Project description
Social identity and communication
The spread of social networks and groups may be conditioned by ethnic, class and gender belonging. This raises questions about the role of opinion dynamics in forming a social identity as well circumstances where this social identity is an obstacle to communication. The EU-funded DYNNET project will study communication between different social strata and inequality and how “opinion bubbles” arise. The project will also study the role gender prejudices play in social networks and groups as well as circumstances leading to ethnic discrimination. Finally, the project will examine situations where opinion dynamics are affected by the spread of “fake news”.
Objective
In this project I propose to study opinion dynamics in social networks and groups. In particular, I will ask how opinion dynamics contribute to shape social identity and how, conversely, social identity affects communication. I also ask whether and when social identity is a barrier to communication, when “opinion bubbles” are created and when and how “fake news” can spread. The types of social identity I consider include social class, ethnicity and gender. The project consists of four subprojects.
The first subproject [A] focuses on communication between social classes and inequality. The subproject asks how opinion dynamics contribute to diverging experiences, core behaviours and values that go much beyond income inequality. I will first document this divergence by conducting experiments in a representative sample of the UK population via the UK Household panel and then conduct lab experiments to study opinion dynamics and the conditions under which “opinion bubbles” arise in more detail.
Subproject [B] focuses on gender bias in committees. A large body of empirical evidence has documented gender biases in decisions, such as hiring, promotion, or performance evaluations. Many of these decisions involve communication and deliberation among committee members. Nevertheless the role of opinion dynamics in committees in creating or amplifying gender bias has not been explored. Subproject [B] aims to fill this gap.
Subproject [C] will focus on how perceived uncertainty contributes to the spread of discriminatory attitudes with a particular focus on ethnic discrimination. Subproject [C] will be conducted both using a representative sample of the UK population via the Innovation Panel of Understanding Society, the UK Household panel as well as lab experiments.
The last subproject [D] will use lab experiments to study under which conditions opinion dynamics can become vulnerable to “fake news”.
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Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
CO4 3SQ Colchester
United Kingdom