# Computational Agent-based Models in Opinion Dynamics: A Survey on Social Simulations and Empirical Studies

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.03446 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.03446/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 6 Jun 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [From Individual to Society: A Survey on Social Simulation Driven by Large Language Model-based Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.03563/) (2024)
- [A Survey on LLM-based Multi-Agent System: Recent Advances and New Frontiers in Application](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.17481/) (2024)
- [SocioVerse: A World Model for Social Simulation Powered by LLM Agents and A Pool of 10 Million Real-World Users](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.10157/) (2025)
- [ElectionSim: Massive Population Election Simulation Powered by Large Language Model Driven Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.20746/) (2024)
- [The Wisdom of Partisan Crowds: Comparing Collective Intelligence in Humans and LLM-based Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.09665/) (2023)
- [DEBATE: A Large-Scale Benchmark for Evaluating Opinion Dynamics in Role-Playing LLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.25110/) (2025)
- [DynamiX: Large-Scale Dynamic Social Network Simulator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.19929/) (2025)
- [FlockVote: LLM-Empowered Agent-Based Modeling for Simulating U.S. Presidential Elections](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.05982/) (2025)
- [IO Factory: Simulating AI-Enabled Influence Campaigns at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.10920/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Understanding how an individual changes its attitude, belief, and opinion due to other people's social influences is vital because of its wide implications. A core methodology that is used to study the change of attitude under social influences is agent-based model (ABM). The goal of this review paper is to compare and contrast existing ABMs, which I classify into two families, the deductive ABMs and the inductive ABMs. The former subsumes social simulation studies, and the latter involves human experiments. To facilitate the comparison between ABMs of different formulations, I propose a general unified formulation, in which all ABMs can be viewed as special cases. In addition, I show the connections between deductive ABMs and inductive ABMs, and point out their strengths and limitations. At the end of the paper, I identify underexplored areas and suggest future research directions.