Early Adolescent Political Tribalism: Peer Network Homophily in Political Attitudes and Values

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Oosterhoff ◽  
Ashleigh Poppler ◽  
Cara Alexis Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Middle School Students ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Early Adolescent ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
Peer Network ◽  
Social Network Approach

Political homophily represents the tendency for people to affiliate and engage with others who share similar political viewpoints, which can enhance attitude intensity and increase polarization. Little research has examined political homophily during early adolescence, a developmental period when political attitudes are first beginning to form and friendship choices become more autonomous. We examined political homophily using a social network approach with middle school students (N=213; Mage=12.5; 57% female) from a remote US community. Pre-registered analyses indicate that rural early adolescents were more likely to spend time with those who had greater similarities in their political attitudes and values. These effects were most consistent for right-wing authoritarianism, patriotism, and anti-immigration attitudes. Our results show that political homophily is evident at an early age when young people are forming their political beliefs and making decisions about their friendships, suggesting that political tribalism may emerge early in life.

scholarly journals Development a Measurement of Attitudes about Ideal Government

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-127
Author(s):  
I.S. Prusova
Keyword(s):  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Political Orientations

Objective. Develop a questionnaire to measure attitudes about ideal government and analyze the psychometric properties of this tool. Background. Psychological studies showed the key role of political attitudes (conservatism/liberalism) in different forms of political activity. Conservatism-liberalism dichotomy did not correspond with actual political “agenda” in Russia that induced the question about the structure of political attitudes. Study design. To indicate the attitudes about ideal government, an online survey was conducted. The structure of political attitudes was analysed through confirmatory factor analysis, and analyses of reliability, validity, and invariance. Participants. The research consisted of 2 independent studies. About 610 participants took part at the study 1 (353 men and 257 women) over 18 years old (M=34.28; SD=13.82); and 378 participants (196 men and 182 women) over 18 years old (M=35.26; SD=10.54) at the study 2. Methods. Russian-language versions of the scales of Needs for cognitive clousure, Openness to experience (“Big Five”), Right-wing Authoritarianism, System Justification, and the author’s questionnaire of attitudes about an ideal government. Additionally, participants completed the self-categoriaiton scales about political orientations (“left-right”; “liberal-conservatives”). Results. The structure of attitudes about the ideal government consisted of “respect” and “support”. “Political respect” was correspondent to “liberal” and “left-wing” self-identification that indicated the criterion validity. At the same time, the analysis of convergent validity showed that “respect” and “support” were linked with right-wing authoritarianism and need for cognitive clousure. Conclusions. The structure of political attitudes in Russia consisted of “governmental support” and “political respect”. The current perspective discussed in the context of liberal/conservative political orientations.

Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Conspiracy Thinking in a Polish Sample

2009 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 389-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Grzesiak-Feldman ◽  
Monika Irzycka
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
The Right ◽  
Conspiracy Thinking

The relationships among scores for right-wing authoritarianism and conspiracy thinking toward Jews, Arabs, Germans, and Russians were examined. 354 volunteer high school students were assessed using the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Three-Dimensional (RWA3D) Scale and the Conspiracy Beliefs Scale. The scores for conspiracy thinking about all the nationalities were positively correlated with the total scores for RWA3D.

Civic development within the peer context: Associations between early adolescent social connectedness and civic engagement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Oosterhoff ◽  
Lauren Alvis ◽  
Dagny R. Deutchman ◽  
Ashleigh Poppler ◽  
Cara Alexis Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Peer Groups ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Early Adolescent ◽  
Civic Development ◽  
School Students ◽  
Peer Network ◽  
Peer Nominations ◽  
Peer Context

