Opinion formation and bi-polarization with biased assimilation and homophily
Authored by Guiyuan Fu, Weidong Zhang
Date Published: 2016
DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2015.10.006
Sponsors:
Chinese National Natural Science Foundation
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
An agent-based model incorporating biased assimilation is proposed in
this paper to investigate opinion dynamics over a connected social
network. The opinion of each agent is represented by a sequence of
arguments, and it evolves through the interactions between agents. The
probability that one agent chooses another to communicate depends on the
similarity of their opinions. During every interaction, interacting
agents exchange the argument randomly selected from the corresponding
arguments sequence. Theoretical analysis reveals that this model results
in consensus on either extreme positive opinion or extreme negative
opinion, or generates bi-polarization. Numerical simulations are carried
out to investigate the dynamics of the model over different networks.
Results are obtained in terms of the effect of homophily, biased
assimilation and network topology on opinion formation. (C) 2015
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Tags
Dynamics
Culture