From field data to attitude formation

Abstract

This paper presents a multi-agent model for simulating attitude formation and change based on perception and communication in the context of stabilization operations. The originality of our model comes from (1) attitude computation that evaluates information as part of a history relative to the individual and (2) a notion of co-responsibility for attitude attribution. We present a military scenario of French operations in Afghanistan along with polls results about the opinion of citizens toward present Forces. Based on these field data, we calibrate the model and show the resulting attitude dynamics. We study the sensibility of the model to the co-responsibility factor.