DeGroot opinion model extends to multiple related topics with layered influences
DeGroot Dynamics on Multiplex Networks with Directed and Acyclic Interlayer Connectivities
Social and Information Networks
Summary
People’s opinions on one topic affect and are affected by their opinions on other related topics. The authors developed a model where opinions spread not only within one topic's network but also between different topics connected in a one-way, cycle-free manner. They proved this model eventually settles into stable opinions and that agreeing on fundamental topics can lead to agreement on related topics, even if those are usually divisive. They also tested their model on simulated networks to see how opinion patterns depend on the network structure and starting opinions.
What this means in practice
- •For social media engineers: Improve algorithms that model how opinions across different topics influence each other using interconnected network layers with directional influence.
- •For political campaign strategists: Design messaging strategies based on understanding how consensus on core beliefs may affect agreement on broader electoral issues across multiple topics.
Tested on simulated data.
Authors
Mia Zender, Kye Shi, Abigail Hickok, Weiqi Chu, Mason A. Porter
Abstract
In models of opinion dynamics, researchers typically examine how an individual's opinion on one topic is influenced by the opinions of their neighbors in a network. However, people's opinions on a topic are also influenced by their opinions and their neighbors' opinions on related topics. In an election, for example, the opinions of a voter on a variety of issues inform their opinions of electoral candidates. To consider the influence between people's opinions on multiple distinct topics, we study a multiplex extension of the traditional DeGroot consensus model. In our multiplex DeGroot model, different network layers represent distinct topics and directed interlayer edges (which are not allowed to form cycles) encode relationships between distinct topics. In our model, an individual's opinion on one topic is influenced both by the opinions of their neighbors on that topic and by their own opinions on related topics. We prove under mild conditions that our multiplex DeGroot model converges to a limit state. We also prove that strong connectedness in ``source layers'' (which represent fundamental beliefs) eventually yields a consensus opinion in each layer. In particular, we show that consensus on source layers can lead to consensus on other layers even when those layers otherwise would be polarized. By numerically simulating our multiplex DeGroot model on a two-layer network, we examine the effects on opinion dynamics of (1) different network structures and (2) different types of initial opinion data.