English

Statistical Physics Of Opinion Formation: is it a SPOOF?

Physics and Society 2019-09-24 v3

Abstract

We present a short review based on the nonlinear qq-voter model about problems and methods raised within statistical physics of opinion formation (SPOOF). We describe relations between models of opinion formation, developed by physicists, and theoretical models of social response, known in social psychology. We draw attention to issues that are interesting for social psychologists and physicists. We show examples of studies directly inspired by social psychology like: "independence vs. anticonformity" or "personality vs. situation". We summarize the results that have been already obtained and point out what else can be done, also with respect to other models in SPOOF. Finally, we demonstrate several analytical methods useful in SPOOF, such as the concept of effective force and potential, Landau's approach to phase transitions, or mean-field and pair approximations.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1903.04786,
  title  = {Statistical Physics Of Opinion Formation: is it a SPOOF?},
  author = {Arkadiusz Jędrzejewski and Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1903.04786},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

29 pages, 4 figures, new section 6 slightly extended, figures of higher quality, corrected typos, extended references, other minor improvements throughout the text