An agent-based model of indirect minority influence on social change and diversity
Authored by Aaron Bramson, Jiin Jung, William D Crano
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.1080/15534510.2017.1415961
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Abstract
The present paper describes an agent-based model of indirect minority
influence. It examines whether indirect minority influence can lead to
social change as a function of cognitive rebalancing, a process whereby
related attitudes are affected when one attitude is changed. An attitude
updating algorithm was modelled with minimal assumptions drawing on
social psychology theories of indirect minority influence. Results
revealed that facing direct majority influence, indirect minority
influence along with cognitive rebalancing is a recipe for social
change. Furthermore, indirect minority influence promotes and maintains
attitudinal diversity in local ingroups and throughout the society. We
discuss the findings in terms of social influence theories and suggest
promising avenues for model extensions for theory building in minority
influence and social change.
Tags
Agent-based modelling
polarization
emergence
Diversity
networks
information
perspective
social change
Opinion
Psychology
Responses
Attitude-change
Majority
Indirect minority influence
Cognitive rebalancing