Galvanize Action conducted a study to understand how ideologically-moderate white women’s civic decisions are shaped by the people around them. To reach this audience effectively, we need to look beyond individuals and consider the broader social networks that influence what they believe and how they act. Mapping these ecosystems gives us insight into the levers of influence that can result in long-term behavioral change.

KEY FINDINGS

• Family dominates ideologically-moderate white women’s ecosystems, but external influences shift with life stage and social demographics. Husbands¹ are the single strongest influence, with immediate family forming the next tier. Less weight is given to community, religion, and social media.
• Ideologically-moderate white women perceive ideological gaps inside their networks, placing themselves between the more ideologically-conservative voice of their spouse, and their more ideologically-progressive peers and younger generations, particularly on polarizing issues like abortion, immigration, and trans rights. 
• Conversations about key issues stay inside their inner circle. Ideologically-moderate white women in this sample see themselves as having limited influence and are not typically the ones driving “political” discussions. These conversations take place mainly in the household, avoiding neighbors, coworkers, and broader networks. Therefore, private circles become the primary space where views are repeated and reinforced.

WHO INFLUENCES OUR AUDIENCE?

We asked ideologically-moderate white women a number of questions to identify who most influences their views on key issues like the economy, immigration, and reproductive freedom. These ecosystem maps visualize influence as a set of concentric circles, from the inner circle of strongest influence to the outer circle of weaker ties. Spouses carry the greatest weight, with 72% of married respondents placing them in their inner circle. Other immediate family members—parents and children—make up the rest of their inner circle. Close friends are also influential, though they play more of a supportive role in the middle circle. Extended family and religious connections occupy middle or outer circles, with fewer than 15% placing them at the core. Community and institutions, such as neighbors, news/media, government, or co-workers are rarely seen as central, most often appearing on the periphery.

In addition to the structure of their ecosystems, Galvanize Action also explored whose voices carry the most weight when it comes to key issues: the economy, immigration, and reproductive freedom. Influence ratings were normalized from 0-10 (where 0 means no influence and 10 means maximum influence). Using a linear mixed-effects model, we found that spouses consistently stood out as the top actor, scoring highest on the economy (6.9) and immigration (6.3), and sharing the lead with children on reproductive freedom (5.5 and 5.2). Friends and parents tended to fall in the middle range (≈4.3–6), while local community, religion, and social media remained lower (≈3.6–5.1). Overall, spouses are the most powerful source of influence, though their margin narrows when it comes to reproductive issues.

Influence patterns also vary across demographic subgroups, revealing how women’s life-stage and environment shape whose voices carry weight. Younger women give more weight to parents and social media, while older women feel more influenced by friends on the economy and their religious community on immigration and especially reproductive freedom. This points to a generational divide; younger women lean on online networks, whereas older women are more anchored in peer and faith-based communities.

Living in an urban environment predicts a broader network, with greater influence from friends and neighbors, while rural women remain more tightly family-centered. College-educated women lean more on friends, while those without a degree lean more on partners and children, especially on abortion, showing how educational background can shape whether influence flows from peers outside the household or remains anchored within it.

As expected, married women give substantially more weight to their spouse, while unmarried women lean more on friends, neighbours, and social media. In effect, the influence carried by a spouse in married households is redistributed across other relationships when a partner is not present, broadening the range of voices that shape women’s views.

ECOSYSTEM PERSONAS

To capture variation in influence ecosystems, we modeled each respondent’s data as a weighted egocentric-network and examined the distribution and relative strength of incoming information. This resulted in four distinct profiles (Community-centered, Tight-knit, Well-rounded, and Knowledge-focused), defined solely by network structure, with demographics examined afterward to characterize them. These four personas differ in how concentrated or distributed their networks are, ranging from spouse- and family-dominated to ecosystems that balance peers, community, and external sources. This variation matters because it captures the connections through which information flows.

HOW ALIGNED ARE WOMEN WITH THOSE AROUND THEM ON KEY ISSUES?

