Structural Balance under Weight Evolution of Dynamic Signed Network

Abstract

The mutual feedback mechanism between system structure and system function is the ‘hot spot’ of a complex network. In this paper, we propose an opinions–edges co-evolution model on a weighted signed network. By incorporating different social factors, five evolutionary scenarios were simulated to investigate the feedback effects. The scenarios included the variations of edges and signed weights and the variations of the proportions of positive and negative opinions. The level of balance achieved depends on the connection weight and the distribution of negative edges/opinions on the signed graph. This paper sheds light on the analysis of constraints and opportunities of social and cognitive processes, helping us understand the real-world opinions polarization process in depth. For example, the results serve as a confirmation of the imperfect balance theory, i.e., even if the system evolves to a stable state, the signed network still cannot achieve perfect structural balance.

Keywords

• structural balance
• feedback mechanism
• opinions polarization