Community Identity and Political Behavior

Social scientists are motivated to understand how various facets of society influence all sorts of behavior. Individual’s perceptions about their significance in a given community can have meaningful effects on the way in which we look to communities to develop and foster democratic values and promote civic engagement.

In her workshop, Dr. Anderson will take participants through her interdisciplinary approach to studying communities and political behavior, blending the fields of community psychology, sociology, and political science. She will draw on her research into community identity, focusing specifically on how community comes to influence political behavior and engagement. She will discuss civic engagement from the perspective of being an informed consumer of information.

We know from previous research that the context in which an individual interacts influences his/her political behaviors and attitudes. With this in mind, Dr. Anderson will explore the following:

1. how does sense of community influence political behavior and attitudes? And what impact—if any—does involvement in multiple contexts have on political behavior and attitudes?
2. how does the information environment influence political behavior specifically civic engagement?