Spatial Community Structure Promotes Extremism in an Adaptive Spatial Social Network Model

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Abstract

A model of opinion dynamics amongst agents embedded on an adaptive social network is extended to introduce tuneable spatial embedding. As in the original model, the opinions and social connections of a population of model agents change due to three social processes: conformity, homophily and neophily. Here, however, direct interactions are constrained to take place only between pairs of agents that are linked by short spatial connections, or between pairs of agents that have benefited from some degree of random rewiring of these spatial connections. This introduction of spatiality could be expected to either reduce the ability of extreme agents to connect with one another in order to form extreme communities, or to increase their ability to influence the opinions of the community of agents clustered around them. Results demonstrate that the latter is the case. Spatial constraints tend to encourage extreme communities (relative to comparable nonspatial networks) due to the increased number and strength of distinct agent communities in spatial networks. These results suggest that the presence of strong community structure (rather than high clustering coefficients or short characteristic path lengths) may promote extremist communities in realworld populations.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationALIFE 2024
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 2024 Artificial Life Conference
PublisherMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press
Pages76-82
Number of pages7
VolumeALIFE 2024: Proceedings of the 2024 Artificial Life Conference
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Jul 2024
EventALIFE 2024: 2024 Artificial Life Conference - Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 22 Jul 202426 Sept 2024
https://2024.alife.org/

Publication series

NameArtificial Life Conference Proceedings
PublisherMIT Press
VolumeALIFE 2024: Proceedings of the 2024 Artificial Life Conference

Conference

ConferenceALIFE 2024
Abbreviated titleALIFE
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityCopenhagen
Period22/07/2426/09/24
Internet address

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  • 8459 AI For Collective Intelligence

    Bullock, S. (Principal Investigator)

    1/02/2431/01/29

    Project: Research, Parent

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