Psychological Origins of Adolescent Political Attitudes

1978 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward G. Carmines
Keyword(s):  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Life Space ◽  
Political Cynicism

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence that psychological predisposi tions have on political attitudes. In particular, the study focuses on the linkage between self-esteem and the political attitudes of adolescents. It is hypothesized that adolescents' self-esteem should influence their awareness and comprehension of political stimuli, their level of political cynicism and political efficacy, and their mode of participation in the political process. It is also hypothesized that these relationships will be substantially stronger among those adolescents for whom politics is salient than among those who have little interest in political affairs. The empirical findings are generally congruent with these theoretical expectations. It is concluded that self-esteem has a significant, independent influence on the political attitudes of those adolescents who perceive politics to be a salient aspect of their life-space.

scholarly journals Ethnic antagonism erodes Republicans’ commitment to democracy

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (37) ◽  
pp. 22752-22759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry M. Bartels
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Ethnic Conflict ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Political Cynicism ◽  
Cultural Conservatism ◽  
The Law ◽  
American Way

Most Republicans in a January 2020 survey agreed that “the traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.” More than 40% agreed that “a time will come when patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands.” (In both cases, most of the rest said they were unsure; only one in four or five disagreed.) I use 127 survey items to measure six potential bases of these and other antidemocratic sentiments: partisan affect, enthusiasm for President Trump, political cynicism, economic conservatism, cultural conservatism, and ethnic antagonism. The strongest predictor by far, for the Republican rank-and-file as a whole and for a variety of subgroups defined by education, locale, sex, and political attitudes, is ethnic antagonism—especially concerns about the political power and claims on government resources of immigrants, African-Americans, and Latinos. The corrosive impact of ethnic antagonism on Republicans’ commitment to democracy underlines the significance of ethnic conflict in contemporary US politics.

The Child'S Acquisition of Regime Norms: Political Efficacy

1967 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Easton ◽  
Jack Dennis
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Minimal Level ◽  
Constitutional Order ◽  
Political Interaction ◽  
General Goals ◽  
Minimal Constraints

In its broadest conception, a political system is a means through which the wants of the members of a society are converted into binding decisions. To sustain a conversion process of this sort a society must provide a relatively stable context for political interaction, a set of ground rules for participating in all parts of the political process. We may describe this context variously as a constitutional order, a set of fundamental rules, or customary procedures for settling differences. But however this context is defined, it usually includes three elements: some minimal constraints on the general goals of its members, rules or norms governing behavior, and structures of authority through which the members of the system act in making and implementing political outputs. To these goals, norms and structures we may give the traditional name “political regime” or constitutional order in the broadest, nonlegal sense of the phrase.We may hypothesize that if a political system is to persist, one of its major tasks is to provide for the input of at least a minimal level of support for a regime of some kind. A political system that proved unable to sustain a regime, that is, some relatively ordered and stable way of converting inputs into outputs, could not avoid collapsing. Each time a dispute arose it would have to seek to agree on means for settling differences at the same time as it sought to bring about a settlement of the substance of the issue, a virtually impossible combination of tasks for a society to engage in continuously.

High Levels of Political Socialization of the Three Generations

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
BONNIE HAMILTON D. RABACA ◽  
SAIDAMIN P. BAGOLONG
Keyword(s):  
Generation X ◽  
Generation Y ◽  
Political Socialization ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Baby Boom ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Cynicism ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
Descriptive Method

The political socialization of today’s generation lies on how they participate in political efficacy and political cynicism. People’s involvement in state’s activities will result to disparagement of others. This study tries to determine the levels of political socialization of the three generations, the Baby Boom, the Generation X and the Generation Y. It used descriptive method, with Mean and Analysis of Variance as statistical tools. Three hundred respondents were asked on their responses on the indicators using a researcher-made questionnaire. Findings showed that the Generation X observed high levels of political efficacy and political cynicism as regards to political and social issues, political interest, opinions of people including the government’s thought on new laws passed. However, people tend to be discouraged in political activities because of politician’s insincerity which resulted to decadence. Thus, the political socialization of the three generations somehow went beyond understanding politics but also can cause crucial and serious conflict.Keywords: Political socialization, baby boom, generation X and generation Y, descriptive method, Davao City, Philippines

The Changing Political Attitudes of the Senior Bureaucrats in Hong Kong's Transition

1996 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 912-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Y. S. Cheng ◽  
Jane C. Y. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
The Political ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Joint Declaration ◽  
Proper Balance

The empirical study of bureaucrats in the Hong Kong government, particularly in their relationship with politicians in the legislature, is a relatively new subject of academic interest. This effort at systematic research is related to the fact that both senior civil servants and politicians are essential to effective government. While senior civil servants in Hong Kong have dominated the political process in the territory for 150 years, politicians have gained importance since the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Britain signed the Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong in 1984. It follows that the relationships between these two leadership groups are of great interest, theoretically, empirically, practically and politically. The key problem of any government is how these elite groups interact. A major concern is maintaining an efficient and able bureaucracy with enough independence to do an effective job of administration, while operating in a political context in which politicians are competitive and accountable to the electorate, reacting to the constant demands and expectations of special and general interests. The maintenance of a proper balance between efficiency and responsiveness in such an environment has to be achieved if the polity is to function effectively and be stable

scholarly journals Is the Political Animal Politically Ignorant? Applying Evolutionary Psychology to the Study of Political Attitudes

