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The role of position in consensus dynamics of polarizable networks
Communication constraints often complicate group decision-making. In this experiment, we investigate how the network position of opinionated group members determines both the speed and the outcome of group consensus in 7-member communication networks susceptible to polarization. To this end, we impl...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group UK
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9998643/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36894611 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30613-z |
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author | Giese, Helge Gaisbauer, Felix Gradwohl, Nico Strandburg-Peshkin, Ariana |
author_facet | Giese, Helge Gaisbauer, Felix Gradwohl, Nico Strandburg-Peshkin, Ariana |
author_sort | Giese, Helge |
collection | PubMed |
description | Communication constraints often complicate group decision-making. In this experiment, we investigate how the network position of opinionated group members determines both the speed and the outcome of group consensus in 7-member communication networks susceptible to polarization. To this end, we implemented an online version of a color coordination task within experimentally controlled communication networks. In 72 networks, one individual was incentivized to prefer one of two options. In 156 networks, two individuals were incentivized to prefer conflicting options. The network positions of incentivized individuals were varied. In networks with a single incentivized individual, network position played no significant role in either the speed or outcome of consensus decisions. For conflicts, the incentivized individual with more neighbors was more likely to sway the group to their preferred outcome. Furthermore, consensus emerged more slowly when the opponents had the same number of neighbors, but could not see each other’s votes directly. These results suggest that the visibility of an opinion is key to wielding group influence, and that specific structures are sufficient to run communication networks into polarization, hindering a speedy consensus. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9998643 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group UK |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-99986432023-03-11 The role of position in consensus dynamics of polarizable networks Giese, Helge Gaisbauer, Felix Gradwohl, Nico Strandburg-Peshkin, Ariana Sci Rep Article Communication constraints often complicate group decision-making. In this experiment, we investigate how the network position of opinionated group members determines both the speed and the outcome of group consensus in 7-member communication networks susceptible to polarization. To this end, we implemented an online version of a color coordination task within experimentally controlled communication networks. In 72 networks, one individual was incentivized to prefer one of two options. In 156 networks, two individuals were incentivized to prefer conflicting options. The network positions of incentivized individuals were varied. In networks with a single incentivized individual, network position played no significant role in either the speed or outcome of consensus decisions. For conflicts, the incentivized individual with more neighbors was more likely to sway the group to their preferred outcome. Furthermore, consensus emerged more slowly when the opponents had the same number of neighbors, but could not see each other’s votes directly. These results suggest that the visibility of an opinion is key to wielding group influence, and that specific structures are sufficient to run communication networks into polarization, hindering a speedy consensus. Nature Publishing Group UK 2023-03-09 /pmc/articles/PMC9998643/ /pubmed/36894611 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30613-z Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . |
spellingShingle | Article Giese, Helge Gaisbauer, Felix Gradwohl, Nico Strandburg-Peshkin, Ariana The role of position in consensus dynamics of polarizable networks |
title | The role of position in consensus dynamics of polarizable networks |
title_full | The role of position in consensus dynamics of polarizable networks |
title_fullStr | The role of position in consensus dynamics of polarizable networks |
title_full_unstemmed | The role of position in consensus dynamics of polarizable networks |
title_short | The role of position in consensus dynamics of polarizable networks |
title_sort | role of position in consensus dynamics of polarizable networks |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9998643/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36894611 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30613-z |
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