Local Opinion Heterogeneity and Individual Participation in Collective Behavior: A Reconsideration

Authored by Hai-hua Hu, Wen-tian Cui, Jun Lin

Date Published: 2015

Sponsors: Chinese National Natural Science Foundation

Platforms: MATLAB

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Pseudocode

Model Code URLs: https://www.comses.net/codebases/3969/releases/1.0.0/

Abstract

Local opinion heterogeneity (LOH) critically influences an individual's choice of collective behaviors, such as voting and protesting. However, several empirical studies have presented different conclusions on how LOH affects such preference. In the current research, the effect of LOH is considered based on agent-based modeling and the threshold model introduced by Granovetter (1978). A series of simulation experiments and statistical analyses are conducted. Results show that LOH has an inverse U-shape effect on the likelihood of participation (whether an individual decides to participate). By contrast, the findings reveal that LOH has a monotonous effect on participation timing (when a participant makes the decision). Specifically, when LOH is high, an individual opts to participate early. These observations can be explained by the influence of LOH on the structure of social networks and by the moderating effect of the global distribution of opinions within the population.

Tags

Social networks Dynamics Model Environments Consequences Public-opinion Political-participation Disagreement Citizenship Engagement