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process of inter-individual social adjustment demonstrates the interplay between indi-
vidual value orientations and social norms in HAPPenInGS. However, neither the exis-
tence of the process as such nor its assessment can readily be guessed from the
HAPPenInGS theory beforehand. Instead the results are genuine contributions of the
methodical approach of ABSS.
Furthermore, the simulation experiments allowed narrowing down the circumstances
under which social conformity preferences can conflict with social value orientations.
Under such conditions individual behaviours may emerge to be inconsistent with indi-
vidual value orientations - egoists contribute more, but in turn altruists contribute less.
Again, such implications illustrate well the added value of the method of ABSS. Inter-
estingly, there is empirical work demonstrating the existence of this “Boomerang Ef-
fect” for the case of household energy conservation [22]. The study shows that when
households are provided with a descriptive social norm [11] indicating average energy
consumption behaviour within their residential neighbourhood they appear to adjust
their consumption behaviour towards this norm. In other words, the social norm tends to
interfere with other factors influencing decision-making. In line with the results of
HAPPenInGS-A, the study showed that this adjustment is symmetrical in nature:
Households consuming more energy than the average reduce their consumption while
those already saving energy increase their consumption towards the mean.
Finally, when the influence of social conformity preferences on individual deci-
sion-making increases it has to be expected that likewise properties of the underlying
social network topology impact macro-level outcomes. In political sociology research
in this direction has been undertaken for the case of the collective action of political
participation [23]. Yet, such approaches lack psychological soundness in the represen-
tation of individual decision-making. This gap could be filled by scenario simulations
based on HAPPenInGS.
Acknowledgements.
This research was funded by the German Federal Ministry of
Education and Research (BMBF). I wish to thank Andreas Ernst for fruitful inputs
and discussions.
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