POLI 100M: Poli-cal Psychology Lecture 9: Social Networks, Poli-cal - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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POLI 100M: Poli-cal Psychology Lecture 9: Social Networks, Poli-cal - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Dec 16, 2022 150 likes •629 views

POLI 100M: Poli-cal Psychology Lecture 9: Social Networks, Poli-cal Discussion, and Social Media Taylor N. Carlson Deenstr@ucsd.edu Announcements Final project is due Saturday, Sept. 9, 11:30am Submit to Turn it In on TritonEd

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POLI 100M: Poli-cal Psychology

Lecture 9: Social Networks, Poli-cal Discussion, and Social Media Taylor N. Carlson Deenstr@ucsd.edu

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Announcements

  • Final project is due Saturday, Sept. 9, 11:30am

– Submit to Turn it In on TritonEd – Review the rubric and detailed assignment guidelines on TritonEd

  • Office hours this week: Tuesday and Thursday

2:30-4:30. Email me if you want to meet, but can’t make it to office hours.

  • I will get you feedback on your rough draVs as

quickly as I can

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Last Time

  • Different types of polariza-on

– Issue – Sor-ng – Affec-ve

  • Social iden-ty theory and moral founda-ons

theory as explana-ons for at least affec-ve polariza-on

  • Apoli-cal differences between liberals and

conserva-ves

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What ques-ons do you have?

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Today: Driving Ques-ons

  • How do individuals experience poli-cal

discussions?

  • Why and with whom do individuals discuss (or

avoid discussing) poli-cs?

  • How do individuals engage with poli-cs on

social media?

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Today: Learning Outcomes

  • Explain some of the ways in which social networks

impact poli-cal behavior

  • Define the following key terms: poli-cal discussion

network, name generator, homophily, homogeneous discussion network, heterogeneous discussion network, conflict avoidance, social anxiety, poli-cal discussant, echo chamber, opinion leader, poli-cal informant

  • Explain how social media has (or has not) changed the

way in which individuals learn about and discuss poli-cs

  • Propose ideas for how campaigns and elected officials

can use social media to engage with ci-zens

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Social Networks

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Social Networks

  • An organized set of people that consists of

two kinds of elements: human beings and the connec-ons between them (Christakis & Fowler 2010)

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Social Networks

  • Influen-al on lots of behaviors and adtudes

– Health behaviors (exercise, weight, smoking, etc.) – Emo-ons (smiling/happiness is contagious) – Adtudes – Good Read: Connected: How Your Friends’ Friends’ Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do (Christakis & Fowler)

  • As discussed on the Colbert Report
  • TED Talk
  • Impact on poli%cal behaviors and adtudes too!
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Poli-cal Networks

  • Consists of the social network members with

whom an individual discusses poli-cs, elec-ons, or government (Sinclair 2012)

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How do we examine poli-cal networks?

  • Please list the first and last names of the

people with whom you have discussed poli-cs, campaigns, elec-ons, or government in the past three months.

  • Next to each person’s name, please write the

poli-cal party with which they iden-fy

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Poli-cal Networks

  • Low Density: Rare for poli-cal discussion partners
  • f one person to be socially connected to

another

  • Asymmetric: Individual iden-fies someone as a

poli-cal discussant, but s/he may not reciprocate

– Richard and Emily say that they discuss poli-cs with Lorelai, but Lorelai doesn’t say that she discusses poli-cs with Richard and Emily

  • Small: Only 18% name four people with whom

they discuss poli-cs

  • Strong Ties: mostly rela-ves, close friends
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Poli-cal Networks: Homophily

  • Homophily: the tendency of an individual to

associate with similar others

  • In what ways might poli-cal networks be

homophilous?

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Poli-cal Networks: Homophily

  • Looking at par-sanship, are networks

homophilous?

  • Homogeneous network: A poli-cal network in

which discussants have the same poli-cal

  • pinions, party iden-fica-ons, etc.
  • Heterogeneous network: A poli-cal network

in which discussants have different poli-cal

  • pinions, party iden-fica-ons, etc.
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Homogeneous Network Heterogeneous Network

= Democrat = Republican

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Par-san Homophily in Poli-cal Networks

  • Generally, poli-cal networks are homogeneous
  • But, the degree of (dis)agreement in networks

depends on what we do with Independents

– If Independents are considered copar-sans: ~84-90%

  • f discussants in a network are copar-sans à preky

homogeneous – If Independents are not considered copar-sans: ~73-80% of discussants in a network are copar-sans à s-ll preky homogeneous, but much less so

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How much choice do we have over our discussants?

  • Generally, we get to decide with whom we

discuss poli-cs, but our op-ons can be constrained by:

– Geography – Workplace – Psychological pressures

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Psychological Factors

  • Consistency theory
  • Personality traits

– Social Anxiety – Conflict Avoidance

  • Physiological reac-vity
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Why do we care about homophily?

  • Informa-on Sharing
  • Poli-cal Engagement

– Mobiliza-on Theory: Individuals in heterogeneous networks (exposed to disagreement) are more likely to seek informa-on à other forms of par-cipa-on – Ambivalence Theory: Individuals in heterogeneous networks (exposed to disagreement) experience “cross-pressure” and become ambivalent à do not par-cipate

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Can Personality Condi-on the Effects

  • f Disagreement?
  • Lyons et al. (2016) argue yes
  • When exposed to disagreement…

– Extraversion à more informa-on seeking – Openness à more informa-on seeking* – Agreeableness à less informa-on seeking

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Poli-cal Networks Summary

  • Poli-cal Networks: the people with whom we

discuss poli-cs

  • Generally measured by asking individuals to

name their discussants (some limita-ons with this)

  • Networks are generally:

– Homogeneous (similar) – Small – Strong -es

  • Personality characteris-cs might impact

– The people with whom we choose to discuss poli-cs – How we are affected by disagreement in our networks

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Ques-ons?

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Social Media

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Social Media and Poli-cs

  • What percent of social media users report
  • Ven discussing, commen-ng, or pos-ng

about poli-cs or government?

  • What percent of all Facebook posts are

poli-cal?

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Echo Chambers or Diversity? Homogeneous or Heterogeneous Online Networks?

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Homogenous Online Networks?

  • Individuals do appear to opt in to following

informa-on sources that are consistent with their ideological beliefs

  • But, because we are also exposed to

informa-on that our friends post, we are exposed to a lot more diverse informa-on than you might expect

  • Our online social networks have a lot more

diversity than our offline social networks

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Source: Barbera et al. (2015)

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What are the key advantages and disadvantages of social media’s role in communica-ng poli-cal informa-on?

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Social Media and Affec-ve Polariza-on

Excerpts from Jaime Sekle’s forthcoming Frenemies: How Social Media Polarizes America

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Central Argument

  • The defining characteris-cs of poli-cal

communica-on on Facebook are uniquely suited to facilitate the psychological processes

  • f polariza-on:

– Iden-ty recogni-on and reinforcement – Biased informa-on processing – Out-group stereotyping

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How do individuals learn about the poli-cal views of their social connec-ons online?

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Social Media Summary

  • Overall, very likle content is poli-cal

– Though this may be growing and it may be more memorable

  • Our online networks are more poli-cally

heterogeneous than our offline networks, but…

– Selec-ve exposure to news sources – Curate our networks to be more homogeneous

  • Social media is uniquely suited to facilitate

affec-ve polariza-on

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Ques-ons?