Consensus in Group Decision Making and Social Networks

Abstract

The consensus reaching process is the most important step in a group decision making scenario. This step is most frequently identified as a process consisting of some discussion rounds in which several decision makers, which are involved in the problem, discuss their points of view with the purpose of obtaining the maximum agreement before making the decision. Consensus reaching processes have been well studied and a large number of consensus approaches have been developed. In recent years, the researchers in the field of decision making have shown their interest in social networks since they may be successfully used for modelling communication among decision makers. However, a social network presents some features differentiating it from the classical scenarios in which the consensus reaching processes have been applied. The objective of this study is to investigate the main consensus methods proposed in social networks and bring out the new challenges that should be faced in this research field.