Item Details

title

TALKING ACROSS THE AISLE: CAN DELIBERATION REDUCE PARTISAN BIAS?

author

Smith, Rebecca Nicole

abstract

The political animosity that hovered over the 2020 election has been building for over a decade (Abramowitz, 2010; Iyengar, Sood, & Lelkes, 2012; Iyengar & Westwood, 2015). Though the causes and consequences of political polarization are well documented, the literature is comparably lacking in its identification of possible solutions. The present study aimed to address this limitation through the integration of three theories – social identity theory, intergroup contact theory, and deliberative democracy – to test whether interparty contact achieved through deliberation could effectively reduce partisan bias by improving self-reported instances of prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping. The results provide supportive evidence for the efficacy of interparty contact in improving prejudicial attitudes toward and stereotypical attributions of opposing party members, though no support was found for its effectiveness in improving discrimination.

subject

bias

deliberation

discrimination

partisanship

prejudice

stereotyping

contributor

Fleeson, William (committee chair)

Miller, Christian (committee member)

Jayawickreme, Eranda (committee member)

date

2021-06-03T08:36:16Z (accessioned)

2021 (issued)

degree

Psychology (discipline)

embargo

2026-06-01 (terms)

2026-06-01 (liftdate)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/98826 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Thesis