Impact of network randomness on multiple opinion dynamics

Abstract

People often face the challenge of choosing among different options with similar attractiveness. To study the distribution of preferences that emerge in such situations, a useful approach is to simulate opinion dynamics on top of complex networks, composed by nodes (individuals) and their connections (edges), where the state of each node can be one amongst several opinions including the undecided state. We analyze two different dynamics: the one proposed by Travieso and Fontoura (TF) and the plurality rule (PR), which are paradigmatic of outflow and inflow dynamics, respectively. We are specially interested in the impact of the network randomness on the final distribution of opinions. For that purpose, we consider Watts–Strogatz networks, which possess the small-world property, and where randomness is controlled by a probability p of adding random shortcuts to an initially regular network. Depending on the value of p, the average connectivity 〈k〉, and the initial conditions, the final distribution can be basically (i) consensus, (ii) coexistence of different options, or (iii) predominance of indecision. We find that, in both dynamics, the predominance of a winning opinion is favored by increasing the number of reconnections (shortcuts), promoting consensus. In contrast to the TF case, in the PR dynamics, a fraction of undecided nodes can persist in the final state. In such cases, a maximum number of undecided nodes occurs within the small-world range of p, due to ties in the decision group.