How do the social norms and expectations about others influence individual behavior? Quantum model of self/other-perspective interaction in the strategic decision-making
Abstract
Social norms can be understood as the grammar of social interaction (Bicchieri 2006). As grammar in speech, it specifies what is acceptable in the given context.
But what are the specific rules that direct human behavior? This paper presents a quantitative model of the self- and the other-perspective interaction based on so called 'quantum model of decision-making', which can explain some of the 'fallacies' of the classical model of traditional choice. The model enables to define how the actor's expectation about others influence his decision (and vice versa).
The model was designed for the strategic interaction of two players and tested in the case of one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma game. The results confirm the prediction of the model, including quantitative prediction in the form of the q-test.
Quantum model of decision-making offers a new conceptual framework for examining the interaction of the self- and the other-perspective in the process of social interaction. It enables to specify how the social norms influence individual behavior in the way that is consistent with the known qualitative and quantitative results.