Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Multipolar Opinion Evolution in Biased Networks

Bakovic, Luka LU ; Ohlin, David LU orcid ; Como, Giacomo LU and Tegling, Emma LU (2024) In IEEE Control Systems Letters 8. p.1054-1059
Abstract

Motivated by empirical research on bias and opinion formation, we formulate a multidimensional nonlinear opinion-dynamical model where agents have individual biases, which are fixed, as well as opinions, which evolve. The dimensions represent competing options, of which each agent has a relative opinion, and are coupled through normalization of the opinion vector. This can capture, for example, an individual's relative trust in different media. In special cases including where biases are uniform across agents our model achieves consensus, but in general, behaviors are richer and capture multipolar opinion distributions. We examine general fixed points of the system, as well as special cases such as zero biases toward certain options or... (More)

Motivated by empirical research on bias and opinion formation, we formulate a multidimensional nonlinear opinion-dynamical model where agents have individual biases, which are fixed, as well as opinions, which evolve. The dimensions represent competing options, of which each agent has a relative opinion, and are coupled through normalization of the opinion vector. This can capture, for example, an individual's relative trust in different media. In special cases including where biases are uniform across agents our model achieves consensus, but in general, behaviors are richer and capture multipolar opinion distributions. We examine general fixed points of the system, as well as special cases such as zero biases toward certain options or partitioned decision sets. Lastly, we demonstrate that our model exhibits polarization when biases are spatially correlated across the network, while, as empirical research suggests, a mixed community can mediate biases.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cooperative control, distributed control, network analysis and control
in
IEEE Control Systems Letters
volume
8
pages
6 pages
publisher
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85195374452
ISSN
2475-1456
DOI
10.1109/LCSYS.2024.3408408
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1be94003-ab44-48f9-9f28-73065184f44f
date added to LUP
2024-09-16 15:09:49
date last changed
2024-09-16 15:12:26
@article{1be94003-ab44-48f9-9f28-73065184f44f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Motivated by empirical research on bias and opinion formation, we formulate a multidimensional nonlinear opinion-dynamical model where agents have individual biases, which are fixed, as well as opinions, which evolve. The dimensions represent competing options, of which each agent has a relative opinion, and are coupled through normalization of the opinion vector. This can capture, for example, an individual's relative trust in different media. In special cases including where biases are uniform across agents our model achieves consensus, but in general, behaviors are richer and capture multipolar opinion distributions. We examine general fixed points of the system, as well as special cases such as zero biases toward certain options or partitioned decision sets. Lastly, we demonstrate that our model exhibits polarization when biases are spatially correlated across the network, while, as empirical research suggests, a mixed community can mediate biases.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bakovic, Luka and Ohlin, David and Como, Giacomo and Tegling, Emma}},
  issn         = {{2475-1456}},
  keywords     = {{Cooperative control; distributed control; network analysis and control}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1054--1059}},
  publisher    = {{IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.}},
  series       = {{IEEE Control Systems Letters}},
  title        = {{Multipolar Opinion Evolution in Biased Networks}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LCSYS.2024.3408408}},
  doi          = {{10.1109/LCSYS.2024.3408408}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}