The Missing Link: Network Influences on Class Divides in Political Attitudes.
Previous research provides a detailed picture of class differences in political attitudes. Less is however known about the social structures that enforce this political divide across social classes. This article contributes towards filling this gap by considering how the class profile of personal so...
| Published in: | European Sociological Review Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 695 - 713 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Oct2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=152557414&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 152557414 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02667215 BHY jtl: European Sociological Review issn: 02667215 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Oct2021 vid: 37 iid: 5 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 152557414 10.1093/esr/jcab010 ppf: 695 ppct: 18 formats: tig: atl: The Missing Link: Network Influences on Class Divides in Political Attitudes. aug: au: Lindh, Arvid Andersson, Anton B Volker, Beate affil: The Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University , 10691 Stockholm, Sweden Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University , 3584CB Utrecht, The Netherlands su: Sweden Political attitudes Social classes Social networks Demographic surveys sug: subj: Political attitudes Social classes Social networks Demographic surveys Sweden Other Individual and Family Services Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling ab: Previous research provides a detailed picture of class differences in political attitudes. Less is however known about the social structures that enforce this political divide across social classes. This article contributes towards filling this gap by considering how the class profile of personal social networks influences political attitudes. We propose a general framework for incorporating an individual's social network into class analysis of political preferences. Using Sweden as a case, we empirically evaluate our approach using a population survey with information about the respondents' own employment situation, egocentric networks, and political attitudes in terms of redistribution and welfare chauvinism. We find that there is considerable class segregation in social networks as individuals tend to have more ties within their own and neighbouring class positions. Concerning political preferences, results show that: (i) a substantive part of the class–attitude relationship is shaped by a person's social network; (ii) the class profile of networks influences attitudes over and above one's own class position; (iii) class segregation in networks fortifies class divides in political attitudes. We thus conclude that social networks constitute a (hitherto) 'missing link' in class analysis of political preferences that merits careful consideration in theoretical models of contemporary politics. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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