Motivating Political Participation Among Youth: An Analysis of Factors Related to Adolescents' Political Engagement

• In Event: 77.058 - MTCC Roundtable Session 36
  In Roundtable Session: 77.058-8 - Beyond Traditional Methods: New Development in Citizenship Education and Civic Engagement

Abstract

This paper explores how adolescents develop attitudes that are positively related to political participation. First we examined demographic differences in political engagement among a diverse sample of high school students (N=421). Next, we explored the extent to which the expectancy-value model can explain adolescents’ motivation for political participation. Through quantitative analyses of survey data, we found that political interest (a central aspect of value) and political efficacy (related to expectancy) predicted adolescents’ expected future political participation, controlling for several background characteristics. Political interest was a particularly strong predictor. In addition, we identified political engagement differences on various demographic measures. We discuss the implications of these findings for researchers and educators interested in fostering youth political engagement.

Authors

• Brett L. M. Levy, University at Albany - SUNY

• Thomas Akiva, University of Pittsburgh