Opinion Dynamics Model Based on Cognitive Styles: Field-Dependence and Field-Independence

Abstract

Two distinct cognitive styles exist from the perspective of cognition: field-dependence and field-independence. In most public opinion dynamics models, people only consider that individuals update their opinions through interactions with other individuals. This represents the field-dependent cognitive style of the individual. The field-independent cognitive style is ignored in such cases. We consider both cognitive styles in public opinion dynamics and propose a public opinion evolution model based on cognitive styles (CS model). The opinions of neighbors and experiences of the individual represent field-dependent cognition and field-independent cognition, respectively, and the individual combines both cognitive styles to update his/her own opinion. In the proposed model, the experience parameter is designed to represent the weight of the current opinion in terms of the individual’s experiences and the cognitive parameter is proposed to represent the tendencies of his/her cognitive styles. We experimentally verify that the CS and Hegselmann–Krause (HK) models are similar in terms of public opinion evolution trends; with an increase in radius of confidence, the steady state of a social system shifts from divergence to polarization and eventually reaches consensus. Considering that individuals from different cultures have different degrees of inclination for the two styles, we present experiments focusing on cognitive parameter and experience parameter and analyze the evolutionary trends of opinion dynamics in different styles. We find that when an individual has a greater tendency toward the field-independent cognitive style under the influence of culture, the time required for a social system to reach a steady state will increase; the system will have greater difficultly in reaching consensus, mirroring the evolutionary trends in public opinion in the context of eastern and western cultures. The CS model constitutes an opinion dynamics model that is more consistent with the real world and may also serve as a basis for future cross-cultural research.