Emerging heterogeneities in Italian customs and comparison with nearby countries

TL;DR

This study applies statistical mechanics techniques to analyze social marriage patterns across five European countries, revealing internal heterogeneities and cultural distinctions, especially in Italy's regional customs.

Contribution

It introduces novel analytical methods to detect collective social features and compares empirical data with theoretical models across multiple nations.

Findings

France, Italy, and Spain show internal heterogeneity in social behaviors.

Germany and Switzerland exhibit more homogeneous social patterns.

Italy displays significant regional differences in marriage customs.

Abstract

In this work we apply techniques and modus operandi typical of Statistical Mechanics to a large dataset about key social quantifiers and compare the resulting behaviours of five European nations, namely France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The social quantifiers considered are $i.$ the evolution of the number of autochthonous marriages (i.e. between two natives) within a given territorial district and $ii.$ the evolution of the number of mixed marriages (i.e. between a native and an immigrant) within a given territorial district. Our investigations are twofold. From a theoretical perspective, we develop novel techniques, complementary to classical methods (e.g. historical series and logistic regression), in order to detect possible collective features underlying the empirical behaviours; from an experimental perspective, we evidence a clear outline for the evolution of the social quantifiers considered. The comparison between experimental results and theoretical predictions is excellent and allows speculating that France, Italy and Spain display a certain degree of {\em internal heterogeneity}, that is not found in Germany and Switzerland; such heterogeneity, quite mild in France and in Spain, is not negligible in Italy and highlights quantitative differences in the customs of Northern and Southern regions. These findings may suggest the persistence of two culturally distinct communities, long-term lasting heritages of different and well-established cultures.