Simulation of consensus formation models based on Structural Modeling

Consensus formation models are mathematical models for obtaining potential candidates for a group when all group members pursue their individual preferences. In such models, the members often change their preferences based on the group's global preference which summarizes the overall individual preferences. Based on the theory of partially-filled reachability matrices, the Flexible Interpretive Structural Modeling (FISM) provides a method for developing structural models of complex systems and is expected to be applied to decision-making support systems. In this paper, we propose a method for simulating consensus formation in FISM and study its effectiveness through the experiments with several consensus strategies.