Does College Attendance Build Capacity for Constructive Political Discourse?

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Eighteen
  In Roundtable Session: Assessing Sociopsychological Student Experiences in Higher Education (Table 5)

Abstract

Political leaders and scholars have called for more productive democratic engagement as the nation becomes more politically polarized. Several studies have shown the impact of college attendance on voting, volunteerism, and other civic behaviors. However, no studies have examined the association between educational attainment and capacity for constructive political discourse. Using data from the National Survey of American Civic Health, our exploratory factor analyses supports Inazu’s conception of tolerance and humility as underlying dimensions of capacity for constructive political discourse. We employ ANOVA followed by Bonferroni tests among means and find no association between educational attainment and tolerance for different political views. However, educational attainment is associated with increased levels of humility in political discourse.

Authors

• David J. Weerts, University of Minnesota
  Presenting Author

• Alberto F. Cabrera, University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kristin Van Dorn, University of Minnesota
  Presenting Author