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Societies have functions for individuals and collectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2025

Paul E. Smaldino Open the ORCID record for Paul E. Smaldino [Opens in a new window]
Paul E. Smaldino*
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA psmaldino@ucmerced.edu https://smaldino.com Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

The definition of society as identity group is most likely to be useful when combined with the instrumental functions of identity groupings. These take two key forms, with important differences. First, identity groupings are useful for individual decision making. Second, societies can be units of collective behavior and information processing. Disentanglement of these forms is needed.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e71
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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