Attributes of Interpersonal Political Discussion as Antecedents of Cognitive Elaboration

Abstract

Political discussion is a core element for the democratic wellbeing of
any society. Recently, academics have turned their attention to
exploring the different roles discussion-network-attributes may have in
today’s democracy, such as strength of discussion network ties
(weak-strong), heterogeneity of discussion networks, exposure to
disagreement, and level of reasoning in discussions. Less explored,
however, is the connection of these discussion attributes as
antecedents to cognitive elaboration – the extent to which individuals
who engage in political discussions fi nd themselves thinking and
refl ecting upon those discussions at a later time. Survey data from the
United States indicates discussing public affairs in networks with
strong-ties versus weak-ties has different implications in predicting
other discussion attributes and cognitive elaboration.