Antecedents of political trust in adolescence: Cognitive abilities and perceptions of parents (original) (raw)
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Developing Political Trust in Adolescents: Is there a Role for Schools?
Political trust provides the necessary legitimacy for political institutions and the actions they take on behalf of citizens. Political trust is especially important in democracies to sustain and build social cohesion but also to encourage citizens to work together for democratic principles. In this chapter we set out to investigate the role of schools and the contribution they can make to building political trust amongst young people. In addition, we want to focus on the use of multilevel modelling as an analytic technique that has the potential to tap results at different levels of education systems. The sample comprised 23,654 junior secondary students who had recently participated in the 2009 International Civics and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2009). The students were selected from schools in five Asian societies, namely Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The schools were chosen through proportional probability sampling and students within schools came from a single intact class. The a mean age of students was 13.5 years at the time of testing within each society. Results show that schools can play a role in the development of political trust in the five societies we have studied. Within societies schools utilizing generally democratic processes and structures for student are more likely to build political trust than those that are not. Nevertheless, there is substantial difference between societies in the mechanisms through which school exerts influence on students’ political trust. Further, nuances are observed across societies in gender and parental roles. The findings reported in this chapter have provided important insights for future research in the political socialization of adolescents.
Recent research on the development of political knowledge often focuses on the role of one specific mediating institution in this process. In this paper, we argue that it is important to put the role of different mediating institutions (i.c. parents, peers and mass media) into a comparative perspective in order to explain the influence of each mediating institutions in a more systematic way. Is the content (the information-richness) of the mediating institutions crucial for the development of political knowledge, or is it especially important that citizens are exposed to political views and knowledge in an interactive way? We investigate the development of political knowledge and the role of these different mediating institutions among adolescents, as young citizens are in a phase in life in which knowledge on societal issues is fully being developed. Using data from a recent large scale study on among 3,426 adolescents in Belgium (Parent-Child Socialization Study 2012), we simultaneously analyze the role of family, peers and mass media in the development of political knowledge. This points at the importance of an information-rich context. Interactive exposure to political information is not a necessary condition for the development of political knowledge.
There is a strong ongoing debate about the impact of higher education experiences on political attitudes and behaviours. While some authors assume a direct socialisation effect of educational experience, others have argued that education should be seen as a mere proxy variable for socio-economic status and pre-adult socialisation experiences. In this paper we use a five-year Belgian panel study (BPPS, 2006-2011, n= 1,634) that tracked respondents between the ages of 16 and 21. Using a hierarchical linear model of repeated measurements, we are able to demonstrate that differences with regard to political trust between future students and non-students are already present and stable at the age of 16. Significant determinants were school track and educational goal. The inclusion of actual educational status in the model (at age 21), however, rendered the relation with educational goal not significant. The results suggest that students already during secondary education anticipate for and acquire a value pattern that is congruent with their future status. Ultimately, however, this effect is dependent on the fact whether they actually enroll in higher education or not.
Political knowledge and awareness in adolescents
Journal of Adolescence, 1983
Although some work has been done on adolescents' political attitudes, very little work has been done on their political knowledge. This study aimed to replicate a large study carried out eight years ago (Stradling, I977) to see whether recent political changes altered adolescents' political knowledge and secondly to investigate the determinants (demographic, media usage, interest) of this knowledge. The results were strikingly similar to those of Stradling despite the smaller sample and the changes over time. The subjects appeared to know most about responsibility for public services and party political leaders and least about party political or parliamentary procedure. The canonical variable that best predicted overall knowledge was interest in politics and current affairs and to a lesser extent TV news watching and discussions with adults. The results are discussed in terms of political socialization and limitations of this work are considered.
Determinants of political trust: A lifetime learning model
2011
This paper addresses questions regarding the origins of individual variations in political trust. In two prospective longitudinal studies we examine the associations between family background, general cognitive ability (g) and school motivation at early age, educational and occupational attainment in adulthood, and political trust measured in early and mid adulthood in two large representative samples of the British population born in 1958 (N = 8,804) and in 1970 (N = 7,194). A lifetime learning model of political trust is tested, using Structural Equation Modelling to map the pathways linking early experiences to adult outcomes. Results show that political trust is shaped by both early and later experiences with institutions in society. Individuals who have accumulated more socioeconomic , educational, and motivational resources throughout their life course express higher levels of political trust than those with fewer resources.
Journal of adolescence, 2018
This study investigated whether adolescents' readiness for non-normative political participation (i.e., readiness to confront social rules for political reasons) was predicted by their interpersonal problems (with parents, teachers, and classmates), low optimism, and political beliefs (political self-efficacy and distrust in public institutions). A structural equation model using two-wave longitudinal data from Czech high school students (N = 768; 54% females; age range at T1 = 14-17, M = 15.97; T2 data collected 1.5 years later) showed that the changes in adolescents' readiness for non-normative participation were predicted by their lower institutional trust. Interpersonal relationships or optimism had no cross-sectional or longitudinal effect on the readiness for non-normative participation. These results suggest that the main source of adolescents' readiness for non-normative political actions lies in their political beliefs, while the effect of adolescents' inter...
Why Some Adolescents Are Open To Their Parents’ Political Communication
Journal of Youth and Adolescence
This study examines the conditions that make adolescents open to their parents’ attempts at political socialization. Based on a reformulation of the perceptual accuracy argument, that parents’ messages are filtered through correct perceptions of these messages by adolescents, the study suggests that adolescents who accurately recognize their parents’ high political sophistication are particularly likely to attend to and be open to their parents’ political communication. This proposition was tested using cluster analysis of a sample of 505 Swedish upper-secondary students and their parents (51% girls; Mage = 16.56, SD = 0.67). The analysis yielded two clusters where adolescents correctly identified (26%) and failed to correctly identify (22%) their parents’ high political sophistication, and three clusters where both parents and adolescents reported low or medium parental political sophistication (10%, 11%, and 32%). In confirmation of the hypothesis, members of the cluster group of ...
Political trust, young people and institutions in Europe. A multilevel analysis
International Journal of Social Welfare, 2019
Chevalier T. Political trust, young people and institutions in Europe. A multilevel analysis The constant decline of political trust has been shown in political sociology. Young people in particular seem to display lower levels of political trust, which is a challenge for the sustainability of democracy. Still, these levels of political trust among youth differ greatly from one country to another. This article therefore seeks to answer the following question: How can we account for cross-national diversity with regard to young people's political trust? To answer this question, I performed multilevel analyses based on data from the European Social Survey. I show in the article that cross-national diversity stems from the institutional arrangements that structure entry into adulthood, i.e., what I call 'youth welfare citizenship regimes': The more inclusive is the youth economic citizenship and the more individualised is their social citizenship, the higher is young people's political trust-which could buffer the decline in political trust.