Managing Interpersonal Political Disagreement: Yielding, Compromising, Dominating, and Avoiding

• In Event: New and Innovative Experimental Work in Political Communication

Abstract

A key element of democracy is the exchange of viewpoints on political matters. Yet, we know little about how individuals manage interpersonal political disagreement with peers: do they avoid it or yield, try to dominate others, or seek compromise? Based on two survey experiments, we study how individuals manage interpersonal political disagreement in relation to ideological (party choice) and issue (family reunification) differences. The results from both experiments show that individuals are more likely to yield and dominate when the level of political disagreement is at a respectively low and high level. Citizens are more willing to seek compromise at low and moderate levels, and avoiding is unrelated to the level of political disagreement.

Authors

• Camilla Bjarnoee, Aarhus U

• David Nicolas Hopmann, U of Southern Denmark