IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ireced/v39y2022ics1477388021000256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do students sort themselves based on economic ideology?

Author

Listed:
  • Magee, Christopher

Abstract

This paper describes a classroom experiment that facilitates a discussion of different economic ideologies and of the beliefs held by conservative and liberal economists. The experiment tests whether students tend to associate with like-minded friends more than with students who have different economic ideologies. The results of the experiment suggest that students are closer in ideology to their friends than to other students. The difference in the ideological gap between friends and the gap between random students is statistically significant but is not large in magnitude. The experiment allows the professor to introduce the topic of ideological sorting and its important consequences for individuals in their trust for others and in how extreme their political beliefs become. Sorting can also contribute to confirmation bias, which makes it difficult for students to update their views in response to new information. By discussing ideological sorting in the context of the experiment, professors can help students to improve their ability to seek out and process new information even when it contradicts their previously-held beliefs.

Suggested Citation

  • Magee, Christopher, 2022. "Do students sort themselves based on economic ideology?," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ireced:v:39:y:2022:i:c:s1477388021000256
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iree.2021.100233
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477388021000256
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iree.2021.100233?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hadsell, Lester & Jones, Adam T, 2020. "The company you keep: Satisfaction with life, economic freedom, and preference-policy mismatch," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 642-657.
    2. David Marmaros & Bruce Sacerdote, 2006. "How Do Friendships Form?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(1), pages 79-119.
    3. Robin L. Bartlett & Marianne A. Ferber & Carole A. Green, 2009. "Political Orientation and the Decision to Major in Economics: Some Preliminary Observations," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 8(1), pages 13-31.
    4. Adam T. Jones & Lester Hadsell & Robert T. Burrus, 2019. "Capitalist Views and Religion," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(3), pages 384-414, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Arcidiacono & Esteban Aucejo & Andrew Hussey & Kenneth Spenner, 2013. "Racial Segregation Patterns in Selective Universities," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 1039-1060.
    2. Nora Gordon & Sarah Reber, 2018. "The effects of school desegregation on mixed-race births," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 561-596, April.
    3. Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves, 2012. "Ethnic networks and employment outcomes," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 938-949.
    4. Sharon Barnhardt & Erica Field & Rohini Pande, 2017. "Moving to Opportunity or Isolation? Network Effects of a Randomized Housing Lottery in Urban India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 1-32, January.
    5. repec:mod:depeco:0002 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Murat, Marina, 2014. "Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind. Education Networks and International Trade," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 53-66.
    7. Stephen Leider & Markus M. Möbius & Tanya Rosenblat & Quoc-Anh Do, 2009. "Directed Altruism and Enforced Reciprocity in Social Networks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 124(4), pages 1815-1851.
    8. Picard, Pierre M. & Zenou, Yves, 2015. "Urban Spatial Structure, Employment and Social Ties: European versus American Cities," IZA Discussion Papers 9166, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Yann Bramoullé & Bernard Fortin, 2009. "The Econometrics of Social Networks," Cahiers de recherche 0913, CIRPEE.
    10. Murat Marina, 2017. "International Students and Investments Abroad," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-33, March.
    11. Francesco Drago & Friederike Mengel & Christian Traxler, 2020. "Compliance Behavior in Networks: Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 96-133, April.
    12. Mary J. Fischer, 2008. "Does Campus Diversity Promote Friendship Diversity? A Look at Interracial Friendships in College," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(3), pages 631-655, September.
    13. Ermisch, John & Belot, Michèle, 2006. "Friendship ties and geographical mobility: evidence from the BHPS," ISER Working Paper Series 2006-33, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    14. Markus Mobius & Tuan Phan & Adam Szeidl, 2015. "Treasure Hunt: Social Learning in the Field," NBER Working Papers 21014, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Colussi, Tommaso & Romano, Livio, 2016. "Is There a Preferential Treatment for Locals in the Labor Market? Evidence from Takeovers," IZA Discussion Papers 10418, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. William E. Even & Austin C. Smith, 2022. "Greek Life, Academics, and Earnings," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(3), pages 998-1032.
    17. Daniel Eisenberg & Ezra Golberstein & Janis L. Whitlock & Marilyn F. Downs, 2013. "Social Contagion Of Mental Health: Evidence From College Roommates," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(8), pages 965-986, August.
    18. Michèle Belot & John Ermisch, 2009. "Friendship ties and geographical mobility: evidence from Great Britain," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 172(2), pages 427-442, April.
    19. Alexis León, 2006. "Does Ethnic Capital Matter? Identifying the Role of Ethnic Peer Effects in the Intergenerational Transmission of Ethnic Differentials," Working Paper 289, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, revised Dec 2006.
    20. Tommaso Colussi, 2013. "Migrant Networks and Job Search Outcomes: Evidence from Displaced Workers," Working Papers 706, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    21. Belot, M & Francesconi, M, 2006. "Can Anyone be "The" One? Evidence on Mate Selection from Speed Dating," Economics Discussion Papers 2594, University of Essex, Department of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ireced:v:39:y:2022:i:c:s1477388021000256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-review-of-economics-education .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.