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Spontaneous emergence of contrarian-like behaviour in an opinion spreading model

Marta S. de la Lama·Juan M. Lopez·Horacio S. Wio
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Abstract

We introduce stochastic driving in the Sznajd model of opinion spreading. This stochastic effect is meant to mimic a social temperature, so that agents can take random decisions with a varying probability. We show that a stochastic driving has a tremendous impact on the system dynamics as a whole by inducing an order-disorder nonequilibrium phase transition. Interestingly, under certain conditions, this stochastic dynamics can spontaneously lead to agents in the system who are analogous to Galam's contarians.

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BibTeXRIS

Marta S. de la Lama, Juan M. Lopez, Horacio S. Wio. 2005-08-03. Spontaneous emergence of contrarian-like behaviour in an opinion spreading model. https://doi.org/10.1209/epl%2Fi2005-10299-3

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