In today’s polarized and often uncivil political environment, how does political disagreement influence the political participation of youth? In this article, we compare the relationship between political disagreement and the political behavior of youth in online and face-to-face settings. Using a unique sample of U.S. youth age 15 to 25 (N = 1,112), we find that exposure to disagreement, especially online, has a positive relationship with traditional and online forms of political participation. In addition, we find that engaging in disagreement online predicts higher levels of online participation. These findings suggest that engaging with political disagreement in the online setting may provide a way for youth to grapple with complex issues in a manner that leads to higher levels of political engagement overall.
AndolinaM. W.JenkinsK.ZukinC.KeeterS. (2003). Habits from home, lessons from school: Influences on youth civic engagement. Political Science and Politics, 36, 275-280
2.
ArceneauxK.JohnsonM. (2013). Changing minds or changing channels: Partisan news in the age of choice. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
3.
BarnidgeM. (2017). Exposure to political disagreement in social media versus face-to-face and anonymous online settings. Political Communication, 34, 302-321. doi:10.1080/10584609.2016.1235639
4.
BaumM. A. (2002). Sex, lies, and war: How soft news brings foreign policy to the inattentive public. American Political Science Review, 96, 91-109.
5.
BaumM. A. (2003). Soft news goes to war. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
6.
BaumM. A.JamisonA. S. (2006). The Oprah effect: How soft news helps inattentive citizens vote consistently. The Journal of Politics, 68, 946-959.
7.
BeckP. A.JenningsM. K. (1982). Pathways to participation. The American Political Science Review, 76, 94-108.
8.
BengtsonV. L.BiblarzT. J.RobertsR. E. L. (2002). How families still matter: A longitudinal study of youth in two generations. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
9.
BennettW. L. (2008). Changing citizenship in the digital age. In BennettW. L. (Ed.), Civic life online: Learning how digital media can engage youth (pp. 1-24). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
10.
boydd. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
11.
BrundidgeJ. (2010). Encountering “difference” in the contemporary public sphere: The contribution of the Internet to the heterogeneity of political discussion networks. Journal of Communication, 60, 680-700.
12.
CampbellD. E. (2000). Social capital and service learning. PS: Political Science & Politics, 33, 641-645.
13.
CampbellD. E. (2006). Why we vote: How schools and communities shape our civic life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
CostelloA.B.OsborneJ.W. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 10(7), 1-9.
16.
DaftR. L.LengelR. H. (1984). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32, 554-571.
17.
DaltonR. J. (2008). The good citizen: How a younger generation is reshaping American politics. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
18.
DeweyJ. (1916). Democracy and education. New York, NY: Macmillan.
19.
EastonD.DennisJ. (1965). The child’s image of government. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 361(1), 40-57.
20.
EkströmM. (2016). Young people’s everyday political talk: A social achievement of democratic engagement. Journal of Youth Studies, 19, 1-19.
21.
FeezellJ. T. (2016). Predicting online political participation: The importance of selection bias and selective exposure in the online setting. Political Research Quarterly, 69, 495-509. doi:10.1177/1065912916652503
22.
FlanaganC. A. (2013). Teenage citizens: The political theories of the young. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
23.
HabermasJ. (1989). The theory of communicative action (Vol. 2). Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
24.
HessR. D.TorneyJ. V. (1968). The development of political attitudes in children. New York, NY: Anchor Press.
25.
HoS. S.McLeodD. M. (2008). Social-psychological influences on opinion expression in face-to-face and computer-mediated communication. Communication Research, 35, 190-207.
26.
HuckfeldtR.JohnsonP. E.SpragueJ. (2004). Political disagreement: The survival of diverse opinions within communication networks. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
27.
HuckfeldtR.SpragueJ. (1987). Networks in context: The social flow of political information. The American Political Science Review, 81, 1197-1216. doi:10.2307/1962585
28.
JenkinsH. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press.
29.
JenkinsH.ItoM.boydd. (2016). Participatory culture in a networked era: A conversation on youth, learning, commerce, and politics. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
30.
JenningsM. K.MarkusG. B. (1984). Partisan orientations over the long haul: Results from the three-wave political socialization panel study. American Political Science Review, 78, 1000-1018.
31.
JenningsM. K.NiemiR. (1974). The political character of adolescence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
32.
JenningsM. K.NiemiR. G. (1981). Generations and politics: A panel study of young adults and their parents. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
33.
JenningsM. K.StokerL.BowersJ. (2009). Politics across generations: Family transmission reexamined. Journal of Politics, 71, 782-799.
34.
KahneJ.LeeN-J.FeezellJ. T. (2012). Digital media literacy education and online civic and political participation. International Journal of Communication, 6, 24.
35.
KahneJ.MiddaughE. (2008). High quality civic education: What is it and who gets it?Social Education, 72, 34.
36.
KimY. (2011). The contribution of social network sites to exposure to political difference: The relationships among SNSs, online political messaging, and exposure to cross-cutting perspectives. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 971-977. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.12.001
37.
KittilsonM.DaltonR. J. (2011). Virtual civil society: The new frontier of social capital?Political Behavior, 33, 625-644. doi:10.1007/s11109-010-9143-8
38.
KlofstadC. A.SokheyA. E.McClurgS. D. (2013). Disagreeing about disagreement: How conflict in social networks affects political behavior. American Journal of Political Science, 57, 120-134.
39.
