Integrating Graph Neural Networks and Large Language Models for Stance Detection via Heterogeneous Stance Networks

Stance detection, the task of identifying the stance expressed in a text toward a specific target, is essential for analyzing public opinion across diverse domains. The existing approaches primarily focus on modeling the semantic relationship between the text and target, but they often struggle when...

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Main Authors: Xinyi Chen, Bo Liu, Huaping Hu, Yiqing Cai, Mengmeng Guo, Xingkong Ma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Applied Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/11/5809
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author Xinyi Chen
Bo Liu
Huaping Hu
Yiqing Cai
Mengmeng Guo
Xingkong Ma
author_facet Xinyi Chen
Bo Liu
Huaping Hu
Yiqing Cai
Mengmeng Guo
Xingkong Ma
author_sort Xinyi Chen
collection DOAJ
description Stance detection, the task of identifying the stance expressed in a text toward a specific target, is essential for analyzing public opinion across diverse domains. The existing approaches primarily focus on modeling the semantic relationship between the text and target, but they often struggle when the target is implicit or indirectly referenced. In real-world scenarios, stance is frequently conveyed through references to related entities, events, or contextual implications, making stance detection particularly challenging. To tackle this challenge, we propose a novel framework that leverages large language models to construct a heterogeneous stance network from textual data. Based on this network, we develop two complementary methodologies tailored for distinct application scenarios: (1) In a supervised setting, we employ a graph neural network approach to learn stance representations from the heterogeneous stance network, enhancing stance prediction performance. (2) For zero-shot stance detection, we introduce an LLM-based method that leverages the heterogeneous stance network to infer stance without task-specific supervision. The experimental results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that our methods outperform the existing approaches, highlighting their effectiveness in both supervised and zero-shot scenarios.
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issn 2076-3417
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series Applied Sciences
spelling doaj-art-8abc8bc26b3b4ee3acc5992c6ef256832025-08-20T03:10:54ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-05-011511580910.3390/app15115809Integrating Graph Neural Networks and Large Language Models for Stance Detection via Heterogeneous Stance NetworksXinyi Chen0Bo Liu1Huaping Hu2Yiqing Cai3Mengmeng Guo4Xingkong Ma5College of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCollege of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCollege of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCollege of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCollege of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCollege of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaStance detection, the task of identifying the stance expressed in a text toward a specific target, is essential for analyzing public opinion across diverse domains. The existing approaches primarily focus on modeling the semantic relationship between the text and target, but they often struggle when the target is implicit or indirectly referenced. In real-world scenarios, stance is frequently conveyed through references to related entities, events, or contextual implications, making stance detection particularly challenging. To tackle this challenge, we propose a novel framework that leverages large language models to construct a heterogeneous stance network from textual data. Based on this network, we develop two complementary methodologies tailored for distinct application scenarios: (1) In a supervised setting, we employ a graph neural network approach to learn stance representations from the heterogeneous stance network, enhancing stance prediction performance. (2) For zero-shot stance detection, we introduce an LLM-based method that leverages the heterogeneous stance network to infer stance without task-specific supervision. The experimental results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that our methods outperform the existing approaches, highlighting their effectiveness in both supervised and zero-shot scenarios.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/11/5809stance detectiongraph neural networkslarge language modelsgraph learningheterogeneous networks
spellingShingle Xinyi Chen
Bo Liu
Huaping Hu
Yiqing Cai
Mengmeng Guo
Xingkong Ma
Integrating Graph Neural Networks and Large Language Models for Stance Detection via Heterogeneous Stance Networks
Applied Sciences
stance detection
graph neural networks
large language models
graph learning
heterogeneous networks
title Integrating Graph Neural Networks and Large Language Models for Stance Detection via Heterogeneous Stance Networks
title_full Integrating Graph Neural Networks and Large Language Models for Stance Detection via Heterogeneous Stance Networks
title_fullStr Integrating Graph Neural Networks and Large Language Models for Stance Detection via Heterogeneous Stance Networks
title_full_unstemmed Integrating Graph Neural Networks and Large Language Models for Stance Detection via Heterogeneous Stance Networks
title_short Integrating Graph Neural Networks and Large Language Models for Stance Detection via Heterogeneous Stance Networks
title_sort integrating graph neural networks and large language models for stance detection via heterogeneous stance networks
topic stance detection
graph neural networks
large language models
graph learning
heterogeneous networks
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/11/5809
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AT mengmengguo integratinggraphneuralnetworksandlargelanguagemodelsforstancedetectionviaheterogeneousstancenetworks
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