A Utility-Driven Bounded-Confidence Model for Opinion Dynamics (opens in new tab)

We introduce a utility-driven bounded-confidence model of opinion dynamics in which opinions associated with higher utility exert stronger social influence. In the regime where all agents belong to a single opinion cluster, we derive a stochastic differential equation for the mean opinion and show that its stationary distribution is Gibbs-like, with an effective potential determined by the utility landscape and an inverse temperature controlle...