Modelling social norms in multiagent systems

Social norms are cultural phenomena that naturally emerge in human societies and help prescribe and proscribe normative patterns of behavior. In recent times, the discipline of multiagent systems has been modeling social norms in artificial society of agents. This paper reviews norms in multiagent systems and then offers exploration of a series of norms in a simulated urban traffic setting. Using game theoretic concepts we define and offer an account of norm stability. Particularly in small groups, for the norm of cooperation to evolve and be stable, a relatively small number of individuals with cooperative attitude are needed. In contrast, in larger populations, to achieve stability larger proportion of cooperating individuals are required.