Peer effects and social contagion

Thomas Apolte and Kim Leonie Kellermann

Chapter 74 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Public Choice, 2025, pp 529-537 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: People in the same family, friend circle, or peer group often exhibit similar party preferences or voter turnout rates. Public choice research explores whether these patterns are coincidental or if individuals adopt the political behavior of those around them. This chapter outlines the two main theoretical explanations for such peer effects: information cascades and threshold models. It also reviews selected empirical evidence of peer influence and social contagion in political behavior, including spousal vote dependency and seatmate voting in parliaments.

Keywords: Peer effects; Social contagion; Preference transmission; Information cascades; Threshold models; Bandwagoning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781802207743
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