Evolution of preference orderings for the Deterrence Game

We investigate the evolution and survival of decision making strategies for the Deterrence Game in a population of interacting agents. The Deterrence Game is a sequential, two player game that is used to study how player preference orderings affect the outcome in situations of conflict. Although there are twenty-four possible player preference orderings, only five are given serious theoretical attention in the deterrence literature. We use analytical and empirical approaches to investigate what are the characteristics that make a preference ordering competitive or uncompetitive and whether the five traditionally studied preference orderings are the most competitive for their roles. Results find that four out of the five traditionally studied preference orderings are highly competitive. The fifth preference ordering is analytically moderately competitive but empirically unsuccessful. Analysis of all twenty-four preference orderings indicates that there are additional preference orderings that behave identically to the traditional five and are competitive.