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The Political Influence of Peer Groups: Experimental Evidence from the Classroom

Author

Listed:
  • Camila Campos

    (Insper)

  • Sean Hargreaves Heap

    (King's College London)

  • Fernanda L L de Leon

    (University of East Anglia)

Abstract

People who belong to the same group often behave alike. Is this because people with similar preferences naturally associate with each other or because group dynamics cause individual preferences and/or the information that they have to converge? This is the question that we address with a natural experiment. We focus on the possible influence of peers on two types of individual political behaviour: political identification on a left-right spectrum and political engagement. We find no evidence that peer political identification affects individual identification. But we do find that peer engagement affects individual engagement, individual political knowledge and political identification among those who are initially least engaged. We argue this (and other evidence) is most likely to arise from peer effects on the information that individuals have and not their preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Camila Campos & Sean Hargreaves Heap & Fernanda L L de Leon, 2013. "The Political Influence of Peer Groups: Experimental Evidence from the Classroom," University of East Anglia Applied and Financial Economics Working Paper Series 053, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    • Handle: RePEc:uea:aepppr:2012_53
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    File URL: https://ueaeco.github.io/working-papers/papers/afe/UEA-AFE-053.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. David S. Lyle, 2009. "The Effects of Peer Group Heterogeneity on the Production of Human Capital at West Point," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 69-84, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nikolaj Harmon & Raymond Fisman & Emir Kamenica, 2018. "Peer Effects in Legislative Voting," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series dp-304, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    2. Nikolaj Harmon & Raymond Fisman & Emir Kamenica, 2019. "Peer Effects in Legislative Voting," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 156-180, October.

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