceedings of the 3rd Workshop on Emotions and Personality in Personalized Systems, pp. 25–32, Vienna (2015)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schaat, S., Jager, W., Dickert, S. (2017). Psychologically Plausible Models in Agent-Based Simulations of Sustainable Behavior. In: Alonso-Betanzos, A., et al. Agent-Based Modeling of Sustainable Behaviors. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46331-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46331-5_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46330-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46331-5
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)