Mass media and repulsive interactions in continuous-opinion dynamics

TL;DR

This paper investigates how repulsive interactions influence the spread of external messages in opinion dynamics, revealing an optimal level of repulsion for information dissemination and identifying a phase transition in the system.

Contribution

It introduces a modified Deffuant model incorporating repulsive links and analyzes the conditions for optimal external influence using theoretical and simulation methods.

Findings

Optimal information receptiveness occurs at an intermediate fraction of repulsive links.

The system exhibits an order-disorder transition at the point of maximum permeability.

Monte Carlo simulations confirm the theoretical predictions.

Abstract

This letter focus on the effect of repulsive interactions on the adoption of an external message in an opinion model. With a simple change in the rules, we modify the Deffuant \emph{et al.} model to incorporate the presence of repulsive interactions. We will show that information receptiveness is optimal for an intermediate fraction of repulsive links. Using the master equation as well as Monte Carlo simulations of the message-free model, we identify the point where the system becomes optimally permeable to external influence with an order-disorder transition.