We compared women’s own answers to success measures (below) with how they thought those around them would answer the same questions. Across issues, spouses are consistently perceived as more ideologically-conservative than respondents themselves, showing a clear and systematic ideology gap. Parents, neighbors and religious communities also lean more ideologically-conservative, while friends and children are generally seen as more ideologically-progressive. On healthcare in particular, women see themselves as the most ideologically-progressive person in their network. This means our audience is often caught between ideologically-conservative family voices and more ideologically-progressive peer and younger-generation voices, particularly on polarizing issues like abortion, immigration, and trans rights. At the same time, this data suggests that ideologically-moderate white women have the potential to resist pressure in their networks.

CONVERSATION & AGENCY

When it comes to how much influence women believe they have on others in their networks, most place themselves on the lower to middle end. Over a third (35%) say they have ‘some influence,’ while only a small minority (13%) feel they have ‘quite a bit’ or ‘a lot.’ At the other end, about one in five (22%) think they have no influence at all, underscoring that many do not see themselves as powerful actors within their ecosystems.

Most women in our audience do not see themselves as the sole driver of “political” conversations. Half (50%) say they are brought up equally by themselves and others, and another third (33%) say others usually raise them. Just 6% say they are the one to bring these issues up. Yet, most feel at ease once the conversation begins; nearly two-thirds (62%) report feeling somewhat or very comfortable. The frequency of these conversations is fairly low, nearly two-thirds (64%) talk about “politics” ‘sometimes’ or ‘rarely,’ with just over a quarter (27%) engaging often or daily.

Who they talk to most often about key issues confirms how central close relationships are within their ecosystems. Spouses/partners dominate (43%), followed by friends (21%), children (10%), and parents (8%). Interestingly, this stands in contrast to the influence maps, where parents often appear in the inner circle. This suggests that parental influence is less about everyday conversations and more about how they were raised: a formative baseline that continues to shape their views. The same is true for children: while women do not talk to them as frequently about civics, having children might reshape priorities and perspectives in ways that strongly influence how they think about key issues. When asked who else they often talk to, friends rise to the top (42%), alongside children and parents (24% each). This suggests that while spouses may be the primary conversation partner, peers and close family play a critical supporting role. Avoidance patterns reinforce this: women are most likely to steer clear of civic talk with their outer circle; social media contacts (38%), neighbors (34%), and coworkers (33%).

Taken together, these results show that women see themselves as moderately influential, occasionally initiating conversations about civic issues, and discussing them predominantly with close family and friends. Because these exchanges take place almost entirely in private spaces, they risk becoming echo chambers where narratives go unchecked.

TAKEAWAYS

These ecosystem maps show that influence over civic views is concentrated inside private circles, where spouses, parents, children, and close friends shape how ideologically-moderate white women understand and talk about these issues. That insularity creates both opportunity and risk. On one hand, women report being less influenced by what could be more extreme external voices, like partisan news channels and misinformation on social media, which means their closest relationships, not outside forces, feel like the main drivers of opinion. When dialogue remains confined to family circles, narratives take hold without outside input.

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METHODOLOGY

• Audience: Ideologically Moderate US White Women
• Sample size: 600
• Dates in field: August 21, 2025 to September 7, 2025

1. Note that the data was collected under the label ‘spouse,’ but because 95% of our audience identifies as straight (per ANES data), we describe this as ‘husband’ here. ↩︎

QUESTIONNAIRE

QUESTION #1 | OPINIONS ON KEY ISSUES
Please read each statement carefully and tell us how much you agree or disagree with the following:

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
We need the federal government to strengthen policies that reduce income inequality (like Medicaid, Social Security, and food stamps)	8%	9%	19%	32%	32%
Immigrants, regardless of status, should have the freedom to live without fear of detention and deportation	19%	19%	17%	24%	21%
The federal government has a responsibility to safeguard access to abortion without any restrictions, regardless of individual state laws	13%	12%	18%	24%	32%
The rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is part of a larger effort to move the U.S. toward authoritarianism, weakening our democratic institutions	13%	12%	26%	22%	27%
The federal government should guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all people, regardless of income or background	4%	7%	11%	28%	52%
Policies ensuring transgender individuals can fully participate in sports, education, and public life without restriction or discrimination are essential, even if some people are uncomfortable	26%	17%	17%	22%	18%

QUESTION #2 | TOP INFLUENCERS
Which of the following people or groups affect the way you think about political or civic issues? These might be people you agree with, disagree with, learn from, or even feel pressure from – anyone who influences how you form your views on big issues like the economy, healthcare, democracy, and immigration. (please select 3)

