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Consensus Formation and Change are Enhanced by Neutrality.

Andrei Sontag1,2, Janina A Hoffmann3, Tim Rogers1

  • 1Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, UK.

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|March 22, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Neutrality in group decision-making surprisingly aids consensus. It helps groups reach agreement robustly and change their minds efficiently, benefiting both animal swarms and human societies.

Keywords:
collective behaviourconsensus formationdecision makingindividual‐based modelstochastic switching

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Area of Science:

  • Collective behavior
  • Decision-making science
  • Social dynamics

Background:

  • Collective decision-making relies on feedback loops for consensus.
  • Participation varies, with individuals sometimes adopting neutral stances.
  • Neutrality's role in group dynamics is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the benefits of neutrality in collective decision-making.
  • To analyze how neutral individuals impact consensus formation and change.
  • To provide a theoretical and experimental framework for understanding neutrality's function.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a new mathematical model for collective binary decision problems.
  • Conducted experimental validation with insect and human populations.
  • Analyzed the impact of neutral actors on consensus dynamics.

Main Results:

  • Neutrality enables robust consensus formation in groups using simple reasoning.
  • Neutral actors facilitate efficient consensus change by reducing effective population size.
  • Demonstrated benefits across theoretical models and empirical studies.

Conclusions:

  • Neutrality offers significant, previously unrecognized advantages for collective decision-making.
  • Explains how groups efficiently reach and overturn consensus.
  • Suggests neutrality as an adaptive strategy in social systems.