IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jas/jasssj/2024-59-2.html

Exploring the Influence of Open-Mindedness and Social Identity on Opinion Polarization in a Modified Hegselmann-Krause Model

Author

Listed:

Abstract

In this article we further develop agent-based simulations on an extended Hegselmann-Krause (HK) model with social identity dynamics. In Kalvas et al. (2023) we introduced a model of opinion dynamics where agents were bounded in communication based on differences in opinion and identity, the latter of which was modeled as dynamic group assignments dependent on the state of the opinion space at any given time and the observer's sensitivity to opinion clustering. We had also previously presented regression results to demonstrate the effectiveness of identity as a polarizing factor. In this article we present an in-depth analysis of the macro-behavior of our model, specifically the effect on polarization of key variables such as open-mindedness (traditionally known as ε or uncertainty in the HK literature), and the granularity of social identity groups. We also examine the effect of the parameters of naturalistic distributions of these agent variables. We expand upon some known results in opinion dynamics such as the consensus-driving tendency of heterogeneity in ε, and also present results on how identity influences the relationship between openness and polarization.

Suggested Citation

  • Ashwin Ramaswamy & FrantiÅ¡ek Kalvas & Ashley Sanders-Jackson & Michael D. Slater, 2025. "Exploring the Influence of Open-Mindedness and Social Identity on Opinion Polarization in a Modified Hegselmann-Krause Model," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 28(3), pages 1-3.
    • Handle: RePEc:jas:jasssj:2024-59-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.jasss.org/28/3/3/3.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frank Schweitzer & Tamas Krivachy & David Garcia, 2020. "An Agent-Based Model of Opinion Polarization Driven by Emotions," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2020, pages 1-11, April.
    2. Nicholas Apergis & Mehmet Pinar, 2023. "Corruption and partisan polarization: evidence from the European Union," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 277-301, January.
    3. Benson, Jonathan, 2024. "Democracy and the Epistemic Problems of Political Polarization," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 118(4), pages 1719-1732, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aaron D. Wood & Charles F. Mason & David Finnoff, 2025. "The development of OPEC: an evolutionary game theory and agent-based modeling approach," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 5(7), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Alessandro Cavalieri, 2025. "Political competition and discretionary procedures in public procurement: evidence from Italian data," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 559-612, December.
    3. Md. Saiful Islam & Md. Monirul Islam & Anis ur Rehman & Haider Ali Biswas, 2026. "Performance of renewable energy technology and environmental safety in the Hail region of Saudi Arabia: moderating effect of regulatory governance and public awareness," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-36, March.
    4. Schweitzer, Frank, 2022. "Group relations, resilience and the I Ching," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 603(C).
    5. Xing, Yunfei & Wang, Xiwei & Qiu, Chengcheng & Li, Yueqi & He, Wu, 2022. "Research on opinion polarization by big data analytics capabilities in online social networks," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    6. Burhan Can Karahasan & Mehmet Pinar, 2024. "Institutional Quality and Geography of Discontent in the EU," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(6), pages 1712-1733, November.
    7. Jia Lu & Meiqi Sun & Zikun Liu, 2025. "Social Media and Political Polarization: A Panel Study of 36 Countries from 2014 to 2020," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 1103-1124, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jas:jasssj:2024-59-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Francesco Renzini (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.