Spouse/Partner	57%
Parents	37%
Children	30%
Friends	66%
Neighbors or people in your community	35%
Religious community or leader(s)	24%
Social media (people you interact with or follow)	32%
Workplace or co-workers	17%

QUESTION #3 | PARENTS’ OPINION ON KEY ISSUES

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
We need the federal government to strengthen policies that reduce income inequality (like Medicaid, Social Security, and food stamps)	13%	13%	17%	23%	34%
Immigrants, regardless of status, should have the freedom to live without fear of detention and deportation	29%	17%	17%	17%	19%
The federal government has a responsibility to safeguard access to abortion without any restrictions, regardless of individual state laws	19%	19%	20%	20%	23%
The rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is part of a larger effort to move the U.S. toward authoritarianism, weakening our democratic institutions	18%	13%	26%	22%	21%
The federal government should guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all people, regardless of income or background	7%	9%	16%	27%	41%
Policies ensuring transgender individuals can fully participate in sports, education, and public life without restriction or discrimination are essential, even if some people are uncomfortable	37%	17%	21%	17%	8%

QUESTION #4 | SPOUSE/PARTNER’S OPINION ON KEY ISSUES

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
We need the federal government to strengthen policies that reduce income inequality (like Medicaid, Social Security, and food stamps)	12%	12%	18%	27%	31%
Immigrants, regardless of status, should have the freedom to live without fear of detention and deportation	32%	16%	15%	17%	20%
The federal government has a responsibility to safeguard access to abortion without any restrictions, regardless of individual state laws	22%	10%	19%	24%	25%
The rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is part of a larger effort to move the U.S. toward authoritarianism, weakening our democratic institutions	21%	12%	23%	18%	26%
The federal government should guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all people, regardless of income or background	9%	10%	15%	26%	40%
Policies ensuring transgender individuals can fully participate in sports, education, and public life without restriction or discrimination are essential, even if some people are uncomfortable	42%	16%	18%	13%	12%

QUESTION #5 | CHILD/CHILDREN’S OPINION ON KEY ISSUES

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
We need the federal government to strengthen policies that reduce income inequality (like Medicaid, Social Security, and food stamps)	7%	7%	24%	21%	42%
Immigrants, regardless of status, should have the freedom to live without fear of detention and deportation	12%	13%	24%	19%	32%
The federal government has a responsibility to safeguard access to abortion without any restrictions, regardless of individual state laws	8%	5%	27%	25%	34%
The rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is part of a larger effort to move the U.S. toward authoritarianism, weakening our democratic institutions	8%	10%	35%	18%	30%
The federal government should guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all people, regardless of income or background	2%	6%	15%	19%	58%
Policies ensuring transgender individuals can fully participate in sports, education, and public life without restriction or discrimination are essential, even if some people are uncomfortable	18%	18%	27%	12%	26%

QUESTION #6 | FRIENDS’ OPINION ON KEY ISSUES

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
We need the federal government to strengthen policies that reduce income inequality (like Medicaid, Social Security, and food stamps)	4%	10%	21%	29%	37%
Immigrants, regardless of status, should have the freedom to live without fear of detention and deportation	15%	17%	20%	23%	24%
The federal government has a responsibility to safeguard access to abortion without any restrictions, regardless of individual state laws	10%	11%	20%	24%	34%
The rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is part of a larger effort to move the U.S. toward authoritarianism, weakening our democratic institutions	11%	13%	23%	21%	32%
The federal government should guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all people, regardless of income or background	3%	6%	13%	29%	49%
Policies ensuring transgender individuals can fully participate in sports, education, and public life without restriction or discrimination are essential, even if some people are uncomfortable	21%	18%	21%	18%	22%

QUESTION #7 | NEIGHBORS OR PEOPLE IN YOUR COMMUNITY’S OPINION ON KEY ISSUES

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
We need the federal government to strengthen policies that reduce income inequality (like Medicaid, Social Security, and food stamps)	7%	8%	27%	33%	25%
Immigrants, regardless of status, should have the freedom to live without fear of detention and deportation	19%	18%	25%	23%	16%
The federal government has a responsibility to safeguard access to abortion without any restrictions, regardless of individual state laws	15%	12%	25%	31%	17%
The rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is part of a larger effort to move the U.S. toward authoritarianism, weakening our democratic institutions	10%	15%	32%	22%	22%
The federal government should guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all people, regardless of income or background	4%	9%	20%	28%	39%
Policies ensuring transgender individuals can fully participate in sports, education, and public life without restriction or discrimination are essential, even if some people are uncomfortable	24%	20%	25%	19%	12%

