Uniformity, Bipolarization and Pluriformity Captured as Generic Stylized Behavior with an Agent-Based Simulation Model of Attitude Change

Wander Jager, Frédéric Amblard

Abstract: This paper focuses at the dynamics of attitude change in large groups. A multi-agent computer simulation has been developed as a tool to study hypothesis we take to study these dynamics. A major extension in comparison to earlier models is that Social Judgment Theory is being formalized to incorporate processes of assimilation and contrast in persuasion processes. Results demonstrate that the attitude structure of agents determines the occurrence of assimilation and contrast effects, which in turn cause a group of agents to reach consensus, to bipolarize, or to develop a number of subgroups sharing the same position. Subsequent experiments demonstrate the robustness of these effects for a different formalization of the social network, and the susceptibility for population size.