Opinion polarization in the Receipt-Accept-Sample model
arXiv:0806.1204 · doi:10.1016/j.physa.2008.10.037
Abstract
The Zaller theory of opinion formation is reformulated with one free parameter , which measures the largest possible ideological distance which can be made by a citizen in one mental step. Our numerical results show the transient effects: {\it i)} the political awareness, measured by the number of received messages, increases with time first exponentially, later linearly; {\it ii)} for small correlations are present between previously and newly received messages; {\it iii)} these correlation lead to a hyperdiffusion effect in the space of attitudes of messages. Citizens with small are more prone to extremal opinions.
13 pages, 6 figures; text improved, thanks to Referees