Intra-group Tension Under Inter-group Conflict: A Generative Model Using Group Social Norms and Identity

Group behavior is an important feature of conflict scenarios. Often such groups are chaotically organized, but their ideals are sociologically embedded across members such that the group has expected behavior that can represent a major threat. Therefore being able to model the evolution of groups on a generative basis, to anticipate their possible mutation, is valuable. However this is complex due to the diverse nature of human behavior and scenarios. In this paper we present an innovative approach to modeling these issues. Group identities are represented in terms of the behaviors (social norms) that members are expected to carry out towards other groups. Individuals predominantly compose their identity from the identity of the groups to which they belong, which is known to occur in situations of heightened conflict. The model introduced enables exploration of tensions associated with affiliation to multiple groups and the influence on inclusion and exclusion of individuals.