Dimensions of political and related facets of identity in late adolescence

Authors: Bynner J.M.; Romney D.M.; Emler N.P.

Source: Journal of Youth Studies, Volume 6, Number 3, September 2003 , pp. 319-335(17)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

This study focuses on young people's political identity, investigating its dimensionality and relationships to other facets of personality and attitudes in late adolescence. The data used to operationalize the concepts are derived from a large-scale study of British youth carried out in the late 1980s. Analysis of data from this study isolated 16 dimensions underlying aspects of young people's self-concepts, social attitudes and political involvement. These constituted the variables included in a set of further analyses, including confirmatory factor analyses. In line with conclusions from more specifically targeted studies, it was possible to establish three dimensions relating to political identity and aligned with those found in adult samples (political engagement, tolerance, political conservatism), and two further social attitude dimensions of particular salience for young people (moral conservatism and environmentalism). A dimension interpreted as generalized self-efficacy proved to be distinct from the political and attitudinal dimensions. Comparison of mean factor scores across groups defined by age gender, educational attainment and family social class gave good evidence of their discriminant validity.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1367626032000138282

Publication date: 2003-09-01

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