Motivations in Political Conversations

Abstract

An important part of being a participating citizen in a democracy is to share alternative perspectives. However, political conversation can be polarizing, and ensuing conflict can damage relationships. Therefore, it is valuable to understand why conflict may occur in order to design suggestions to reduce the intensity of such conflict.

This project examines the motivations people bring to political discussions when talking to people they disagree with. Specifically, the motivations to educate self and influence others. We also explored the way that the relationship with the other person can impact motivations and the perception of those motivations in others.

MacEwan students were asked to recall a disagreement conversation with either a strong-tie, such as a close friend or family member, or a weak-tie, such as a casual acquaintance or co-worker. They were asked to indicate their perceptions of the other person. The results indicate that people were motivated to express opinions and learn about others, and perceived the other person to be motivated to express opinions and influence others. However, there were not significant interactions between motivations and relationship type.

In follow-up exploratory analyses, we found that participants reported the experience to be more positive when they perceived the other person to be motivated to learn about them and build relationships. They also reported that the other person could have been more open-minded and listened more than they themselves could have, perhaps indicating that people tend to believe other people, and not themselves, are the cause of problems in conversations.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Craig Blatz