Editing Social dynamics

{{Short description|Study of behavior of groups}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2010}}
{{sociology}}
{{Complex systems}}
'''Social dynamics''' (or '''sociodynamics''') is the study of the behavior of groups and of the interactions of individual group members, aiming to understand the emergence of complex social behaviors among [[Microorganism|microorganisms]], plants and animals, including humans. It is related to [[sociobiology]] but also draws from [[Outline of physical science|physics]] and [[complex system|complex system sciences]].
In the last century, sociodynamics was viewed as part of [[psychology]], as shown in the work: "Sociodynamics: an integrative theorem of power, authority, interfluence and love".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=E. Bannester |first=Michael |date=1969 |title=Sociodynamics: An Integrative Theorem of Power, Authority, Interfluence and Love |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2092502 |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=374–393 |doi=10.2307/2092502 |jstor=2092502 |issn=0003-1224|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In the 1990s, social dynamics began being viewed as a separate scientific discipline<sup>[''By whom?'']</sup>. An important paper in this respect is: "The Laws of Sociodynamics".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=E. Koshland |first=Daniel |date=1990-07-27 |title=The Laws of Sociodynamics |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.249.4967.341 |journal=Science |volume=249 |issue=4967 |pages=341 |doi=10.1126/science.249.4967.341 |pmid=17755924 |bibcode=1990Sci...249..341K |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Then, starting in the 2000s, sociodynamics took off as a discipline of its own, many papers were released in the field in this decade.

== Overview ==
The field of social dynamics brings together ideas from [[economics]], [[sociology]], [[social psychology]], and other disciplines, and is a sub-field of [[complex adaptive system]]s or [[complexity science]]. The fundamental assumption of the field is that individuals are influenced by one another's behavior.  The field is closely related to [[system dynamics]].  Like system dynamics, social dynamics is concerned with changes over time and emphasizes the role of feedbacks.  However, in social dynamics individual choices and interactions are typically viewed as the source of aggregate level behavior, while system dynamics posits that the structure of feedbacks and accumulations are responsible for system level dynamics.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sterman|first=John|title=Business Dynamics|year=2000|publisher=McGraw Hill|isbn=0-07-231135-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/businessdynamics0000ster}}</ref>  Research in the field typically takes a behavioral approach, assuming that individuals are [[Bounded rationality|boundedly rational]] and act on local information.  Mathematical and computational modeling are important tools for studying social dynamics. This field grew out of work done in the 1940s by [[Game theory|game theorists]] such as Duncan & Luce, and even earlier works by mathematician [[Armand Borel]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Luce|first=Duncan|title=Games and Decisions|url=https://archive.org/details/gamesdecisions00rdun|url-access=registration|year=1957|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|isbn= 0486659437}}</ref> Because social dynamics focuses on individual level behavior, and recognizes the importance of heterogeneity across individuals, strict analytic results are often impossible.  Instead, approximation techniques, such as [[mean-field theory|mean-field approximations]] from [[statistical physics]], or [[computer simulation]]s are used to understand the behaviors of the system.  In contrast to more traditional approaches in economics, scholars of social dynamics are often interested in non-equilibrium, or dynamic, behavior.<ref name=durlauf>{{cite book|last1=Durlauf|first1=Steven|last2=Young|first2=Peyton|title=Social Dynamics|year=2001|publisher=MIT Press|location=Cambridge, MA|isbn=0-262-04186-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Brookings Institution, Center for Social Dynamics and Policy|url=http://www.brookings.edu/about/centers/dynamics|access-date=29 September 2012}}</ref>   That is, behavior that changes over time.

== Topics ==
* [[Social network]]s
* [[Diffusion of innovations|Diffusion of technologies and information]]
* [[Cooperation]]
* [[Social norm]]s

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Complex adaptive system]]
* [[Complexity science]]
* [[Collective intelligence]]
* [[Dynamical systems]]
* [[Jay Wright Forrester]]
* [[Group dynamics]]
* [[Operations research]]
* [[Population dynamics]]
* [[System dynamics]]
* [[Social psychology]]
* [[Societal collapse]]
* [[Sociobiology]]
* [[Sociocultural evolution]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* Weidlich, W. (1997) "Sociodynamics applied to the evolution of urban and regional structures". ''Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society'', Vol. 1, pp.&nbsp;85–98.

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book|last1=Easley|first1=David|last2=Klienberg|first2=Jon|title=Networks, Crowds, and Markets|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-521-19533-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Matthew O.|title=Social and Economic Networks|year=2008|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=978-0-691-13440-6}}

== External links ==
{{Library resources box 
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|label=Social dynamics
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* [https://www.academia.edu/35443515/Introduction_to_Social_Macrodynamics_Compact_Macromodels_of_the_World_System_Growth._Moscow_KomKniga_2006 Introduction to Social Macrodynamics]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090316225023/http://www.clubofrome.org/docs/limits.rtf  Club of Rome report, quote]: "We must also keep in mind the presence of social delays--the delays necessary to allow society to absorb or to prepare for a change. Most delays, physical or social reduce the stability of the world system and increase the likelihood of the overshoot mode"
* [http://www.northwestern.edu/nico/ Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems]—Institute with research focusing on complexity and social dynamics.
* [http://www.cscs.umich.edu/ Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan]—Center with research focusing on complexity and social dynamics.
* [http://social-dynamics.org/  social-dynamics.org]—Blog on Social Dynamics from Kellogg School of Management Social Dynamics Scholar
* https://archive.today/20020305021324/http://139.142.203.66/pub/www/Journal/vol3/iss2/art4/
* http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090628232019/http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~read/connectionism_preface2.html
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110217151303/http://www.oeaw.ac.at/byzanz/historicaldynamics.htm "Historical Dynamics in a Time of Crisis: Late Byzantium, 1204–1453" (discussion of social dynamics from the point of view of historical studies)]
* {{cite journal
 | author = Watts, D.J.
 |author2=Strogatz, S.H.
 | year = 1998
 | title = Collective dynamics of 'small-world' networks
 | journal = Nature
 | volume = 393
 | issue = 6684
 | pages = 440–442 
 | doi = 10.1038/30918
 | pmid = 9623998
 | bibcode = 1998Natur.393..440W
|s2cid=4429113
 }}
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[[Category:Social dynamics| ]]
[[Category:Systems theory]]
[[Category:Social systems]]