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8 - Determination

When Discussion Divides Us (Stage 4)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2022

Taylor N. Carlson
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
Jaime E. Settle
Affiliation:
College of William and Mary, Virginia
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Summary

Chapter 8 considers Stage 4 of the feedback loop: Determination. We examine how individuals anticipate relationships changing after political conversations and how discussion behavior is correlated with social distancing and social polarization. We use nationally representative survey data to capture individuals’ reflections on their own social distancing behaviors as well as their projections of such behavior onto hypothetical characters in vignette experiments. We uncover that about a quarter of Americans have distanced themselves socially from a friend because of politics. Americans have done so in a variety of ways, including stopping all political discussion, forbidding their children from playing together, and severing all social ties completely. Vignette experiments revealed that individuals are more likely to avoid future political and social interactions with others who disagree with them. Using data from the 2018 Cooperative Congressional Elections Project, we find that strong partisans in the most like-minded discussion networks were more likely to be socially polarized, compared to strong partisans who were in disagreeable discussion networks.

Type
Chapter
Information
What Goes Without Saying
Navigating Political Discussion in America
, pp. 180 - 201
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Determination
  • Taylor N. Carlson, Washington University, St Louis, Jaime E. Settle, College of William and Mary, Virginia
  • Book: What Goes Without Saying
  • Online publication: 26 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108912495.008
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  • Determination
  • Taylor N. Carlson, Washington University, St Louis, Jaime E. Settle, College of William and Mary, Virginia
  • Book: What Goes Without Saying
  • Online publication: 26 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108912495.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Determination
  • Taylor N. Carlson, Washington University, St Louis, Jaime E. Settle, College of William and Mary, Virginia
  • Book: What Goes Without Saying
  • Online publication: 26 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108912495.008
Available formats
×