A computer simulation modeled the change of attitudes in a population resulting from the interactive, reciprocal, and recursive operation of Latane's (1981) theory of social impact, which specifies principles underlying how individuals are affected by their social environment. Surprisingly, several macrolevel phenomena emerged from the simple operation of this microlevel theory, including an incomplete polarization of opinions reaching a stable equilibrium, with coherent minority subgroups managing to exist near the margins of the whole population. Computer simulations, neglected in group dynamics for 20 years, may, as in modern physics, help determine the extent to which group-level phenomena result from individual-level processes.The computer simulations reported in this article were designed and conducted by Andrzej Nowak and Jacek Szamrej at the University of Warsaw with support from a grant on social pathology under the direction of Janusz Grzelak from the Institute of Resocialization and Social Prevention.

Abstract. The increasing integration of technology into our lives has created unprecedented volumes of data on society's everyday behaviour. Such data opens up exciting new opportunities to work towards a quantitative understanding of our complex social systems, within the realms of a new discipline known as Computational Social Science. Against a background of financial crises, riots and international epidemics, the urgent need for a greater comprehension of the complexity of our interconnected global society and an ability to apply such insights in policy decisions is clear. This manifesto outlines the objectives of this new scientific direction, considering the challenges involved in it, and the extensive impact on science, technology and society that the success of this endeavour is likely to bring about.

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Using cellular automata, the authors show how mutual influences among elements of self-relevant information give rise to dynamism, differentiation, and global evaluation in self-concept. The model assumes a press for integration that promotes internally generated dynamics and enables the self-structure to operate as a self-organizing dynamical system. When this press is set at high values, the self can resist inconsistent information and reestablish equilibrium after being perturbed by such information. A weak press for integration, on the other hand, impairs self-organization tendencies, making the system vulnerable to external information. Paradoxically, external information of a random nature may enhance the emergence of a stable self-structure in an initially disordered system. The simulation results suggest that important global properties of the self reflect the operation of integration processes that are generic in complex systems.

Human experience reflects the interplay ofmultiple forces operating on various time scales to promote constantly evolving patterns of thought, emotion, and action. The complexity and dynamism ofpersonal and social phenomena have long been recognized, but capturing thesefeatures ofpsychologicalprocess represents a serious challengefor traditional research methods. In this article, we introduce basic concepts and methodsfrom the study ofnonlinear dynamical systems, and we outline the relevance of these ideas and approachesfor investigating phenomena at different levels ofpsychological reality. We suggest that the dynamicalperspective is ideally suited to capture the emergence and maintenance ofglobal properties in a psychological system, andfor investigating the time-dependent relation between external influences and a system's internally generatedforces. Althoughfairly new to personality and socialpsychology, the dynamicalperspective has been implemented with respect to a wide variety ofphenomena, utilizing both empirical methods and computer simulations. This diversity oftopics and methods is reflected in the articles comprising the special issue.psr.sagepub.com Downloaded from

Summary To date, the vast majority of the research on aggression has been conducted on Western samples. This research expands the culture‐bound understanding of aggression by examining universal and culture‐specific dimensions that underlie the psychological structure of aggression. Drawing on cultural logics of honor, dignity, and face, we examine the construal of aggression across Pakistan, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Multidimensional scaling analyses revealed potentially universal dimensions of aggression. In all four nations, dimensions of damage to self‐worth and direct versus indirect aggression emerged, and a physical versus verbal aggression emerged in Pakistan, Israel, and Japan. In addition, an infringement to personal resources dimension emerged in the United States and Israel, and a degree of threat dimension emerged in Pakistan. Further, results demonstrated cultural specificity in terms of (i) where aggressive behaviors fell along each dimension and (ii) meanings that defined each dimension across cultures. These findings have implications for the prevention and attenuation of intercultural conflicts as well as the advancement of the cross‐cultural psychology and the aggression literatures. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ss expressed their moment-to-moment feelings about a target on a computer screen. In the 1 st study, the target was a positive, negative, or mixed-valence acquaintance; in the 2nd study, the target was a liked versus disliked acquaintance who committed a positive versus negative act. Several dynamic measures were derived from the positioning of the cursor (sampled 10 times per second) over a 2min period. The dimension of the structure underlying the observed dynamics was also assessed. Both sets of measures varied meaningfully across targets (e.g., feelings changed at a relatively fast and unstable rate for mixed-valence targets) and were correlated with self-report measures (e.g., instability in rate of movement was associated with self-reported uncertainty in feelings). Discussion centers on the viability and usefulness of framing social judgment in terms of dynamical systems concepts and principles.