Communication as a Complex System: Modeling the Feedback Dynamics of Trust and Credibility

Chowdhury, S., Allen, S.D., & Hyun, J.H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6960-9277 (2026). Communication as a Complex System: Modeling the Feedback Dynamics of Trust and Credibility. In: Proceedings of the 19th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 4: Student Research Workshop). Eds. Baez Santamaria, S., Somayajula, S.A., & Yamaguchi, A., pp. 406-415 Stroudsburg, PA, USA: Association for Computational Linguistics. 10.18653/v1/2026.eacl-srw.29.

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Abstract

This study examines how credibility, trust, and bias interact within complex communication systems that shape public understanding of scientific information. It addresses two questions: 1. What are the primary factors that influence the public’s comprehension of scientific findings? 2. How do the factors influencing public understanding of climate change science interact within a complex system? A scoping literature review synthesized disparate communication models from media studies, science communication, psychology, and information science to identify a shared set of system variables. The identified variables were organized into source-, message-, channel-, and receiver-related factors and used to develop a causal loop diagram showing how credibility, trust, and information processing co-evolve through reinforcing and balancing feedback. The resulting diagram illustrates two major loops: one centered on trust in information sources, which can foster social cohesion or accelerate truth decay, and another linking individual trust dynamics to broader patterns of polarization and unity. By clarifying how well-established constructs interact to produce dynamic communication outcomes, the framework is useful for scholars developing integrative theory and for policymakers and practitioners designing interventions in misinformation-prone environments. The CLD also provides a foundation for future system dynamics modeling to examine how interventions in transparency, media literacy, or platform governance may influence public trust over time.

Item Type:	Book Section
Research Programs:	Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) > Systemic Risk and Resilience (SYRR)
Depositing User:	Luke Kirwan
Date Deposited:	09 Jun 2026 13:33
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2026 13:33
URI:	https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/21639

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