By embedding opinions in a nonorthogonal topic space, a new model shows that a reinforcement mechanism reproduces extreme and correlated opinion states found in surveys.
Public opinion polarization is on the rise, as suggested by data collected across a variety of political and ethical issues. Opinions on different topics can also be correlated: Individuals advocating rights for transgender people, for example, are likely to also support same-sex couples. Strikingly, data shows correlations also between unrelated topics, such as rights of transgender people and the debate about whether the U.S. should build a wall at the border to Mexico.
In a new paper published in Physical Review X, an international team of scientists led by ISI Foundation’s researcher Michele Starnini proposes a simple model that reproduces such polarized ideological states, in which opinions are extreme and correlated with respect to different topics. Researchers develop a mathematical formalism in which opinions evolve in a multidimensional space, representing the relation between different topics.
The model reproduces a simple mechanism of social influence. People usually influence each other while discussing a certain topic. But when topics are controversial, the reinforcement mechanism proposed spills over a plethora of different topics. Two users advocating for transgender rights in a Twitter debate, for example, will reinforce their stances with respect to other controversial topics, such as the U.S. building wall with Mexico.