The bridging effect of political talk: Identifying the mechanism of the relationship between political talk and political participation

Abstract

Recent studies find that political talk influences political participation. However, as of yet, there has been no clear demonstration of how political talk translates into increased political participation. This study proposes a bridging effect, which reduces the perceived psychological distance between citizens and politics. In order to test this explanation, we collected panel data on an online national volunteer sample in November 2012 and January 2013. Findings suggest that the direct relationship between political talk and participation in governmental politics may be mediated through perceived psychological distance to politics. These findings support the bridging effect explanation.