S1 File -

We propose two analytical relationships between affinity and opinion change. The first one focuses on value homophily, while the second one incorporates affinity in opinion dynamics. Three analytical test models are derived based on these relationships: the value homophily model, the temporal evolution of opinion summation, and the evolution of opinion difference between two individuals. We test these models using data from a previous experiment, and the results demonstrate their validity.</div

Affinity score matrix at four time points (<i>μ</i> = 0.04) (a) n = 0, (b) n = 15, (c) n = 30, (d) n = 45.

Blue color represents lower affinity and red color higher affinity.</p

Model 3.

Case (a), (b), and (c) represent the three aforementioned cases. The horizontal axis represents the constructed variable, while the vertical axis represents the temporal change of the opinion score difference. The scatter points illustrate the distribution of these two variables, with darker colors indicating overlapping points. The deep blue fitted lines are drawn using the OLS method.</p

Model 1(with zoom-in).

Case (a), (b), and (c) represent the three previously mentioned cases. The horizontal axis represents the change in absolute opinion difference between the pair, while the vertical axis represents the logarithm of affinity change. The scatter points depict the relationships between these two changes after the interactions, with darker colors indicating overlapping points. The deep blue fitted lines are generated using the OLS method. For illustrative purposes, we have zoomed in on the central part of the complete figures. The complete figures can be found in S1 Appendix in S1 File.</p

Examples of topics.

We propose two analytical relationships between affinity and opinion change. The first one focuses on value homophily, while the second one incorporates affinity in opinion dynamics. Three analytical test models are derived based on these relationships: the value homophily model, the temporal evolution of opinion summation, and the evolution of opinion difference between two individuals. We test these models using data from a previous experiment, and the results demonstrate their validity.</div

Opinion evolution of 20 individuals.

μ= 0.02 for (a1), (a2), (a3) and μ = 0.04 for (b1), (b2), (b3). (a1) Affinity scores = 59, (b1) Affinity scores = 41 for all pairs and remain the same; (a2) (b2) Affinity scores keep their initial values and remain the same thereafter; (a3) (b3) Affinity scores coevolve with the opinion scores.</p

Statistical test results of Model 3.

We propose two analytical relationships between affinity and opinion change. The first one focuses on value homophily, while the second one incorporates affinity in opinion dynamics. Three analytical test models are derived based on these relationships: the value homophily model, the temporal evolution of opinion summation, and the evolution of opinion difference between two individuals. We test these models using data from a previous experiment, and the results demonstrate their validity.</div

Notations.

We propose two analytical relationships between affinity and opinion change. The first one focuses on value homophily, while the second one incorporates affinity in opinion dynamics. Three analytical test models are derived based on these relationships: the value homophily model, the temporal evolution of opinion summation, and the evolution of opinion difference between two individuals. We test these models using data from a previous experiment, and the results demonstrate their validity.</div

Model 2.

Case (a), (b), and (c) represent the three aforementioned cases. The horizontal axis represents the opinion summation at the current time point, while the vertical axis represents the opinion summation at the next time point. The scatter points depict the distribution of these two sums, with darker colors indicating overlapping points. The deep blue fitted lines are generated using the OLS method.</p

Schematic of interaction process.

We propose two analytical relationships between affinity and opinion change. The first one focuses on value homophily, while the second one incorporates affinity in opinion dynamics. Three analytical test models are derived based on these relationships: the value homophily model, the temporal evolution of opinion summation, and the evolution of opinion difference between two individuals. We test these models using data from a previous experiment, and the results demonstrate their validity.</div