How Behavior Spreads: The Science of Complex Contagions

Damon Centola, associate professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and Penn Engineering, uses formal and computational models of social networks to study collective human dynamics.

As the Director of the Network Dynamics Group and a member of the Warren Center for Network & Data Sciences, he uses online experiments to study how changes to the structure of these social networks can dramatically impact the spread of ideas and behaviors across large populations. This has implications for technology adoption, health outcomes, and social movements.

Centola’s recent book, “How Behavior Spreads: The Science of Complex Contagions,” published by Princeton University Press, details this work.