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Updated: Jun 15, 2026

The HoneyComb Paradigm for Research on Collective Human Behavior
Published on: January 19, 2019
Group decision-making in fission-fusion societies
1Zoologisches Institut, Universität Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zurich, Switzerland. gkerth@orn.mpg.de
Abstract:
The prevalent view of group splitting during group decisions is that a beneficial consensus has not been reached because time constraints, different individual information, or inter-individual conflicts lead to fission instead of a compromise. However, societies with high fission-fusion dynamics may allow their members to avoid consensus decisions that are not in their favour without foregoing grouping benefits that arise from collective behaviour. Moreover, by forming temporary subgroups that represent individual preferences better than the group as a whole fission-fusion societies could avoid a permanent break up even in situations where conflicts among their members are to strong to reach a consensus.
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