Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T06:56:12.421Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Political isolation in America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2020

Byungkyu Lee  and
Peter Bearman
Byungkyu Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Indiana University, 770 Ballantine Hall, 1020 E. Kirkwood Ave., Bloomington, IN, USA (email: bl11@indiana.edu)
Peter Bearman*
Affiliation:
Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics, Columbia University, 701 Knox Hall, 606 W. 122nd Street, New York, NY, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: psb17@columbia.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study documents historical trends of size and political diversity in Americans’ discussion networks, which are often seen as important barometers of social and political health. Contrasting findings from data drawn out of a nationally representative survey experiment of 1,055 Americans during the contentious 2016 U.S. presidential election to data arising from 11 national data sets covering nearly three decades, we find that Americans’ core networks are significantly smaller and more politically homogeneous than at any other period. Several methodological artifacts seem unlikely to account for the effect. We show that in this period, more than before, “important matters” were often framed as political matters, and that this association probably accounts for the smaller networks.

Keywords

egocentric networkpolitical polarizationcore discussion networknetwork sizepolitical homophilysurvey experiment
Type
Research Article
Information
Network Science , Volume 8 , Issue 3: Special Issue Ego Networks , September 2020 , pp. 333 - 355
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Special Issue Editors: Brea L. Perry, Bernice A. Pescosolido, Mario L. Small, and Ann McCranie

†

Data collected by Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences, NSF Grant 0818839, Jeremy Freese and James Druckman, Principal Investigators. Please direct correspondence to Byungkyu Lee (bl11@indiana.edu) or Peter Bearman (psb17@columbia.edu). We thank Annie Russian for her assistance in text coding. Financial support from the Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics (INCITE) at Columbia University is gratefully acknowledged. Replication materials are available at https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/bk.

