Stationary states in a model of position selection by individuals (Q2214174)

This paper studies a model of position selection by individuals in a society based upon Rashevsky's neurological scheme. The support of a certain party by an individual is formulated in terms of the manifested position, namely right-wing or left-wing. An individual's latent position \(\lambda_i(t)\) is a continuous scalar function of time. Moreover, it is assumed that the latent position is decomposed as \(\lambda_i(t)=\phi_i+\psi(t)\), where \(\phi_i\) is a constant attitude of the individual \(i\) describing his inclination to support a party and \(\psi(t)\) is the dynamic component that for all individuals and changes with contingent information factors. Given the normal distribution of the two groups of population, the number of equilibrium states and stability have been investigated. The difference between the present model and some opinion dynamics models has been discussed.