The Impact of Social Network Composition upon Knowledge and Resistance to Persuasion: Reconciling Findings
Year: 2009
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The current research examines the role of subjective versus objective knowledge in the relation between social network attitudinal composition and attitude strength in order to elucidate prior contradictory results. Prior research demonstrates that individuals embedded in attitudinally heterogeneous social networks are more knowledgeable, and so should have stronger attitudes that are less susceptible to persuasion. Yet other research shows that individuals embedded in heterogeneous networks have weaker attitudes that are less stable and more susceptible to persuasion. The current results, based on a national survey indicate that although heterogeneous networks may increase objective knowledge, they diminish individuals’ perceptions of their own knowledge. It is this perceived lack of knowledge that partially mediates attitude strength effects, such that those in attitudinally heterogeneous networks have weaker attitudes which are more susceptible to persuasion. In addition to illuminating the nuances of the impact of social context upon attitudes and attitude strength, these results highlight the important distinction between objective and subjective measures of politically relevant variables.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Author: Lindsey Clark Levitan
Institutions: State University of New York, Stony Brook University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1692523161