Basic Values Transform Political Interest into Diverse Political Values, Attitudes and Behaviors

Abstract

Since politically interested adolescents do not necessarily present humanistic, environmental and democratic values, this study addresses the hitherto ignored role that how these basic human values play in politically interested adolescents’ political values, attitudes and behaviors. A cluster analysis of 857 Swedish upper-secondary students (50.8% girls, Mage = 16.62, SD = 0.71) identified politically interested adolescents who attached high levels of importance to others’ welfare and politically interested adolescents who attached low levels of importance. They differed on most comparative measures: environmental values, inclusive attitudes towards immigrants, support of democratic principles, trust in social movements, and readiness to step in if something jeopardizes the welfare of others. The conclusion is that the value of attaching high importance to others’ welfare or not transforms youth’s political interest into diverse attitudes and behaviors. The cluster group of politically interested adolescents who attached low importance to others’ welfare largely consisted of males.

Strengthening Political Socialization As A Catalyst for Youth Leadership Development among Students of Universiti Putra Malaysia

“…The changing landscape of community ties and involvement in youth-driven activities strengthen contribution to societal development. Imbued with adequate public enlightenment, it is naturally expected that youth demonstrate readiness to step in if something jeopardizes the welfare of others (Stattin & Amna, 2022;p. 2205).…”