Adaptive behaviors neutralize bistable explosive transitions in higher-order contagion

2026-01-09

AI Summary

This study investigates how risk-perception-driven adaptive behavior modulates bistable explosive phase transitions in higher-order contagion processes. By integrating numerical simulations with mean-field theory, the authors develop a model in which individuals dynamically adjust their interaction strategies based on local risk perception, and systematically analyze its impact on both pairwise and higher-order transmission dynamics. The findings reveal that such adaptive behavior substantially attenuates the nonlinear effects induced by higher-order interactions, effectively narrowing or even entirely eliminating the parameter regime of bistability. Consequently, the system’s phase transition shifts from explosive to continuous, highlighting the critical role of behavioral feedback in suppressing critical phenomena associated with higher-order contagion.

Technology Category

• Game Theory and Economic Paradigms: Behavioral Game Theory
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Adaptive Behavior
• Multiagent Systems: Agent-Based Simulation and Emergent Behavior

Application Category

• Social Networks and Social Media: Media and governance, opinion dynamics, filter bubbles, polarization
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Attacks and countermeasures in recommendation systems
• Semantics and Knowledge: Methods to enhance, augment, integrate or synergize semantic models such as knowledge graphs and LLMs

Abstract

During contagion phenomena, individuals perceiving a risk of infection commonly adapt their behavior and reduce their exposure. The effects of such adaptive mechanisms have been studied for processes in which pairwise interactions drive contagion. However, contagion and the perception of infection risk can also involve ("higher-order") group interactions, leading potentially to new phenomenology. How adaptive behavior resulting from risk perception affects higher-order processes remains an open question. Here, we consider the impact of several risk-based adaptive behaviors on pairwise and higher-order contagion processes, using numerical simulations and an analytical mean-field approach. For pairwise contagion, adaptive mechanisms based on local (pairwise or group-based) risk perception impact only the endemic state, without affecting the epidemic phase transition. For higher-order contagion processes, instead, the adaptivity defuses the impact of non-linear group interactions: this reduces or even completely suppresses the parameter range in which bistability is possible, effectively transforming a higher-order contagion process into a pairwise one.

Problem

• higher-order contagion
• adaptive behavior
• bistability
• explosive transitions
• risk perception

Innovation

• higher-order contagion
• adaptive behavior
• bistability
• risk perception
• explosive transition