We’re Closer than I Thought: Social Network Heterogeneity, Morality, and Political Persuasion Pazit Ben-Nun Bloom Tel Aviv University Lindsey Clark Levitan Stony Brook University Literature in the area of social networks indicates that increases in perceived social network attitudinal heterogeneity generate increased openness to attitude change. Recent evidence in the area of morality, however, shows that morally based attitudes are par- ticularly resistant to persuasion and can result in the rejection of disagreeing others. Positing that considering morality would reduce network influence, an experiment varied moral cues presented along with a non-network persuasive message while holding the actual content constant. Results demonstrate that morality and network composition interact to predict persuasion, such that when people are not cued to consider morality increased network heterogeneity predicts increased persuasion, but when identical mes- sages are presented in a way that invokes morality the impact of network heterogeneity disappears or even reverses marginally. This interactive effect was replicated in two very different political issues: gay adoption and nationalized healthcare. Implications for persuasion by morally motivated sources independent of the effects of specific moral arguments are discussed. KEY WORDS: social networks, morality, persuasion, attitude strength Introduction People do not form or maintain their political attitudes in isolation, but instead participate in collective contexts that shape their experience, motivations, and attitudes. Ordinarily, when we consider politics and develop our political attitudes, we rely markedly on our social environment, looking to those around us for Political Psychology, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2011 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2011.00826.x 643 0162-895X © 2011 International Society of Political Psychology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, and PO Box 378 Carlton South, 3053 Victoria Australia