APS
2026 APS Annual Convention · 2026
Beyond Positive and Negative: Incorporating Neutrality into a Formal Model of Polarization Dynamics
- Iris Smal
University of Amsterdam
Abstract
We present a formal, agent-based model with psychologically informed agents to study how individual attitude dynamics drive societal polarization, capturing both gradual and sudden shifts toward extreme positions. This exploratory work focuses on the role of neutral attitudes, which introduce more intricate dynamics and may provide leverage points for depolarization.