Cultural awareness in social agents in activity generation on a macro scale.

Abstract

In this thesis a model for cultural awareness for agents in activity generation is proposed. A social network generation process is used to represent social connections necessary for realistic cultural behaviour among agents. Using need-based activity generation, that uses random utility maximisation, agents will plan their agendas for multiple days. Special activities are introduced to model dynamic decision making of the agents during the day, called dynamic activities, next to the more static activities that are planned for the whole day beforehand. Hofstede’s model of culture is used to adjust the utility functions, to make the agents more cultural aware. An experiment is set up to show the effectiveness of the model, i.e. the agents’ behaviour is changed according to the expectations of Hofstede’s model, and it is shown why the results are non-conclusive.