References

Bail, C. A., Lisa, P. A., Taylor, W. B., John, P. B., Haohan Chen, M. B., Hunzaker, F., … Volfovsky, A. (2018). Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase political polarization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(37), 9216–9221.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, S., & Marsden, P. V. (1999) Interpretation and interview context: Examining the general social survey name generator using cognitive methods. Social Networks, 21(3), 287–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakshy, E., Messing, S., & Adamic, L. A. (2015). Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook. Science, 348(6239), 1130–1132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baldassarri, D., & Bearman, P. (2007). Dynamics of political polarization. American Sociological Review, 72(5), 784–811.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bearman, P., & Parigi, P. (2004). Cloning headless frogs and other important matters: Conversation topics and network structure. Social Forces, 83(2), 535–557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, P. A. (2002). Encouraging political defection: The role of personal discussion networks in partisan desertions to the opposition party and perot votes in 1992. Political Behavior, 24(4), 309–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berg, J. A. (2009). Core networks and whites’ attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy. Public Opinion Quarterly, 73(1), 7–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bisbee, J., & Larson, J. M. (2017). Testing social science network theories with online network data: An evaluation of external validity. American Political Science Review, 111(3), 502–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brashears, M. (2014). ‘Trivial’ topics and rich ties: The relationship between discussion topic, alter role, and resource availability using the ‘important matters’ name generator. Sociological Science, 1, 493–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brashears, M. E. (2011). Small networks and high isolation? A reexamination of American discussion networks. Social Networks, 33(4), 331–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, M. K., & Rohla, R. (2018). The effect of partisanship and political advertising on close family ties. Science, 360(6392), 1020–1024.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cornwell, B. (2009) Good health and the bridging of structural holes. Social Networks, 31(1), 92–103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cornwell, B., & Laumann, E. O. (2011). Network position and sexual dysfunction: Implications of partner betweenness for men. American Journal of Sociology, 117(1), 172–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cornwell, B., Laumann, E. O., & Schumm, L.P. (2008). The social connectedness of older adults: A national profile. American Sociological Review, 73(2), 185–203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cornwell, B., Schumm, L.P., Laumann, E. O., & Graber, J. (2009). Social networks in the NSHAP Study: Rationale, measurement, and preliminary findings. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 64B(Suppl. 1), i47–i55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DiSogra, C., & Callegaro, M. (2016) Metrics and design tool for building and evaluating probability-based online panels. Social Science Computer Review, 34(1), 26–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eady, G., Nagler, J., Guess, A., Zilinsky, J., & Tucker, J. A. (2019) How many people live in political bubbles on social media? Evidence from linked survey and twitter data. SAGE Open, 9(1), 2158244019832705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eagle, D. E. & Proeschold-Bell, R. J. (2015). Methodological considerations in the use of name generators and interpreters. Social Networks, 40, 75–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, C. S. (2009). The 2004 GSS finding of shrunken social networks: An artifact? American Sociological Review, 74(4), 657–669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, C. S. (2012). The loneliness scare is back, Made in America: A social history of American culture and character blog. Retrieved November 28, 2015.Google Scholar
Gentzkow, M., & Shapiro, J. M. (2011). Ideological segregation online and offline. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 126(4), 1799–1839.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hampton, K. N., & Ling, R. (2013). Explaining communication displacement and large-scale social change in core networks. Information, Communication, & Society, 16(4), 561–589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hampton, K. N., Sessions, L. F., & Her, E. J. (2011). Core networks, social isolation, and new media. Information, Communication & Society, 14(1), 130–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heerwegh, D., & Loosveldt, G. (2008). Face-to-face versus web surveying in a high-internet-coverage population differences in response quality. Public Opinion Quarterly, 72(5), 836–846.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber, G. A., & Malhotra, N. (2016) Political homophily in social relationships: Evidence from online dating behavior. The Journal of Politics, 79(1), 269–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huckfeldt, R., Johnson, P. E., & Sprague, J. (2004). Political disagreement: The survival of diverse opinions within communication networks. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huckfeldt, R., & Sprague, J. (1995). Citizens, politics and social communication: Information and influence in an election campaign. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyengar, S., & Krupenkin, M. (2018). The strengthening of partisan affect. Political Psychology, 39, 201–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyengar, S., Sood, G., & Lelkes, Y. (2012). Affect, not ideology a social identity perspective on polarization. Public Opinion Quarterly, 76(3), 405–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyengar, S., & Westwood, S. J. (2015). Fear and loathing across party lines: New evidence on group polarization. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 690–707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klofstad, C. A., McClurg, S. D., & Rolfe, M. (2009). Measurement of political discussion networks a comparison of two ‘name generator’ procedures. Public Opinion Quarterly, 73(3), 462–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kogovšek, T., & Hlebec, V. (2005). Effects of limitation of number of alters and time frame in the Burt name generator. Metodoloski Zvezki, 2(1), 59–71.Google Scholar
Lake, R., & Huckfeldt, R. (1998). Social capital, social networks, and political participation. Political Psychology, 19(3), 567–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, B., & Bearman, P. (2017). Important matters in political context. Sociological Science, 4 1–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lim, C. (2008). Social networks and political participation: How do networks matter? Social Forces, 87(2), 961–982.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lizardo, O. (2011) Cultural correlates of ego-network closure. Sociological Perspectives, 54(3), 479–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsden, P. V. (1990) Network data and measurement. Annual Review of Sociology, 16, 435–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matzat, U., & Snijders, C. (2010) Does the online collection of ego-centered network data reduce data quality? An experimental comparison. Social Networks, 32(2), 105–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Brashears, M. E. (2006). Social isolation in America: Changes in core discussion networks over two decades. American Sociological Review, 71(3), 353–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Brashears, M. E. (2009). Models and marginals: Using survey evidence to study social networks. American Sociological Review, 74(4), 670–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mollenhorst, G., Völker, B., & Flap, H. (2008). Social contexts and core discussion networks: Using a choice approach to study similarity in intimate relationships. Social Forces, 86(3), 937–965.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mollenhorst, G., Volker, B., & Flap, H. (2014) Changes in personal relationships: How social contexts affect the emergence and discontinuation of relationships. Social Networks, 37, 65–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mutz, D. C. (2002). Cross-cutting social networks: Testing democratic theory in practice. The American Political Science Review, 96(1), 111–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mutz, D. C., & Mondak, J. J. (2006). The workplace as a context for cross-cutting political discourse. Journal of Politics, 68(1), 140–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paik, A., & Sanchagrin, K. (2013). Social isolation in America: An artifact. American Sociological Review, 78(3), 339–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pattie, C. J., & Johnston, R. J. (2008) It’s good to talk: Talk, disagreement and tolerance. British Journal of Political Science, 38(4), 677–698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Small, M. L., & Sukhu, C. (2016). Because they were there: Access, deliberation, and the mobilization of networks for support. Social Networks, 47(Suppl. C), 73–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Small, M. L. (2013). Weak ties and the core discussion network: Why people regularly discuss important matters with unimportant alters. Social Networks, 35(3), 470–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sokhey, A E., & Djupe, P. A. (2014). Name generation in interpersonal political network data: Results from a series of experiments. Social Networks, 36, 147–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vehovar, V., Manfreda, K. L., Koren, G., & Hlebec, V. (2008). Measuring ego-centered social networks on the web: Questionnaire design issues. Social Networks, 30(3), 213–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar