A Bayesian Framework for Opinion Updates

Opinion Dynamics lacks a theoretical basis. In this article, I propose touse adecision-theoretic framework, based on the updating of subjective probabilities, as that basis.We will see we get a basic tool for a better understanding of the interaction betweenthe agents in Opinion Dynamics problems and for creating new models. I will reviewthe few existing applications of Bayesian update rules to both discrete and continuousopinion problems and show that several traditional models can be obtained as specialcases or approximations from these Bayesian models. The empirical basis and usefulproperties of the framework will be discussed and examples of how the frameworkcan be used to describe different problems given.

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