A generic model of dyadic social relationships

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Mathematical Modeling
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Relational Models Theory (RMT) describes human social relationships using four elementary models: Communal Sharing, Authority Ranking, Equality Matching, and Market Pricing.
• Existing theories lack a formal framework to explain the exhaustive nature of these four relational models.
• Understanding dyadic social interactions is crucial for analyzing complex social structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a formal model of dyadic social interactions.
• To establish the correspondence between the proposed model and the four relational models of RMT.
• To provide a theoretical explanation for the existence of exactly four fundamental relational models.

Main Methods:

• Developed a model based on individuals in a dyad performing one of three actions: the same as the other, a different action, or nothing.
• Represented social actions as discrete choices (e.g., action X or Y, or inaction).
• Analyzed the aggregation of these choices into distinct relationship categories.

Main Results:

• The model generates six exhaustive and disjoint categories of dyadic relationships.
• Four of these categories directly correspond to the four relational models in RMT.
• The remaining two categories align with the asocial and null interactions defined in RMT.

Conclusions:

• The proposed model provides a formal basis for understanding and deriving the four relational models of RMT.
• This work offers a mathematical explanation for why only four fundamental dyadic relationship models exist.
• The representation can be utilized for analyzing empirical data of social interactions and agent decision-making.