Figure 3
From: Social networks in primates: smart and tolerant species have more efficient networks
Representation of the dynamic relationship between social networks, efficiency (information or disease flow) and individuals48.
Individual characteristics influence social networks through their effects on social relationships and also network efficiency through variation both in individual behaviour and individual preferences for sociality. These are emergent properties because the network is more than the sum of individual interactions; therefore its properties are not directly traceable by studying only behavioural interactions. As feedback, network efficiency could influence the behaviour of individuals to be more central in the network or favour information flow. Selective pressures (ecological or social) have direct effects on how individuals interact, associate and on the overall social network and thus on sociality and efficiency. These three different levels have a direct effect on individual fitness, which influences individual characteristics through natural selection. This overall schema shows how natural selection at the individual level can favour upper-level structure such as social networks and their efficiency.
