Irrelevance of information outflow in opinion dynamics models

Abstract

The Sznajd model for opinion dynamics has attracted a large interest as a simple realization of the psychological principle of social validation. As its most salient feature, it has been claimed that the Sznajd model is qualitatively different from other ordering processes because it is the only one featuring outflow of information as opposed to inflow. We show that this claim is unfounded by presenting a generalized zero-temperature Glauber type of dynamics, which yields results indistinguishable from those of the Sznajd model. In one dimension, we also derive an exact expression for the exit probability of the Sznajd model, which turns out to coincide with the result of an analytical approach based on the Kirkwood approximation. This observation raises interesting questions about the applicability and limitations of this approach.