Physics – Physics and Society
Scientific paper
2010-06-28
European Physical Journal B, vol 77, no 4 (2010) pp 533-545
Physics
Physics and Society
European Physical Journal B (in press), version 2 with extended introduction, clarifications
Scientific paper
10.1140/epjb/e2010-00292-1
We develop a agent-based framework to model the emergence of collective emotions, which is applied to online communities. Agents individual emotions are described by their valence and arousal. Using the concept of Brownian agents, these variables change according to a stochastic dynamics, which also considers the feedback from online communication. Agents generate emotional information, which is stored and distributed in a field modeling the online medium. This field affects the emotional states of agents in a non-linear manner. We derive conditions for the emergence of collective emotions, observable in a bimodal valence distribution. Dependent on a saturated or a superlinear feedback between the information field and the agent's arousal, we further identify scenarios where collective emotions only appear once or in a repeated manner. The analytical results are illustrated by agent-based computer simulations. Our framework provides testable hypotheses about the emergence of collective emotions, which can be verified by data from online communities.
Garcia David
Schweitzer Frank
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