Political homophily, bifurcated social reality, and perceived legitimacy of the 2020 US presidential election results: A four-wave longitudinal study

We report the results from a four-wave longitudinal study (N = 951–1349) investigating perceptions of the 2020 US Presidential Election as legitimate. Specifically, the role of homophily (“love of same”) was examined in creating politically homogenous social and informational networks that facilitate and amplify polarized perceptions of the election's legitimacy and belief in voter fraud across time. Consistent with our hypotheses, Trump voters’ susceptibility to misinformation about voter fraud and refusals to accept the election results as legitimate drastically increased to the extent to which they were entrenched in politically homophilic networks. Biden voters modestly strengthened their views of the election results as legitimate when entrenched in politically homophilic networks. Moreover, the influence of politically homophilic networks in facilitating this polarization grew stronger with the passage of time. Longitudinal modeling revealed that, among Trump voters, politically homophilic networks decreased perceptions of election legitimacy through increased belief in voter fraud.