Disagreement Without Deterrence: The Importance of the Setting for the Study of Political Disagreement and Participation of Youth

DOI10.1177/1532673X17745343
Published date01 July 2019
Date01 July 2019
Subject MatterArticles
https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X17745343
American Politics Research
2019, Vol. 47(4) 915 –946
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1532673X17745343
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Article
Disagreement Without
Deterrence: The
Importance of the
Setting for the Study of
Political Disagreement
and Participation of
Youth
Jessica T. Feezell1 and Jessica L. Jones1
Abstract
In today’s polarized and often uncivil political environment, how does
political disagreement influence the political participation of youth? In this
article, we compare the relationship between political disagreement and the
political behavior of youth in online and face-to-face settings. Using a unique
sample of U.S. youth age 15 to 25 (N = 1,112), we find that exposure to
disagreement, especially online, has a positive relationship with traditional
and online forms of political participation. In addition, we find that engaging
in disagreement online predicts higher levels of online participation. These
findings suggest that engaging with political disagreement in the online setting
may provide a way for youth to grapple with complex issues in a manner
that leads to higher levels of political engagement overall.
Keywords
disagreement, political participation, youth, online, face-to-face
1The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Corresponding Author:
Jessica T. Feezell, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC053070,
Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Email: jfeezell@unm.edu
745343APRXXX10.1177/1532673X17745343American Politics ResearchFeezell and Jones
research-article2017
916 American Politics Research 47(4)
Although there are independent and extensive bodies of research on the
political engagement of youth and the consequences of political disagree-
ment, it remains unclear what influence exposure to political disagreement
has on the political engagement of youth specifically. In addition, while pre-
vious research identifies many sources of exposure to political information
and disagreement for youth including the home, school, and extracurricular
activities, the online setting remains relatively unexplored in this regard. In
this research, we examine two questions that are understudied in the litera-
ture: How does reported exposure to political disagreement influence the
political participation of youth? And how does engaging with those you dis-
agree with influence the political participation of youth? Furthermore, we
are interested in whether these relationships differ between online and face-
to-face settings.
Studies show that youth are often exposed to political information and
disagreement as part of their daily activities in online and face-to-face
settings. A 2015 survey by Pew found that 92% of teens go online daily
(Lenhart, 2015) where exposure to political diversity is common (Kim,
2011; Wojcieszak & Mutz, 2009). Youth also encounter political diversity
in face-to-face settings such as in school where they encounter different
populations (Campbell, 2000; Kahne & Middaugh, 2008; McFarland &
Thomas, 2006; Quintelier, Stolle, & Harell, 2012). These findings suggest
that youth, even those who do not actively seek out political information,
are exposed to political information and diverse perspectives as a result of
daily routines and apolitical activities. Despite our growing understand-
ing of the regularity with which youth encounter political diversity, we
know relatively little about the consequences of this exposure for their
political behavior.
It is important to develop our understanding of the influence of political
disagreement on youth for at least two reasons. First, while many studies
examine the influence of disagreement on the political participation of
adults, youth might be comparatively more susceptible to the effects of
political disagreement or exhibit distinct responses. In addition, youth age
15 to 25 are in their “formative” political years where the opinions and
behaviors developed during this period can mature into long-lasting pat-
terns of political engagement (Jennings & Niemi, 1981; Niemi & Hepburn,
1995; Quintelier, 2015; Quintelier et al., 2012). Better understanding of
how youth experience political disagreement in face-to-face and online
settings is a necessary preliminary step to learn how political discussion in
the digital media environment may affect the long-term political socializa-
tion of this generation.
Feezell and Jones 917
Political Disagreement, Political Participation, and
the Importance of Settings
While many extol the normative theory of deliberative democracy and politi-
cal disagreement for its ability to produce a more reasoning and virtuous
public (Dewey, 1916; Habermas, 1989), the empirical research on exposure
to political disagreement draws several, often conflicting, conclusions about
the impact it has on political behavior. While deliberation is intended to bring
about greater understanding of an issue, this often involves exposure to polit-
ical cross pressures that may have negative consequences for political partici-
pation (Mutz, 2002, 2006; Noelle-Neumann, 1984; Wojcieszak, Baek, &
Delli Carpini, 2010). In addition, Torcal and Maldonado (2014) show that
face-to-face exposure to disagreement can also affect antecedents of political
participation such as political interest. The negative consequences of expo-
sure to face-to-face disagreement appear to extend to both political participa-
tion and its underlying drivers.
Other research, however, finds that face-to-face political disagreement can
also exert a positive influence on political interest, knowledge, and engage-
ment (Lee, Kwak, & Campbell, 2015; Pattie & Johnston, 2009; Scheufele,
Nisbet, Brossard, & Nisbet, 2004). In addition, exposure to diverse opinions
can encourage self-reflection, which subsequently results in higher levels of
political participation (McLeod et al., 1999). While many studies claim that
exposure to political disagreement has harmful effects for democracy, there
seem to be as many that find the opposite, and a consensus ultimately remains
elusive.
Several caveats illuminate some of the divergent findings regarding the
relationship between exposure to disagreement and political behavior includ-
ing the empirical conceptualization of “disagreement” (Klofstad, Sokhey, &
McClurg, 2013), the broader political environment (Huckfeldt & Sprague,
1987; McClurg, 2006), and an individual’s orientation toward conflict
(Middaugh, Bowyer, & Kahne, 2017; Testa, Hibbing, & Ritchie, 2014).
Recent studies also call attention to the nature of the setting in which dis-
agreement occurs, be it mediated or face-to-face, for understanding its
consequences.
Computer mediated communication (CMC) entails particular channel
characteristics that may make experiencing political disagreement online
more comfortable than in a face-to-face setting. According to his theory of
social information processing, Walther (1996) suggests that the linguistic
code is the only channel for relational communication in a CMC setting. As a
result, deciphering expression and social cues in CMC takes longer than in a
face-to-face setting and allows the receiver to process information at a slower

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