Agent Mobility and Network Scope as Drivers of Normative Convergence: A Computational Study

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Ahmadreza AsgharpourMasouleh

Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.

10.22067/jstinp.2026.95418.1178

Abstract

This study uses an agent-based model to examine how stochastic noise, agent mobility, neighborhood radius, population size, and initial norm diversity jointly shape the persistence and convergence of social norms. The model represents agents on a 33×33 toroidal grid. At each tick, agents move according to a bounded step size, observe norms within a specified radius, conform to a unique local majority when one exists, and may independently adopt a randomly selected norm with a fixed noise probability. A full factorial design crossed five parameters (72 configurations), with 30 replications per configuration and a 100-tick horizon. The available BehaviorSpace export contains the cell-level means and standard deviations across those replications. Factorial ANOVA at tick 100 shows strong effects of mobility, neighborhood radius, noise, and initial norm diversity on the number of surviving norms. Mobility and radius also strongly increase the share of the modal norm, while noise has no detectable main effect on modal share after the other factors and interactions are controlled. Most importantly, the mobility × radius interaction is strong for both outcomes, supporting the claim that spatial exploration and informational reach reinforce one another. The model is theoretical rather than empirically calibrated; its contribution is therefore mechanistic rather than predictive.

Keywords

Agent-Based Modeling

Norm Convergence

Norm Diversity

Social Influence

Mobility

Stochasticity

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