Models of Identity Signaling

Abstract

Identity signals inform receivers of a signaler’s membership in a subset of individuals, and in doing so shape cooperation, conflict, and social learning. Understanding the use and consequences of identity signaling is therefore critical for a complete science of collective human behavior. As is true for all complex social systems, this understanding is aided by the use of formal mathematical and computational models. Here I review some formal models of identity signaling. I divide these models into two categories. First, I discuss models used to study how identity functions as a signal, with a focus on public-health-related behavior and disease transmission. Second, I discuss models used to understand how identity signals operate strategically in different social environments, with a focus on covert, or encrypted, communication.