Document Type
Article
Source Publication Title
Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering
First Page
1587
Last Page
1607
Abstract
Mathematical models are well-established as metaphors for biological and epidemiological systems. The framework of epidemic modeling has also been applied to sociological phenomena driven by peer pressure, notably in two dozen dynamical systems research projects developed through the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute, and popularized by authors such as Gladwell (2000). This article reviews these studies and their common structures, and identifies a new mathematical metaphor which uses multiple nonlinearities to describe the multiple thresholds governing the persistence of hierarchical phenomena, including the situation termed a ``backward bifurcation'' in mathematical epidemiology, where established phenomena can persist in circumstances under which the phenomena could not initially emerge.
Disciplines
Mathematics | Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Publication Date
1-1-2013
Language
English
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Kribs, Christopher, "Sociological phenomena as multiple nonlinearities: MTBI's new metaphor for complex human interactions" (2013). Mathematics Faculty Publications. 19.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/math_facpubs/19