From physical to social interactions: The relative entropy model

Complex social systems at various scales of analysis (e.g. dyads, families, tribes, etc.) are formed and maintained through verbal interactions. Therefore, the ability to (1) model these interactions and (2) to use models of interaction for identifying significant relations may be of interest to the social sciences. Adopting the perspective of social physics, we present a general approach for modeling interactions through relative entropy. For illustrating the benefits of the approach, we derive measures of “perspective-taking” and use them for identifying significant-romantic relations in a data set composed of the verbal interactions taken place at the famous TV series “Sex and the City”. Using these measures, we show that significant-romantic relations can be identified with success. These results provide preliminary support for the benefits of using the proposed approach.