Modeling the coupled propagation of emotion, information, and disease considering emotional atmosphere in multi-layer networks

The interaction between information diffusion and emotional contagion exerts substantial influences on disease transmission. In this coupled process, both individual and collective emotional atmospheres play crucial roles by shaping the efficiency of information diffusion and, through their impact on protective behaviors, determining the overall dynamics of disease transmission. This paper proposes a three-layer network propagation model driven by emotional atmosphere to characterize the coupled mechanism of emotional contagion, information diffusion, and disease transmission. The model incorporates an emotional atmosphere function based on the Losada ratio to quantify the threshold effect of collective emotional climates on individual emotional state transitions. Using a microscopic Markov chain approach, we derive the system’s dynamic equations and the epidemic outbreak threshold. The accuracy of the model is verified through Monte Carlo simulations, and the regulatory effects of key parameters on the propagation process are examined. The findings indicate that positive emotions facilitate information diffusion and strengthen individual protective behaviors, thereby effectively suppressing disease transmission. Conversely, negative emotions inhibit information diffusion and weaken protective willingness and compliance, thus accelerating disease transmission. Furthermore, the synergistic interaction between information dissemination and positive emotions exerts a stronger inhibitory effect on disease transmission, significantly reducing the final scale of the epidemic. This research provides a theoretical basis for incorporating emotional management strategies into public health policies while expanding the research framework of multi-layer network propagation dynamics.