Evolutionary modeling of time-use vectors

Based on a genetic algorithm a computer simulation was constructed to generate the process of development of time-use among large population samples across long time-spans. The simulation uses empirical time-use data to reconstruct empirically observed behaviors, and tests the impact of parameters representing economic constraints and behavioral preferences. Seeding the simulation with random data and probabilistic combination rules, we produced an archetypal society with the same essential characteristics as the empirical data. The addition of empirically derived and theoretical evolutionary selection pressures alters the development of patterns of time-use, revealing the interplay between inhibiting constraints and motivation to adopt new behaviors.