The demobilizing potential of interpersonal conflict in the Pacific

Abstract

Abstract Using the case of Guam, the present study examines the politically demobilizing potential of conflict avoidance in the Pacific. An analysis of data from a probability-based mail survey of registered voters (N = 319) in Guam revealed that conflict avoidance is inversely associated with political participation, civic engagement, and attention to interpersonal sources of information on a political issue. An inverse relationship between conflict avoidance and attention to the Internet as a source of information on a political issue was also approaching statistical significance. However, conflict avoidance was not associated with neighborliness. Implications are discussed.