A consensus-reaching process under intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations

We extend the main idea of a fuzzy analysis of consensus-that is based on a concept of a distance from consensus-to a case when individual testimonies are individual intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations, as opposed to fuzzy preference relations commonly used. Intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations, that in addition to a membership degree (from [0, 1]) include a hesitation margin (concerning the membership degree), can better reflect the very imprecision of testimonies (expressing preferences) of the individuals during the consensus-reaching process. Our new solution, obtained as an interval-valued measure of a distance from consensus, better reflects both real human perception and a soft nature of consensus. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.