TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel opinion dynamics model based on expanded observation ranges and individuals' social influences in social networks
AU - Diao, Su Meng
AU - Liu, Yun
AU - Zeng, Qing An
AU - Luo, Gui Xun
AU - Xiong, Fei
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - In this paper, we propose an opinion dynamics model in order to investigate opinion evolution and interactions and the behavior of individuals. By introducing social influence and its feedback mechanism, the proposed model can highlight the heterogeneity of individuals and reproduce realistic online opinion interactions. It can also expand the observation range of affected individuals. Combining psychological studies on the social impact of majorities and minorities, affected individuals update their opinions by balancing social impact from both supporters and opponents. It can be seen that complete consensus is not always obtained. When the initial density of either side is greater than 0.8, the enormous imbalance leads to complete consensus. Otherwise, opinion clusters consisting of a set of tightly connected individuals who hold similar opinions appear. Moreover, a tradeoff is discovered between high interaction intensity and low stability with regard to observation ranges. The intensity of each interaction is negatively correlated with observation range, while the stability of each individual's opinion positively affects the correlation. Furthermore, the proposed model presents the power-law properties in the distribution of individuals' social influences, which is in agreement with people's daily cognition. Additionally, it is proven that the initial distribution of individuals' social influences has little effect on the evolution.
AB - In this paper, we propose an opinion dynamics model in order to investigate opinion evolution and interactions and the behavior of individuals. By introducing social influence and its feedback mechanism, the proposed model can highlight the heterogeneity of individuals and reproduce realistic online opinion interactions. It can also expand the observation range of affected individuals. Combining psychological studies on the social impact of majorities and minorities, affected individuals update their opinions by balancing social impact from both supporters and opponents. It can be seen that complete consensus is not always obtained. When the initial density of either side is greater than 0.8, the enormous imbalance leads to complete consensus. Otherwise, opinion clusters consisting of a set of tightly connected individuals who hold similar opinions appear. Moreover, a tradeoff is discovered between high interaction intensity and low stability with regard to observation ranges. The intensity of each interaction is negatively correlated with observation range, while the stability of each individual's opinion positively affects the correlation. Furthermore, the proposed model presents the power-law properties in the distribution of individuals' social influences, which is in agreement with people's daily cognition. Additionally, it is proven that the initial distribution of individuals' social influences has little effect on the evolution.
KW - Observation range
KW - Opinion dynamics
KW - Social impact
KW - Social influence
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84906751331
U2 - 10.1016/j.physa.2014.07.072
DO - 10.1016/j.physa.2014.07.072
M3 - Article
SN - 0378-4371
VL - 415
SP - 220
EP - 228
JO - Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications
JF - Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications
ER -