A Multi-Agent Model for Opinion Evolution under Cognitive Biases

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Alvim, Mário S., da Silva, Artur Gaspar, Knight, Sophia, Valencia, Frank
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866929257994780672
author Alvim, Mário S.
da Silva, Artur Gaspar
Knight, Sophia
Valencia, Frank
author_facet Alvim, Mário S.
da Silva, Artur Gaspar
Knight, Sophia
Valencia, Frank
contents We generalize the DeGroot model for opinion dynamics to better capture realistic social scenarios. We introduce a model where each agent has their own individual cognitive biases. Society is represented as a directed graph whose edges indicate how much agents influence one another. Biases are represented as the functions in the square region $[-1,1]^2$ and categorized into four sub-regions based on the potential reactions they may elicit in an agent during instances of opinion disagreement. Under the assumption that each bias of every agent is a continuous function within the region of receptive but resistant reactions ($\mathbf{R}$), we show that the society converges to a consensus if the graph is strongly connected. Under the same assumption, we also establish that the entire society converges to a unanimous opinion if and only if the source components of the graph-namely, strongly connected components with no external influence-converge to that opinion. We illustrate that convergence is not guaranteed for strongly connected graphs when biases are either discontinuous functions in $\mathbf{R}$ or not included in $\mathbf{R}$. We showcase our model through a series of examples and simulations, offering insights into how opinions form in social networks under cognitive biases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_17615
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Multi-Agent Model for Opinion Evolution under Cognitive Biases
Alvim, Mário S.
da Silva, Artur Gaspar
Knight, Sophia
Valencia, Frank
Multiagent Systems
Social and Information Networks
We generalize the DeGroot model for opinion dynamics to better capture realistic social scenarios. We introduce a model where each agent has their own individual cognitive biases. Society is represented as a directed graph whose edges indicate how much agents influence one another. Biases are represented as the functions in the square region $[-1,1]^2$ and categorized into four sub-regions based on the potential reactions they may elicit in an agent during instances of opinion disagreement. Under the assumption that each bias of every agent is a continuous function within the region of receptive but resistant reactions ($\mathbf{R}$), we show that the society converges to a consensus if the graph is strongly connected. Under the same assumption, we also establish that the entire society converges to a unanimous opinion if and only if the source components of the graph-namely, strongly connected components with no external influence-converge to that opinion. We illustrate that convergence is not guaranteed for strongly connected graphs when biases are either discontinuous functions in $\mathbf{R}$ or not included in $\mathbf{R}$. We showcase our model through a series of examples and simulations, offering insights into how opinions form in social networks under cognitive biases.
title A Multi-Agent Model for Opinion Evolution under Cognitive Biases
topic Multiagent Systems
Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.17615