A dynamical model for competing opinions

Abstract

We propose an opinion model based on agents located at the vertices of a regular lattice. Each agent has an independent opinion (among an arbitrary, but fixed, number of choices) and its own degree of conviction. The latter changes every time it interacts with another agent who has a different opinion. The dynamics leads to size distributions of clusters (made up of agents which have the same opinion and are located at contiguous spatial positions) which follow a power law, as long as the range of the interaction between the agents is not too short, i.e. the system self-organizes into a critical state. Short range interactions lead to an exponential cut off in the size distribution and to spatial correlations which cause agents which have the same opinion to be closely grouped. When the diversity of opinions is restricted to two, non-consensus dynamic is observed, with unequal population fractions, whereas consensus is reached if the agents are also allowed to interact with those which are located far from them.

References in corpus (5)

• Statistical physics of social dynamics
• Dynamics of Non-Conservative Voters
• Van Kampen's expansion approach in an opinion formation model
• Exact solution of the Nonconsensus Opinion Model on the line
• Faster is More Different: Mean-Field Dynamics of Innovation Diffusion

Cited by in corpus (6)

• The undecided have the key: Interaction-driven opinion dynamics in a three state model
• Homophily on social networks changes evolutionary advantage in competitive information diffusion
• Role of noise and agents' convictions on opinion spreading in a three-state voter-like model
• Impact of network randomness on multiple opinion dynamics
• Faster is More Different: Mean-Field Dynamics of Innovation Diffusion
• Voter Model with Arbitrary Degree Dependence: Clout, Confidence and Irreversibility