QUESTION #8 | RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY OR LEADER/S’ OPINION ON KEY ISSUES

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
We need the federal government to strengthen policies that reduce income inequality (like Medicaid, Social Security, and food stamps)	10%	8%	26%	22%	34%
Immigrants, regardless of status, should have the freedom to live without fear of detention and deportation	19%	14%	21%	23%	23%
The federal government has a responsibility to safeguard access to abortion without any restrictions, regardless of individual state laws	43%	12%	17%	15%	14%
The rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is part of a larger effort to move the U.S. toward authoritarianism, weakening our democratic institutions	17%	15%	33%	19%	15%
The federal government should guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all people, regardless of income or background	6%	8%	24%	28%	34%
Policies ensuring transgender individuals can fully participate in sports, education, and public life without restriction or discrimination are essential, even if some people are uncomfortable	39%	16%	21%	15%	10%

QUESTION #9 | Think about how the people you interact with or follow on social media would answer these questions. Go with your best sense based on past conversations or what you know about them. How much would the people you interact with or follow on social media agree or disagree with these statements:

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
We need the federal government to strengthen policies that reduce income inequality (like Medicaid, Social Security, and food stamps)	8%	7%	18%	30%	37%
Immigrants, regardless of status, should have the freedom to live without fear of detention and deportation	13%	15%	21%	25%	23%
The federal government has a responsibility to safeguard access to abortion without any restrictions, regardless of individual state laws	12%	8%	22%	29%	29%
The rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is part of a larger effort to move the U.S. toward authoritarianism, weakening our democratic institutions	10%	10%	29%	19%	32%
The federal government should guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all people, regardless of income or background	5%	8%	16%	29%	44%
Policies ensuring transgender individuals can fully participate in sports, education, and public life without restriction or discrimination are essential, even if some people are uncomfortable	17%	14%	22%	23%	24%

QUESTION #10 | Think about how your workplace or co-workers would answer these questions. Go with your best sense based on past conversations or what you know about them. How much would your workplace or co-workers agree or disagree with these statements:

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
We need the federal government to strengthen policies that reduce income inequality (like Medicaid, Social Security, and food stamps)	6%	8%	20%	35%	31%
Immigrants, regardless of status, should have the freedom to live without fear of detention and deportation	14%	17%	21%	23%	24%
The federal government has a responsibility to safeguard access to abortion without any restrictions, regardless of individual state laws	7%	13%	29%	27%	24%
The rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is part of a larger effort to move the U.S. toward authoritarianism, weakening our democratic institutions	8%	16%	31%	21%	24%
The federal government should guarantee access to affordable healthcare for all people, regardless of income or background	6%	5%	15%	37%	38%
Policies ensuring transgender individuals can fully participate in sports, education, and public life without restriction or discrimination are essential, even if some people are uncomfortable	16%	19%	29%	20%	16%

QUESTION #11 | Take a moment to picture your social world as circles around you. Who, or what, influences your opinion on important issues like the economy, immigration, or democracy? Your inner circle includes the people, groups or institutions that are closest to you – they strongly shape your own opinion. A little farther out are those who influence you somewhat, they are your middle circle. And farther still is your outer circle, who influence you in a very minor way. Some people may not belong in these circles at all. Keep the image of your personal influence circle in mind as you move to the next question.

For each of the following people and groups, please choose where they belong in your influence circles.

