Multi-Factor Model and Simulation of Social Cohesion and Its Effect on Evacuation

Abstract

In this paper we propose an analysis of social cohesion in terms of 3 factors: emotions, social norms, and mutual knowledge. These factors have previously been analysed separately in terms of Beliefs, Desires, Intentions (BDI) logics, but have not been merged into a unified model. The goal of this paper is to provide a unified agent-based model and describe its implementation in the GAMA simulation platform. The simulator is applied to an evacuation case study and different scenarios are run to evaluate the impact of the 3 factors on cohesion, as well as the effect of cohesion on evacuation. This paper describes first results and concludes with interesting future prospects.