A Holistic Approach to Human Behavior

Human behavior can be approached from multiple perspectives. These different perspectives led to the emergence and development of distinct human and social sciences, most notably psychology, sociology, economics, and political science. These sciences look at a same reality—how people decide and act in social contexts—and therefore they overlap in many respects. This book searches for a transdisciplinary view on human behavior. It does so in two ways: first, by presenting a series of studies in which human diversity and heterogeneity is highlighted (people are different regarding wealth and income endowments, personality, cognitive capabilities, political preferences, social skills, moral standards, and much more); second, by modelling behavior through a stylized agent-based model, in which each individual is endowed with a unique profile that distinguishes her/him from her/his partners in social relations. By establishing a set of relatively simple interaction rules, the model can simulate aggregate economic results and social trends. This first chapter highlights the main ideas that are approached in the detail throughout the book.