The Effects of Decision-Making Processes and Population Turnover on the Formation of Social Networks

Figure 1

The model framework. At each time step 𝑡, every individual 𝑖 will evaluate his satisfaction based on current friend circles. Here, we simply generate a random number 𝑑 ranging from 0 to 1. If 𝑑>𝑈(𝑘), individual 𝑖 is not satisfied with current situation, and so he chooses a new friend 𝑗 from those used to be strangers (the red individual) and adds 𝑗 into his friends list. Meanwhile, 𝑗 also adds 𝑖 into his friends list. After all the individuals complete the decision-making processes independently, the network updates with 𝑛=𝑁∗𝜐 aged individuals along with their links removed from the network and the same number of newborns with no initial links added into the network. Then time step 𝑡 increases by 1.