Opinion dynamics: Public and private

TL;DR

This paper investigates how individuals' internal beliefs and external opinions influence each other and affect societal consensus, using a kinetic exchange model to analyze the dynamics and critical transitions.

Contribution

It introduces a model that separately considers private beliefs and public opinions, revealing new insights into their interplay and impact on consensus formation.

Findings

Private and public opinions can diverge and influence each other's dynamics.

The model identifies critical points where society transitions to consensus.

Different steady states emerge depending on the interaction parameters.

Abstract

We study here the dynamics of opinion formation in a society where we take into account of the internally held beliefs and externally expressed opinions of the individuals, which are not necessarily the same at all times. While these two components can influence one another, their difference, both in dynamics and in the steady state, poses interesting scenarios in terms of the transition to consensus in the society and characterizations of such consensus. Here we study this public and private opinion dynamics and the critical behavior of the consensus forming transitions, using a kinetic exchange model.