Statistical mechanics of collective behavior: Macro-sociology

The spatial and temporal evolution of collective behavior in large populations is simulated with a cellular automaton model and predicted with a statistical mechanical analytical theory of macro-sociological behavior. The numerical cellular automaton simulations show that the type of collective behavior observed in a group depends sensitively on the group's social temperature with consensus more likely at higher temperatures and fragmented pockets of majority and minority opinions at lower temperatures. An analytical derivation using a mean field approximation confirms this behavior and also identifies a critical social temperature (T(s)approximate to 1) above which organized collective behavior disappears. Using social forces as well as social temperatures, the statistical mechanical theory predicts existing macro-sociological data on collective behavior.