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SOE: Fachverband Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme

SOE 9: Opinion Formation

SOE 9.3: Talk

Wednesday, March 24, 2021, 11:40–12:00, SOEa

Modeling Opinion Formations in Europe: A new Perspective — •Martin Gestefeld, Jan Lorenz, Nils Henschel, and Klaus Boehnke — Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen, Deutschland

In recent years, politics and especially election results appear to be more polarized than in the years before. Empirical evidence for opinion polarization has been found regarding specific topics but there is still a lack of evidence for a general trend in society. The presented work compares the characteristics of various polarization measurements and determines similarities between them in empirical data. In an exploratory data analysis of the European Social Survey, individual responses are analyzed on the left-right political self-placements and similar attitudes. By applying a new model, we demonstrate that people who placed their opinions on a 0 to 10 scale can be split up into five distinct groups. In addition to this model, we are able to decompose a formal measurement and provide detailed information on the degree of polarization in each of our distinct groups. Over the complete data set, cross-topic, cross-country, and time-trends are analyzed and compared to establish an overview and new perspective on polarization in Europe.