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Emotional consensus in group decision making

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Abstract

This paper presents a theory and computational model of the role of emotions in group decision making. After reviewing the role of emotions in individual decision making, it describes social and psychological mechanisms by which emotional and other information is transmitted between individuals. The processes by which these mechanisms can contribute to group consensus are modeled computationally using a program, HOTCO 3, which has been used to simulate simple cases of emotion-based group decision making.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. We are grateful to an anonymous referee for very helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3G1

    Paul Thagard

  2. School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3G1

    Fred W. Kroon

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  1. Paul Thagard
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  2. Fred W. Kroon
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Correspondence to Paul Thagard.

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Thagard, P., Kroon, F.W. Emotional consensus in group decision making. Mind & Society 5, 85–104 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-006-0011-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-006-0011-5

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