Contrarian effect in opinion forming

Insights from Greta Thunberg phenomenon

Bibliographic Data

ID7537870
AuthorsElisa Iacomini (0000-0002-0981-2086, RWTH Aachen University), Pierluigi Vellucci (0000-0002-4152-8341, Roma Tre University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume47
Issue2
Pages123-169
Publication date2021-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueIris (Roma Tre University (REPOSITORY)
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0022250x.2021.1981310
OpenAlexW3203448336
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited42

In recent months, the figure of Greta Thunberg and the theme of climate changings quickly became the focus of the debate. This has led to a polarization effect in opinion forming about the climate subject. Starting from the analysis of this phenomenon, we develop an opinion dynamics model in which several types of contrarian agents are considered. Each agent is supposed to have an opinion on several topics related to each other; thus, the opinions being formed on these topics are also mutually dependent. The aim of the paper is to investigate the indirect effects of contrarian agents on the collective opinion about these topics. Several numerical tests are presented in order to highlight the main features of the model

Contrarian · Economics · Epistemology · Financial economics · Focus (optics · Phenomenon · Physics · Polarization (electrochemistry · Political science · Positive economics · Sociology · Theme (computing · Chemistry · Complex Network Analysis Techniques · Computer Science · History · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence · Philosophy · Psychology · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Social Media and Politics

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Open DOIOpen Access