Do people like to discuss politics? A study of citizens’ political talk culture

Abstract As deliberative democracy is gaining practical momentum, the question arises whether citizens’ attitudes toward everyday political talk are congruent with this ‘talk-centric’ vision of democratic governance. Drawing on a unique survey we examine how German citizens view practice discussing politics in life, and what determines these attitudes. We find that only minority appreciates talking about politics. To explain views, combine Fishbein Ajzen’s Expectancy-Value Model behaviors perspectives from research interpersonal communication. Individuals’ interest emerges as relevant disposition for talk. Its impact surpassed conditioned by conflict orientations other enduring psychological dispositions, well contextual circumstances like closeness social ties amount disagreement experienced during conversations. The beneficial effect dwindles under adverse conditions. dimension thus appears to outweigh its dimension.