Social connectedness is theorized to contribute to civic development and in turn, civic engagement is thought to cultivate social connectedness. The current study utilized a social network research design to examine associations between early adolescent social connectedness via their position within their school peer network and their civic engagement. Middle-school students (N = 213) aged 11-15 years (M=12.5; 57% female) provided nominations for peer connections and reported on multiple aspects of civic engagement. Early adolescents who had identified more peer nominations had higher civic efficacy. Youth who had fewer connections with different peer groups and fewer connections with popular peers were more engaged in political behavior. Greater popularity was associated with higher political engagement for boys, but not girls. Greater connections with different peer groups was associated with greater environmentalism for younger but not older teens. Findings highlight the need to consider adolescent civic development within the peer context.

scholarly journals Contextual and Psychological Predictors of Militant Extremist Mindset in Youth

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maša Vukčević Marković ◽  
Aleksandra Nicović ◽  
Marko Živanović
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Psychological Measures ◽  
Peer Abuse

The present study aims to identify contextual and psychological factors of proneness to radicalization and violent extremism (RVE) operationalized through the Militant Extremist Mindset scale (MEM) consisting of three distinct aspects: Proviolence (PV), Vile World beliefs (VW), and trust in Divine Power (DP). A community sample of 271 high school students (72% females) from Belgrade and Sandžak regions in Serbia completed: (1) a 24-item MEM scale; (2) contextual measures including a 6-item scale of family dysfunction (FDys) and a 4-item composite measure capturing exposure to a harsh school environment and peer abuse (HSE); (3) psychological measures including the 9-item Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale (RWA), the 5-item Social Dominance Orientation scale (SDO), and the 20-item UCLA Loneliness scale (LON). A path analysis was conducted with contextual factors on the first and psychological factors on the second level of the model predicting the three factors of MEM. LON was positively predicted by FDys and HSE, SDO by HSE only, while RWA was positively predicted by FDys only. Contextual and psychological factors accounted for 27% of the variance in PV (LON, SDO), 15% of the variance in VW (FDys, SDO), and 31% of the variance in DP (RWA). Obtained findings reveal a complex interplay of contextual and psychological drivers in the prediction of different aspects of RVE and build upon existing knowledge on risk factors associated with RVE.

scholarly journals Sleepy and Secluded: Sleep Disturbances are Associated with Connectedness in Early Adolescent Social Networks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara palmer ◽  
Suzanna Lee Powell ◽  
Dagny R. Deutchman ◽  
Courtney Sanders ◽  
Ashleigh Poppler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Sleep Disturbances ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Early Adolescent ◽  
School Students ◽  
Social Network Approach ◽  
Socioemotional Skills

Studies in adults suggest that sleep disturbances predict poorer socioemotional skills and impaired social interactions. However, little is known regarding how sleep problems are associated with social processes during adolescence, a period when both sleep neurobiology and social relationships are undergoing dramatic developmental changes. The current study examined associations among sleep disturbances and peer connectedness among a sample of middle-school students (N = 213, 11-15 years old, 57% female) using a social network approach. Findings suggested that youth with greater sleep disturbances reported having fewer friends, fewer peers rated them as friends, and were less likely to have reciprocated friendships, even after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and mental health symptoms.

The Moderating Role of Alienation on the Relation between Social Dominance Orientation, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, and Person-Organization Fit

2014 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 710-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelheid A. M. Nicol ◽  
Kevin Rounding
Keyword(s):  
Social Dominance ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Person Organization Fit ◽  
Moderating Role

Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation have been found to be related with Person-Organization fit. This study examined whether alienation also plays a role in the relation between Person-Organization fit and these two socio-political attitudes. Measures of Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, alienation, and Person-Organization fit were given to a sample of Officer Cadets ( N = 99; M age = 22.8 yr., SD = 5.4). The findings suggest that when individuals felt alienated, Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism were not related to Person-Organization fit. When alienation was low, Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism interacted to predict Person-Organization fit. Therefore, feelings of alienation can influence the perception of fit within an organization and the relation between perception of fit with Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism.

Traumatic experiences and associated symptomatology in Asian American middle school students.

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-223
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Davies-Mercier ◽  
Michelle W. Woodbridge ◽  
W. Carl Sumi ◽  
S. Patrick Thornton ◽  
Katrina D. Roundfield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
School Students
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