Moral foundations in an interacting neural networks society: a statistical mechanics analysis

DOI10.1016/J.PHYSA.2014.01.013MaRDI QIDQ1782658zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors A. Susemihl, J. P. Jericó, Renato Vicente, Nestor Caticha

Publication date 20 September 2018

Published in Physica A (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1307.3203

zbMATH Keywords

moral foundations theoryneural networksopinion dynamicssocial interactionssociophysics

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Classical equilibrium statistical mechanics (general) (82B05) Social networks; opinion dynamics (91D30)

Abstract: The moral foundations theory supports that people, across cultures, tend to consider a small number of dimensions when classifying issues on a moral basis. The data also show that the statistics of weights attributed to each moral dimension is related to self-declared political affiliation, which in turn has been connected to cognitive learning styles by recent literature in neuroscience and psychology. Inspired by these data, we propose a simple statistical mechanics model with interacting neural networks classifying vectors and learning from members of their social neighborhood about their average opinion on a large set of issues. The purpose of learning is to reduce dissension among agents even when disagreeing. We consider a family of learning algorithms parametrized by delta, that represents the importance given to corroborating (same sign) opinions. We define an order parameter that quantifies the diversity of opinions in a group with homogeneous learning style. Using Monte Carlo simulations and a mean field approximation we find the relation between the order parameter and the learning parameter delta at a temperature we associate with the importance of social influence in a given group. In concordance with data, groups that rely more strongly on corroborating evidence sustains less opinion diversity. We discuss predictions of the model and propose possible experimental tests.

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Cites work

• Dynamics of interacting neural networks
• Effects of agents' mobility on opinion spreading in Sznajd model
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1782878 (Why is no real title available?)
• SOCIOPHYSICS: A REVIEW OF GALAM MODELS
• Statistical mechanics of complex networks
• Statistical mechanics of learning

Cited in

(5)

• Adversarial decision strategies in multiple network phased oscillators: the Blue-Green-Red Kuramoto-Sakaguchi model
• Non-thermal transitions in a model inspired by moral decisions
• Mean field studies of a society of interacting agents
• Evolutionary dynamics of \(N\)-player sender-receiver game in networks with community structure
• Group differences in broadness of values may drive dynamics of public opinion on moral issues

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