Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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SOE: Fachverband Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme

SOE 2: Focus Session: Physics of Behavior (joint session SOE/DY)

SOE 2.8: Talk

Monday, March 9, 2026, 12:00–12:15, GÖR/0226

Wired differently: Individual-level Adaptive Belief Networks — •Peter Steiglechner, Victor Møller Poulsen, Mirta Galesic, and Henrik Olsson — Complexity Science Hub, Vienna, Austria

Our beliefs about political issues are not independent; they are embedded within interconnected belief systems. Models such as the Networks of Beliefs (NB) theory (Dalege et al, 2025) formalise how individuals adjust their beliefs to reduce dissonance, and study how this leads to polarisation or consensus. In these models, the relations between beliefs are static, and the same belief network structure is assumed across individuals. This overlooks that perceived dissonance and belief relations can differ across individuals. And such heterogeneity in belief system structures can affect how individuals respond to external pressures or interventions, such as economic shocks or political scandals. We extend NB theory by allowing belief networks to evolve over time, shifting the focus from dynamics of belief content to the co-evolution of content and structure. In simulations of the model, individuals start with identical belief networks, but their structures diverge, producing stable disagreement between individuals. External events, inducing temporary pressure on a single belief, triggers lasting belief changes in some individuals (compliant), but only temporary or no changes in others (resilient and resistant), regardless of the strength of the pressure. Our model offers an illustrative and endogenous explanation of such asymmetries in responses to external events without requiring traits such as stubbornness, motivated cognition or identity biases.

Keywords: Networks of Beliefs; Opinion Dynamics; Heterogeneity; Socio-cognitive system; Agent-Based Model