Structural balance and interpersonal appraisals dynamics: beyond all-to-all and two-faction networks

DOI10.1016/J.AUTOMATICA.2022.110239MaRDI QIDQ2125537zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Wenjun Mei, Ge Chen, Noah E. Friedkin, Florian Dörfler

Publication date 14 April 2022

Published in Automatica (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.10151

zbMATH Keywords

co-evolutionary dynamicshomophilyinfluence processsigned social networksstructural balance

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Social networks; opinion dynamics (91D30)

Abstract: Structural balance theory describes stable configurations of topologies of signed interpersonal appraisal networks. Existing models explaining the convergence of appraisal networks to structural balance either diverge in finite time, or could get stuck in jammed states, or converge to only complete graphs. In this paper, we study the open problem how steady non-all-to-all structural balance emerges via local dynamics of interpersonal appraisals. We first compare two well-justified definitions of structural balance for general non-all-to-all graphs, i.e., the triad-wise structural balance and the two-faction structural balance, and thoroughly study their relations. Secondly, based on three widely adopted sociological mechanisms: the symmetry mechanism, the influence mechanism, and the homophily mechanism, we propose two simple models of gossip-like appraisal dynamics, the symmetry-influence-homophily (SIH) dynamics and the symmetry-influence-opinion-homophily (SIOH) dynamics. In these models, the appraisal network starting from any initial condition almost surely achieves non-all-to-all triad-wise and two-faction structural balance in finite time respectively. Moreover, the SIOH dynamics capture the co-evolution of interpersonal appraisals and individuals' opinions. Regarding the theoretical contributions, we show that the equilibrium set of the SIH (SIOH resp.) dynamics corresponds to the set of all the possible triad-wise (two-faction resp.) structural balance configurations of the appraisal networks. Moreover, we prove that, for any initial condition, the appraisal networks in the SIH (SIOH resp.) dynamics almost surely achieve triad-wise (two-faction resp.) structural balance in finite time. Numerical studies of the SIH dynamics also imply some insightful take-home messages on whether multilateral relations reduce or exacerbate conflicts.

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Cited in

(14)

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• The micro-macro link for the theory of structural balance
• A study of local sign change adjustment in balancing structures
• Balance Theory with Incomplete Awareness
• On the Dynamics of Social Balance on General Networks (with an application to XOR-SAT)
• Consistency dynamics in accusation-endorsement networks with an external judge
• An agent-based approach to stability of complete, directed, and signed social networks with loops
• Heider balance, prejudices and size effect
• Modeling, analysis, and manipulation of co-evolution between appraisal dynamics and opinion dynamics
• Coevolutionary dynamics of multidimensional opinions over coopetitive influence networks
• On the structural balance dynamics under perceived sentiment
• The friend of my enemy is my enemy, the enemy of my enemy is my friend: axioms for structural balance and bi-polarity

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