Interpersonal communication

Conversations between citizens about politics are a common form of political engagement. Political discussion, whether face-to-face or mediated, is an important source of information and can significantly influence individuals’ political p, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Central to the study of interpersonal political communication is the concept of discussion heterogeneity, which examines the diversity of political views within one's political discussion network. In this entry, we define key concepts in this field of research and review some of the main findings regarding how politically heterogeneous citizens’ offline and online discussion networks are. We also review research exploring the effects of heterogeneous discussion on several important outcomes: vote choice, political participation, political knowledge, and attitudinal and affective polarization. We conclude by stressing the need for future research to examine the content of citizens’ political conversations, study additional populations, and utilize recent methodological innovations.