Individual Competence Evolution Under Equality Bias

In a group of individuals aiming for a collective decision, that decision is influenced by individual competences, but these are in turn subject to a reciprocal influence. Such an influence may lead to less competent agents exerting an unduly influence, a phenomenon known as equality bias. In this paper an agent-based model is proposed to investigate the evolution of competences under such a reciprocal influence. Through MonteCarlo simulation it is shown that: a) the average competence at steady state diminishes as the degree of interaction among the agents and/or the number of agents grow, both in the case of just positive influence (more competent agents increasing the competence of less competent one) and when both positive and negative influences are present; b) the convergence towards a steady state value is slow and characterized by oscillations.