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 147470491201000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bang Petersen ◽  
Lene Aarøe
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Straightforward Application ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
Modern Mass

As evidenced by research in evolutionary psychology, humans have evolved sophisticated psychological mechanisms tailored to solve enduring adaptive problems of social life. Many of these social problems are political in nature and relate to the distribution of costs and benefits within and between groups. In that sense, evolutionary psychology suggests that humans are, by nature, political animals. By implication, a straightforward application of evolutionary psychology to the study of public opinion seems to entail that modern individuals find politics intrinsically interesting. Yet, as documented by more than fifty years of research in political science, people lack knowledge of basic features of the political process and the ability to form consistent political attitudes. By reviewing and integrating research in evolutionary psychology and public opinion, we describe (1) why modern mass politics often fail to activate evolved mechanisms and (2) the conditions in which these mechanisms are in fact triggered.

Effects of Anti-Black Political Messages on Self-Esteem

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique L. Lyle
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Racial Group ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Messages ◽  
Political Message ◽  
Collective Self Esteem ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Political Figure

AbstractThis study examines how anti-Black political rhetoric affects race-specific collective self-esteem (R-CSE) and internal political efficacy among African–Americans and Whites. Results from an experiment in which subjects received an anti-Black stereotype-accentuating message attributed to either a political figure or an “ordinary American,” or no message at all, demonstrate that the political message undermined how African–Americans regard their own racial group, activated beliefs about how others regard African–Americans as a predictor of how African–Americans regard their own racial group, and undermined internal political efficacy. For Whites, the results demonstrate that the political message moderated the relationship between how they regard their own racial group and beliefs about how others regard their racial group, though the political message did not significantly increase or decrease racial group-regard or political efficacy overall. These results provide empirical confirmation of the role that government and politics can play in self-esteem.

Decision Making and Integration in the European Community

1965 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon N. Lindberg
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Community ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Face

Events since January 1963 have confronted participant and observer alike with a number of fundamental political questions about the European Community. How can we reconcile repeated newspaper stories about its imminent collapse because of one crisis or another with its persistence and seemingly ever more impressive accomplishments? Can the Community continue to develop in the face of major policy differences among its members? Does the existence of the Community change the ground rules and operating conditions of the relations between its members, or does it only place naïve European idealists at the mercy of more cynical, wily, and “realistic” politicians by introducing merely gentler ways of coercing or cajoling the less powerful members? Does it have any enduring impact on the political process or on political attitudes within the member states, or are such changes as occur insignificant or easily reversible?

Factionalism within the Conservative Party: The Monday Club

1972 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 464-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Seyd
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Hard Core ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Recent Survey ◽  
The Political ◽  
Party Member ◽  
General Belief

IT HAS BEEN ARGUED THAT FACTIONALISM WHILST APPARENT IN THE Labour Party has no counterpart within the Conservative Party. For example, the authors of a study on the opinions of backbench conservative MPs concluded that disagreements are amongst ‘ad hoc groups’ and that as new issues arise ‘the coherence of the former groups dissolves and new alignments appear. . . .’ A more recent survey of conservative backbenchers concurs with this and argues that the ‘criss-crossing pattern of cleavage (amongst conservative MPs) inhibits the development of Tory factions analogous to those in the Labour Party. Allies on one issue either become enemies on the next, or else simply do not feel strongly enough on the next issue to want necessarily to work together.’ A similar sort of conclusion has been reached by Richard Rose who states that the Conservative Party contains differing sets of political attitudes which remain constant whilst the party member will constantly shift from one attitude to another. Thus he concludes that the Conservative Party is a party of tendencies rather than factions; that it lacks a hard core of organized members within the party adhering to a set of principles which they are attempting to impose on the party in general. These conclusions are typical of a general belief about the political process within the Conservative Party.

Political Efficacy and Participation of Nurse Practitioners

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy C. O'Rourke ◽  
Sybil L. Crawford ◽  
Nancy S. Morris ◽  
Joyce Pulcini
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
State Laws ◽  
Nursing Organizations ◽  
Laws And Regulations

Twenty-eight states have laws and regulations limiting the ability of nurse practitioners (NPs) to practice to the full extent of their education and training, thereby preventing patients from fully accessing NP services. Revisions to state laws and regulations require NPs to engage in the political process. Understanding the political engagement of NPs may facilitate the efforts of nurse leaders and nursing organizations to promote change in state rules and regulations. The purpose of this study was to describe the political efficacy and political participation of U.S. NPs and gain insight into factors associated with political interest and engagement. In the fall of 2015, we mailed a survey to 2,020 NPs randomly chosen from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners' database and 632 responded (31% response rate). Participants completed the Trust in Government (external political efficacy) and the Political Efficacy (internal political efficacy) scales, and a demographic form. Overall, NPs have low political efficacy. Older age ( p≤.001), health policy mentoring ( p≤.001), and specific education on health policy ( p≤.001) were all positively associated with internal political efficacy and political participation. External political efficacy was not significantly associated with any of the study variables. Political activities of NPs are largely limited to voting and contacting legislators. Identifying factors that engage NPs in grassroots political activities and the broader political arena is warranted, particularly with current initiatives to make changes to state laws and regulations that limit their practice.

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