College roommates have a modest but significant influence on each other's political ideology.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Strother L
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7812804 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
College roommates have a modest but significant influence on each other's political ideology.
Strother Logan L Piston Spencer S Golberstein Ezra E Gollust Sarah E SE Eisenberg Daniel D
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20201221 2
Does college change students' political preferences? While existing research has documented associations between college education and political views, it remains unclear whether these associations reflect a causal relationship. We address this gap in previous research by analyzing a quasi-experiment in which university students are assigned to live together as roommates. While we find little evidence that college students as a whole become more liberal over time, we do find strong evidence of p ...[more]
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