Person/group	Inner circle	Middle circle	Outer circle	Not in my circle
Spouse/partner	55%	20%	6%	19%
Child/children	35%	25%	14%	26%
Parents	33%	25%	15%	28%
Closest friends	36%	46%	15%	3%
Extended friend group	5%	31%	47%	17%
Extended family	8%	35%	41%	17%
Religious leader	11%	24%	23%	42%
Religious community	12%	21%	27%	40%
News or media outlets	6%	30%	37%	27%
Neighbors/community	3%	28%	46%	23%
Social media (friends)	5%	25%	40%	30%
Social media (influencers)	4%	16%	31%	50%
Volunteer groups	3%	16%	28%	53%
Teachers/professors	6%	20%	26%	48%
Online communities/forums	3%	16%	36%	46%
Experts (scientists, doctors, academics)	19%	41%	29%	12%
Therapist or life coach	5%	19%	15%	61%
Gym community	2%	6%	18%	75%
Hobby groups	3%	13%	27%	58%
Workplace/co-workers	3%	20%	33%	44%
Government institutes	4%	23%	44%	29%

QUESTION #12 | HOW MUCH ARE THEY INFLUENCED BY PEOPLE AROUND THEM?

The next questions will ask you to think about who influences your views on three important issues: the economy, immigration, and reproductive freedom. For each issue, you’ll see a list of people or groups. Use the sliders to show how much each one shapes your views on that issue. Slide left for less influence, and right for more influence. There are no right or wrong answers, just go with what feels true for you.

Think about your views on the economy. For each of the following people or groups, please rate how much they influence your views on this issue.

Actor	Mean Influence
Spouse/partner	6.89
Parents	5.35
Children	5.84
Friends	6.03
Local community	5.14
Religious community	4.17
Social media	4.07

Think about your views on immigration. For each of the following people or groups, please rate how much they influence your views on this issue.

Actor	Mean Influence
Spouse/partner	6.31
Parents	4.79
Children	5.26
Friends	5.48
Local community	4.8
Religious community	4.12
Social media	4.11

Think about your views on reproductive freedom (abortion legality). For each of the following people or groups, please rate how much they influence your views on this issue.

Actor	Mean Influence
Spouse/partner	5.52
Parents	4.32
Children	5.2
Friends	4.9
Local community	3.74
Religious community	4.39
Social media	3.59

Conservation & Agency

QUESTION #13 | HOW MUCH INFLUENCE DO THEY HAVE?

How much influence do you think you have on the political or civic opinions of people in your life?

A lot of influence	4%
Quite a bit of influence	9%
Some influence	35%
A little influence	31%
No influence at all	22%

QUESTION #14| HOW OFTEN DO THEY TALK ABOUT THESE ISSUES?

How often do you talk about political or civic issues with the people or groups you spend time with?

Daily	5%
Often	22%
Sometimes	41%
Rarely	23%
Never	8%

QUESTION #15 | WHO BRINGS IT UP?

When you talk about political or civic issues, do you usually bring it up or does someone else?

I usually bring it up	6%
We both bring it up equally	50%
They usually bring it up	33%
I don’t talk about these things	11%

QUESTION #16 | WHO DO YOU TALK TO MOST?

Who do you talk to most often about political or civic issues? (select one)

Spouse/partner	43%
Parents	8%
Child/children	10%
Friends	21%
Neighbors or people in my community	3%
Religious community or leader(s)	1%
Social media (people you interact with or follow)	3%
Workplace or co-workers	5%
Other (please specify)	5%

QUESTION #17 | WHO ELSE?

Who else do you talk to often about political or civic issues? (select all that apply)

Spouse/partner	20%
Parents	24%
Child/children	24%
Friends	42%
Neighbors or people in my community	18%
Religious community or leader(s)	5%
Social media (people you interact with or follow)	14%
Workplace or co-workers	14%
Other (please specify)	5%

QUESTION #18 | HOW COMFORTABLE DO YOU FEEL TALKING ABOUT POLITICAL OR CIVIC ISSUES WITH THE PEOPLE YOU SPEND TIME WITH?

Very comfortable	24%
Somewhat comfortable	38%
Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable	21%
Somewhat uncomfortable	12%
Very uncomfortable	5%

QUESTION #19 | ARE THERE ANY PEOPLE OR GROUPS THAT YOU AVOID TALKING TO ABOUT CIVIC OR POLITICAL ISSUES? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)

Spouse/partner	5%
Parents	11%
Child/children	14%
Friends	9%
Neighbors or people in my community	34%
Religious community or leader(s)	30%
Social media (people you interact with or follow)	38%
Workplace or co-workers	33%
Other (please specify)	4%