Attributes of interpersonal political discussion as antecedents of cognitive elaboration

Political discussion is a core element for the democratic wellbeing of any society. Recently, academics have turned their attention to exploring the different roles discussion-network-Attributes may have in today's democracy, such as strength of discussion network ties (weak-strong), heterogeneity of discussion networks, exposure to disagreement, and level of reasoning in discussions. Less explored, however, is the connection of these discussion attributes as antecedents to cognitive elaboration -The extent to which individuals who engage in political discussions find themselves thinking and reflecting upon those discussions at a later time. Survey data from the United States indicates discussing public affairs in networks with strong-Ties versus weak-Ties has different implications in predicting other discussion attributes and cognitive elaboration.