Mapping the social landscape: tracking patterns of interpersonal relationships

• Published in: Trends in cognitive sciences 2022-03, Vol.26 (3), p.204-221
• Main Authors: Basyouni, Ruby, Parkinson, Carolyn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Cognition; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Primates; Social Behavior; social cognition; Social Networking; social networks; social status; third-party relationships
• ISSN: 1364-6613; 1879-307X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.12.006

It is widely believed that the demands of living in large, complexly bonded social groups played a key role in the evolution of human cognition. This review focuses on a critical but understudied skillset in the social-living toolkit: the ability to acquire, maintain, and use knowledge of the interpersonal relationships among the people around oneself. We provide a multidisciplinary synthesis of a diverse set of relevant findings, including recent work on the neural encoding and cognitive and behavioral consequences of knowledge of real-world social networks, research on how third-party relationship knowledge is tracked and used by children and other highly social primates, and research examining how people’s knowledge of their social networks can be leveraged to inform the design of interventions aiming to promote behavior change or to efficiently spread information. We also highlight important unanswered questions and avenues in need of further exploration. Successful living in a complex social environment requires individuals to track the interpersonal relationships between others that comprise their social networks.Individuals track much information about their social networks, and others’ positions within them, relatively accurately.Mental shortcuts can reduce the cost of tracking social network information, but often lead to errors and biases.Knowledge of patterns of ties in one’s social network shapes social inferences and behavior.