In today’s world, you probably belong to a variety of social networks, like your school friends, family, sports teams, and online communities, where each interaction can be likened to playing a "game" with specific rules and rewards. For instance, you might interact differently with classmates than you do with family members.
New research from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata (IISER Kolkata) explores how such simultaneous interactions can be modelled using the framework of multichannel games on multiplex networks. Multiplex networks allow researchers to represent interactions involving the same set of people across various contexts—essentially a network of networks with potentially overlapping structures. In this model, each "layer" of the network has a different set of rules or benefits for cooperation. For example, one layer might reward you more for being helpful than another does.
The focus of this study is on understanding how the structure of these multiplex networks and the linking of strategies across different contexts can influence the spread of cooperative behaviour. Cooperation is fundamental for social cohesion and evolution, allowing individuals to achieve shared benefits that wouldn't be possible through solitary efforts alone. However, fostering cooperation can be challenging, especially when individuals face the temptation to act selfishly—a concept commonly illustrated by the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a classic game theory scenario where mutual cooperation yields the best overall outcome, but individuals have an incentive to betray their partners for personal gain.
The research shows that when individuals can link their strategies across different social domains or network layers, the overall level of cooperation can significantly increase. In simpler terms, if you have lots of friends in common across different layers, being equally cooperative in all of them might encourage more teamwork and collaboration. However, if the layers are very different, the benefits of linking strategies might not be as strong. Scientists also looked at something they called "strategy linking." This is when people decide to use the same strategy in different networks, especially if they have some of the same friends in those networks.
The researchers also noted that mistakes and misunderstandings could decrease cooperation. If someone remembers a previous interaction incorrectly, it could make them less likely to cooperate in the future. This is important because even small errors in communication can have big effects on cooperation rates.
Cooperation has always been critical for the survival of humans, and especially important in solving big problems like climate change, poverty, and global health issues. The research could help us understand how social structure and strategy dynamics influence cooperative behaviour, a key inquiry in fields like sociology, evolutionary biology, and economics. Practically, it helps to design better organizational structures and social policies that foster cooperation, particularly in systems where people interact in multiple roles or settings simultaneously, from workplace teams to digital social platforms. For future research, the study also suggests looking at other types of social dilemmas and network structures to understand better how cooperation spreads in human societies.
This research news was partly generated using artificial intelligence and edited by an editor at Research Matters.