Changing Opinions in a Changing World: a New Perspective in Sociophysics

TL;DR

This paper introduces the Opinion Changing Rate (OCR) model, inspired by the Kuramoto synchronization model, to study how agents with different natural change tendencies reach agreement in social opinion dynamics.

Contribution

It presents a novel adaptation of the Kuramoto model for social opinion formation, focusing on agents' natural change rates rather than consensus conditions.

Findings

OCR model exhibits diverse dynamic behaviors

Agents with different change rates can achieve agreement under certain conditions

Numerical simulations reveal social implications of opinion dynamics

Abstract

We propose a new model of opinion formation, the Opinion Changing Rate (OCR) model. Instead of investigating the conditions that allow consensus in a world of agents with different opinions, we study under which conditions a group of agents with a different natural tendency (rate) to change opinion can find agreement. The OCR is a modified version of the Kuramoto model, one of the simplest models for synchronization in biological systems, here adapted to a social context. By means of several numerical simulations we illustrate the richness of the OCR model dynamics and its social implications.