Spillover modes in multiplex games: double-edged effects on cooperation and their coevolution.

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Game Theory
• Network Science
• Social Dynamics

Background:

• Growing interest in games on multiplex networks.
• Limited understanding of cross-context strategy interference (spillover) on cooperation.
• Need to quantify spillover effects in linked social contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of three plausible spillover modes on cooperation evolution.
• To analyze how cross-layer strategy transfer and implementation errors affect cooperation.
• To compare the co-evolutionary dynamics of strategies under different spillover conditions.

Main Methods:

• Modeling social interactions on two network layers: lattice and random.
• Utilizing extended pair approximation for analytical results.
• Conducting extensive simulations to validate analytical findings.

Main Results:

• Spillover exhibits double-edged effects: promoting cooperation when favored in one layer, but hindering it at high intensities.
• Discovered bistability: spillover's impact (hindering or promoting cooperation) depends on initial cooperation frequencies.
• Identified distinct co-evolutionary dynamics for strategies across different spillover modes.

Conclusions:

• Spillover's influence on cooperation is complex and context-dependent.
• Results offer testable predictions for future research on human cooperation.
• Findings illuminate cooperation dynamics across diverse social domains.