General preference structures in the graph model for conflicts

A flexible methodology is developed for representing the broad range of preferences which may be required for calibrating models used in decision-making. The types of preferences that can be handled include those exhibiting intransitivities as well as indifferences. When a decision-maker’s preference is intransitive, there are scenarios (outcomes) x,y and z such that the decision-maker prefers x to y and y to z, but z to x. At the opposite extreme, a decision-maker with strictly ordinal preferences can rank the scenarios from most to least preferred such that there are no ties, i.e. no two scenarios are equally preferred. The many kinds of preference information encountered in practice can be properly and systematically incorporated into important decision models such as the graph model for conflicts, which is known to be particularly effective and convenient for analyzing real world conflicts. The modifications that are necessary for utilizing complex preference information in the graph model for conflicts are described and illustrated.