Effectiveness of Personal Narratives in Cross-Partisan Mobile Chat Conversations

• In Event: Media and Communication Paths to Depolarization

Abstract

Political scientists have had revived interest in cross-partisan conversation, with ongoing debates about the extent to which they will mitigate or exacerbate polarization. In studying the extent and direction of persuasion from such interactions, researchers have focused more on the characteristics of the speakers rather than the content of the communicated messages. Research on persuasion has highlighted the effectiveness of personal narrative in other contexts—such as canvassing and advertising. In this study, I examine the effectiveness of personal narrative in online conversations among ordinary citizens. This study analyzes surveys and text from 1,169 United States citizens engaged in online cross-partisan discussions on DiscussIt, a mobile chat platform resembling WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Democrats and Republicans were recruited from YouGov to participate in an anonymous conversation on the topic of gun control or immigration on the DiscussIT platform. This platform enables individuals to engage in personal messaging and respond to survey questions before and after their conversations on topics such as gun control or immigration. Initial findings indicate that receiving personal narratives in cross-partisan interactions significantly predicts perceptions of one's chat partner's persuasive ability but does not result in observable changes in short- or long-term attitudes on the topic of discussion.

Author

• Diana Maria Elsie Jordan, Duke University