Contrarian effect in opinion forming: Insights from Greta Thunberg phenomenon

Abstract

In recent months, the figure of Greta Thunberg and the theme of climate changings quickly became the focus of the debate. This has led to a polarization effect in opinion forming about the climate subject. Starting from the analysis of this phenomenon, we develop an opinion dynamics model in which several types of contrarian agents are considered. Each agent is supposed to have an opinion on several topics related to each other; thus, the opinions being formed on these topics are also mutually dependent. The aim of the paper is to investigate the indirect effects of contrarian agents on the collective opinion about these topics. Several numerical tests are presented in order to highlight the main features of the model.