Peers' influence on political choices: Evidence from random classroom assignments in college

Social networks are believed to a§ect individuals’ political views; however, quantifying this e§ect and understanding the channels behind this influence are empirically challenging. This study investigates peer e§ects on political behavior, using a self-collected survey among freshmen from the largest university in Brazil. The identification relies on the random assignment of freshmen to classrooms. We found that a relevant peer influence occurs through classmates’ political involve- ment, increasing students’ political participation, knowledge and moving their ideologies toward the center. Other mechanisms of influence, such as social pres- sure to adopt certain views or reinforcement of one’s own preferences, were not observed in the data.