How Your Family and Friends Can Change Your Political Views (2011)

Undergraduate: Yanneka King

Faculty Advisor: Sarah Smith
Department: Political Science

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Much of available political science research focuses on the mechanics of the voting process leaving out one major factor: The influence of third parties in the constituent's reasoning. This is an important aspect of the voting decision process (and the political framework) in general because it adds another point of influence for politicians and allows us to gain some insight into how Americans make their decisions on voting day. Although it is very hard to objectively analyze this deeply, it is clear through this study that there is a significant influence from friends, family, and even coworkers in how one makes their political decisions. This study used questionnaires to identify whether or not people felt significantly influenced by their peers and many identified, especially on the more open ended questions, that there were certain figures in their life that significantly influenced their current opinion. This study also found an additional facet of political opinion that might be studied further. Many subjects indicated that their life experiences have a profound influence on their political opinion and this finding may be worth further study in future political science research. Lastly, this study provides an interesting finding, in that it suggests politicians focus a little more on word-of-mouth advocation of their platforms and suggests that this area of study might invoke further study.