35,992 research outputs found
Novel Multidimensional Models of Opinion Dynamics in Social Networks
Unlike many complex networks studied in the literature, social networks
rarely exhibit unanimous behavior, or consensus. This requires a development of
mathematical models that are sufficiently simple to be examined and capture, at
the same time, the complex behavior of real social groups, where opinions and
actions related to them may form clusters of different size. One such model,
proposed by Friedkin and Johnsen, extends the idea of conventional consensus
algorithm (also referred to as the iterative opinion pooling) to take into
account the actors' prejudices, caused by some exogenous factors and leading to
disagreement in the final opinions.
In this paper, we offer a novel multidimensional extension, describing the
evolution of the agents' opinions on several topics. Unlike the existing
models, these topics are interdependent, and hence the opinions being formed on
these topics are also mutually dependent. We rigorous examine stability
properties of the proposed model, in particular, convergence of the agents'
opinions. Although our model assumes synchronous communication among the
agents, we show that the same final opinions may be reached "on average" via
asynchronous gossip-based protocols.Comment: Accepted by IEEE Transaction on Automatic Control (to be published in
May 2017
Reconciling long-term cultural diversity and short-term collective social behavior
An outstanding open problem is whether collective social phenomena occurring
over short timescales can systematically reduce cultural heterogeneity in the
long run, and whether offline and online human interactions contribute
differently to the process. Theoretical models suggest that short-term
collective behavior and long-term cultural diversity are mutually excluding,
since they require very different levels of social influence. The latter
jointly depends on two factors: the topology of the underlying social network
and the overlap between individuals in multidimensional cultural space.
However, while the empirical properties of social networks are well understood,
little is known about the large-scale organization of real societies in
cultural space, so that random input specifications are necessarily used in
models. Here we use a large dataset to perform a high-dimensional analysis of
the scientific beliefs of thousands of Europeans. We find that inter-opinion
correlations determine a nontrivial ultrametric hierarchy of individuals in
cultural space, a result unaccessible to one-dimensional analyses and in
striking contrast with random assumptions. When empirical data are used as
inputs in models, we find that ultrametricity has strong and counterintuitive
effects, especially in the extreme case of long-range online-like interactions
bypassing social ties. On short time-scales, it strongly facilitates a
symmetry-breaking phase transition triggering coordinated social behavior. On
long time-scales, it severely suppresses cultural convergence by restricting it
within disjoint groups. We therefore find that, remarkably, the empirical
distribution of individuals in cultural space appears to optimize the
coexistence of short-term collective behavior and long-term cultural diversity,
which can be realized simultaneously for the same moderate level of mutual
influence
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Mathematical Structures in Group Decision-Making on Resource Allocation Distributions.
Optimal decisions on the distribution of finite resources are explicitly structured by mathematical models that specify relevant variables, constraints, and objectives. Here we report analysis and evidence that implicit mathematical structures are also involved in group decision-making on resource allocation distributions under conditions of uncertainty that disallow formal optimization. A group's array of initial distribution preferences automatically sets up a geometric decision space of alternative resource distributions. Weighted averaging mechanisms of interpersonal influence reduce the heterogeneity of the group's initial preferences on a suitable distribution. A model of opinion formation based on weighted averaging predicts a distribution that is a feasible point in the group's implicit initial decision space
Learning and Forecasting Opinion Dynamics in Social Networks
Social media and social networking sites have become a global pinboard for
exposition and discussion of news, topics, and ideas, where social media users
often update their opinions about a particular topic by learning from the
opinions shared by their friends. In this context, can we learn a data-driven
model of opinion dynamics that is able to accurately forecast opinions from
users? In this paper, we introduce SLANT, a probabilistic modeling framework of
opinion dynamics, which represents users opinions over time by means of marked
jump diffusion stochastic differential equations, and allows for efficient
model simulation and parameter estimation from historical fine grained event
data. We then leverage our framework to derive a set of efficient predictive
formulas for opinion forecasting and identify conditions under which opinions
converge to a steady state. Experiments on data gathered from Twitter show that
our model provides a good fit to the data and our formulas achieve more
accurate forecasting than alternatives
Evolution of Social Power for Opinion Dynamics Networks
This article studies the evolution of opinions and interpersonal influence
structures in a group of agents as they discuss a sequence of issues, each of
which follows an opinion dynamics model. In this work, we propose a general
opinion dynamics model and an evolution of interpersonal influence structures
based on the model of reflected appraisals proposed by Friedkin. Our
contributions can be summarized as follows: (i) we introduce a model of opinion
dynamics and evolution of interpersonal influence structures between issues
viewed as a best response cost minimization to the neighbor's actions, (ii) we
show that DeGroot's and Friedkin-Johnsen's models of opinion dynamics and their
evolution of interpersonal influence structures are particular cases of our
proposed model, and (iii) we prove the existence of an equilibrium. This work
is a step towards providing a solid formulation of the evolution of opinions
and interpersonal influence structures over a sequence of issues
Multi-choice opinion dynamics model based on Latane theory
In this paper Nowak--Szamrej-Latan\'e model is reconsidered. This
computerised model of opinion formation bases on Latan\'e theory of social
impact. We modify this model to allow for multi (more than two) opinions. With
computer simulations we show that in the modified model the signatures of
order/disorder phase transition are still observed. The transition may be
observed in the average fraction of actors sharing the -th opinion, its
variation and also average number of clusters of actors with the same opinion
and the average size of the largest cluster of actors sharing the same opinion.
Also an influence of model control parameters on simulation results is shortly
reviewed. For a homogeneous society with identical actors' supportiveness and
persuasiveness the critical social temperature decreases with an increase
of available opinions from () via 4.7, 4.1 to for
, 4, 5, respectively.Comment: 12 page
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