OPINION SPREADING AND CONSENSUS FORMATION ON SQUARE LATTICE

Jian-Guo Liu (), Zhi-Xi Wu () and Feng Wang ()
Additional contact information
Jian-Guo Liu: Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, P. R. China
Zhi-Xi Wu: Institute of Theoretical Physics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou Gansu 730000, P. R. China
Feng Wang: Department of Computer Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, P. R. China

International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), 2007, vol. 18, issue 07, 1087-1094

Abstract: In this paper, we study a model of opinion spreading and consensus formation on a square lattice. Given a two-dimensional square lattice with periodic boundary condition, a total fractionpof the sites are occupied by agents. We take into account the drift ability of the focal agents whose opinions' difference is too large. The dynamics of the model is governed by the following two rules. At each time step, the agents (or individuals) can exchange their opinions with those of their neighbors if the difference between them is smaller than the "bounded confidence" ∊; Otherwise, one can move to a vacancy location if permitted (i.e., there are any empty sites existing among the focal agent's neighborhood). The distribution of opinions over the population evolves toward either a consensus state that all individuals share the same opinion or polarization and fragmentation states where two or more opinions can coexist. The statistical properties of this final state vary considerably as the parameterspand ∊ change. It is shown that, when dispersal abilities of the individuals are considered, the bounded confidence which is required to attain consensus can be remarkably decreased.

Keywords: Opinion spreading; consensus formation; complex network; bounded confidence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0129183107011145
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:ijmpcx:v:18:y:2007:i:07:n:s0129183107011145

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S0129183107011145

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC) is currently edited by H. J. Herrmann

More articles in International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().