title: Perceived Disagreement and Heterogeneity in Social Networks: Distinct Effects on Political Participation.
abstract: Although the coexistence of conflicting opinions in society is the very core of democracy, people's tendency to avoid conflict could keep them away from political discussion and participation. On the other hand, being exposed to diverse political views could motivate citizens to participate. We conducted secondary analyses on two 2013 ITANES (Italian National Election Studies) probability samples in order to test the hypotheses that perceived network disagreement (between an individual and her/his discussion partners) and heterogeneity (among discussants holding different political opinions) exert independent and opposite effects on political participation through motivation and knowledge. Results converged in showing that disagreement dampened, while heterogeneity encouraged, political participation (voting, propensity to abstain in future, offline and online activism, and timing of vote decision) by decreasing or increasing, respectively, political interest and, in turn, knowledge.
authors.affiliation: a University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guidetti
authors.affiliation: a University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cavazza
authors.affiliation: a University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
authors.forename: Anna Rita
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Graziani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D011057:Politics; D012919:Social Behavior; D012944:Social Support
keywords: disagreement; heterogeneity; political discussion; political participation; social network; voting