Abstract
We consider the process of opinion formation, in a society where there is a set of rules B that indicates whether a social instance is acceptable. Public opinion is formed by the integration of the voters’ attitudes which can be either conservative (mostly in agreement with B) or liberal (mostly in disagreement with B and in agreement with peer voters). These attitudes are represented by stable fixed points in the phase space of the system. In this article we study the properties of a perturbative term, mimicking the effects of a publicity campaign, that pushes the system from the basin of attraction of the liberal fixed point into the basin of the conservative point, when both fixed points are equally likely.
Highlights
In the present article we analyze the effects that publicity campaigns have on the opinionformation process in a population of interacting agents
The model we present in this article differs from the classical Deffuant model of opinion dynamics [15], where the interaction between voters takes place if the difference between the variables that indicate the opinions of the interacting agents is bellow a given threshold
According to Definition (9) and Eq (12) we can expect that, if the agent a learns from the rule B, the overlap Ra = 1 − ra/N, where the constant 0 < ra ∼ O(1). Using this hypothesis to model the action of a publicity campaign in favor of the rule B and following the results reported in [13] we propose the following modification to the learning algorithm (2): Ja,n+1 = Ja,n + ψa,n σ√B,nSn + fn |√Ja,n|
Summary
In the present article we analyze the effects that publicity campaigns have on the opinionformation process in a population of interacting agents. Opinions are highly dynamic mental representations of individuals’ beliefs, resulting from processes of inference frequently done with insufficient information They play a fundamental role in individuals’ reaction to social situations that can trigger collective responses [4,5,6]. Peer interaction occurs between connected agents; the information about these connections is stored into a directed graph that determines the topology of the society [7,8,9]. If this interaction is sufficiently strong, local consensuses, opposed to the rule B may appear. The combination of these two sources of disorder, introduced through the set of examples for the learning process, and through the Communicated by Deepak Dhar
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
