Do disagreeable political discussion networks undermine attitude strength?

Robison, Joshua, Leeper, Thomas J. and Druckman, James N. (2018) Do disagreeable political discussion networks undermine attitude strength? Political Psychology, 39 (2). pp. 479-494. ISSN 0162-895X

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Abstract

How attitudes change and affect behavior depends, in large part, on their strength. Strong attitudes are more resistant to persuasion and are more likely to produce attitude-consistent behavior. But what influences attitude strength? In this paper, we explore a widely discussed, but rarely investigated, factor: an individual’s political discussion network. What prior work exists offers a somewhat mixed picture, finding sometimes that disagreeable networks weaken attitudes and other times that they strengthen attitudes. We use a novel national representative dataset to explore the relationship between disagreeable networks and attitude strength. We find, perhaps surprisingly, no evidence that disagreements in networks affect political attitude strength. We conclude by discussing likely reasons for our findings, which, in turn, provide a research agenda for the study of networks and attitude strength.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(IS...
Additional Information:	© 2016 International Society of Political Psychology
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Date Deposited:	07 Sep 2016 10:30
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 21:30
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/67605

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