A multi-agent model of opinion formation with group polarization

Abstract

This paper studies the opinion dynamics with group polarization. We say a process of opinion formation is polarizing if the final opinions after group discussion are more divergent than individuals' initial opinions. To capture this phenomenon, we develop a multi-agent model of opinion formation in which each agent forms her opinion according to all arguments available to her, and during interacting with other agents, she assimilates the arguments of neighbors in a biased manner which can be represented by a modified Polya's Urn process. We find that biased assimilation of arguments can result in group polarization effectively, especially under the condition when the agents are relatively isolated in the network.