KrosnickJ. A.KinderD. R. (1990). Altering the foundations of support for the president through priming. The American Political Science Review, 497-512.
40.
KruegerB. S. (2002). Assessing the potential of Internet political participation in the United States: A resource approach. American Politics Research, 30, 476-498.
41.
KundaZ. (1990). The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 480-498.
42.
LeeH.KwakN.CampbellS. W. (2015). Hearing the other side revisited: The joint workings of cross-cutting discussion and strong tie homogeneity in facilitating deliberative and participatory democracy. Communication Research, 42, 569-596.
LoaderB. D.VromenA.XenosM. A. (2014). The networked young citizen: Social media, political participation and civic engagement. New York, NY: Routledge.
45.
McClurgS. D. (2006). Political disagreement in context: The conditional effect of neighborhood context, disagreement and political talk on electoral participation. Political Behavior, 28, 349-366.
46.
McFarlandD. A.ThomasR. J. (2006). Bowling young: How youth voluntary associations influence adult political participation. American Sociological Review, 71, 401-425.
47.
McIntoshH.HartD.YounissJ. (2007). The influence of family political discussion on youth civic development: Which parent qualities matter?PS: Political Science & Politics, 40, 495-499.
48.
McLeodJ. M.ScheufeleD. A.MoyP.HorowitzE. M.HolbertR. L.ZhangW.. . . JessicaZ. (1999). Understanding deliberation: The effects of discussion networks on participation in a public forum. Communication Research, 26, 743-774.
49.
MiddaughE.BowyerB.KahneJ. (2017). U Suk! participatory media and youth experiences with political discourse. Youth & Society, 49, 902-922. doi:10.1177/004411816655246
50.
MinS.-J. (2007). Online vs. face-to-face deliberation: Effects on civic engagement. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1369-1387.
51.
MutzD. C. (2001). Facilitating communication across lines of political difference: The role of mass media. American Political Science Review, 95, 97-114.
52.
MutzD. C. (2002). The consequences of cross-cutting networks for political participation. American Journal of Political Science, 46, 838-855. doi:10.2307/3088437
53.
MutzD. C. (2006). Hearing the other side: Deliberative versus participatory democracy. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
54.
NiemiR. G.HepburnM. A. (1995). The rebirth of political socialization. Perspectives on Political Science, 24, 7-16.
55.
Noelle-NeumannE. (1984). The spiral of silence: Public opinion—Our social skin. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
56.
PattieC. J.JohnstonR. J. (2009). Conversation, disagreement and political participation. Political Behavior, 31, 261-285.
57.
PriceV. (2009). Citizens deliberating online: Theory and some evidence. In DaviesT.Pena GangadharanS. (Eds.), Online deliberation: Design, research, and practice (pp. 37-58). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
58.
PriceV.CappellaJ. N. (2002). Online deliberation and its influence: The electronic dialogue project in campaign 2000. IT & Society, 1, 303-329.
59.
PriceV.NirL.CappellaJ. N. (2006). Normative and informational influences in online political discussions. Communication Theory, 16, 47-74.
60.
PriorM. (2007). Post-broadcast democracy: How media choice increases inequality in political involvement and polarizes elections. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
61.
QuintelierE. (2015). Engaging adolescents in politics: The longitudinal effect of political socialization agents. Youth & Society, 47, 51-69.
62.
QuintelierE.StolleD.HarellA. (2012). Politics in peer groups: Exploring the causal relationship between network diversity and political participation. Political Research Quarterly, 65, 868-881.
63.
ScheufeleD. A.NisbetM. C.BrossardD.NisbetE. C. (2004). Social structure and citizenship: Examining the impacts of social setting, network heterogeneity, and informational variables on political participation. Political Communication, 21, 315-338. doi:10.1080/10584600490481389
64.
SearsD. O. (1990). Whither political socialization research? In IchilovO. (Ed.), Political socialization, citizenship education and democracy (pp. 69-97). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
65.
SearsD. O.ValentinoN. A. (1997). Politics matters: Political events as catalysts for preadult socialization. The American Political Science Review, 91, 45-65.
66.
Stromer-GalleyJ.WichowskiA. (2011). Political discussion online. In BurnettR.ConsalvoM.EssC. (Eds.), The handbook of Internet studies (Vol. 11, pp. 168-187). West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
67.
TestaP. F.HibbingM. V.RitchieM. (2014). Orientations toward conflict and the conditional effects of political disagreement. The Journal of Politics, 76, 770-785.
68.
TorcalM.MaldonadoG. (2014). Revisiting the dark side of political deliberation. Public Opinion Quarterly, 78, 679-706.
69.
ValenzuelaS.KimY.GildeZúñigaH. (2012). Social networks that matter: Exploring the role of political discussion for online political participation. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 24, 163-184. doi:10.1093/ijpor/edr037
70.
VerbaS.SchlozmanK. L.BradyH. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
71.
WaltherJ. B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23, 3-43.
72.
WojcieszakM. E.BaekY. M.Delli CarpiniM. X. (2010). Deliberative and participatory democracy? Ideological strength and the processes leading from deliberation to political engagement. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 22, 154-180.
73.
WojcieszakM. E.MutzD. C. (2009). Online groups and political discourse: Do online discussion spaces facilitate exposure to political disagreement?Journal of Communication, 59, 40-56.
74.
ZallerJ. (1992). The nature and origins of mass opinion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
