Civic purpose in late adolescence: Factors that prevent decline in civic engagement after high school.

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of internal and demographic variables on civic development in late adolescence using the construct civic purpose. We conducted surveys on civic engagement with 480 high school seniors, and surveyed them again two years later. Using multivariate regression and linear mixed models, we tested the main effects of civic purpose dimensions (beyond-the-self motivation, future civic intention), ethnicity, and education on civic development from Time 1 to Time 2. Results showed that while there is an overall decrease in civic engagement in the transition out of high school, both internal and social factors protected participants from steep civic decline. Interaction effects varied. Ethnicity and education interacted in different ways with the dimensions of civic purpose to predict change in traditional and expressive political engagement, and community service engagement.Key Words: Civic Development; Adolescence; Purpose; Political Development This article may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record. The final version of the formation publication will be available at the Developmental Psychology webpage.Malin, H., Han, H., & Liauw, I. (in press). Civic purpose in late adolescence: Factors that prevent decline in civic engagement after high school. Developmental Psychology. Civic Development in Late Adolescence 2The depressed state of civic engagement in the United States is well-established (for example, see National Conference on Citizenship, 2009;Putnam, 2000). The question of how people become committed civic actors has been a concern of developmental psychologists for some time, especially among those who study adolescent civic development (e.g., Flanagan & Levine, 2010;Hart, Donnelly, Youniss, & Atkins, 2007;Youniss, McLellan, & Yates, 1997).Adulthood civic commitment is generally precipitated by participation in civic activity during adolescence (e.g. Hart et al., 2007;McFarland & Thomas, 2006; Nasir & Kirshner, 2003;Youniss & Yates, 1999), however, the connection between high school civic engagement and patterns of civic commitment among adults in the United States is not clear. Although community service requirements in high school get adolescents engaged in civic life and correlate with later participation in both political and community activity (Hart et al., 2007), there is significant decline in civic engagement from high school into early adulthood (e.g., Kirby, Kawashima-Ginsberg, & Godsay, 2011). This transition is a vulnerable time for civic development, when many young people lose the path to civic commitment that they had started on in the structured environment of high school.Civic educators need to better understand why some adolescents sustain their civic engagement into adulthood, and under what circumstances, so that the supports and opportunities that promote sustained civic commitment can be offered accordingly. In this article, we examine the factors that influence the trajectory of ci...

Making school meaningful: linking psychology of education to meaning in life

“…Further research has to show under what conditions community service learning at school promotes subjective meaning and which factors undermine such meaning (cf. Malin et al, 2017), in line with findings that activities that are not self-chosen might undermine intrinsic motivation (see Deci and Ryan, 1985) 3 .…”

“…Moreover, community service learning is more effective if paired with reflection, which is "the intentional consideration of an experience in light of particular learning objectives" (Hatcher & Bringle, 1997, p. 153;see Eyler, 2002). However, community service learning has only recently arrived in mainstream (but not educational) psychology (Han, Kim, Jeong, & Cohen, 2017;Malin, Ballard, & Damon, 2015;Malin, Han, & Liauw, 2017). Further research has to show under what conditions community service learning at school promotes subjective meaning and which factors undermine such meaning (cf.…”

The Role of Campus Support, Undocumented Identity, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on Civic Engagement for Latinx Undocumented Undergraduates

“…Emerging adulthood is a time of significant changes in levels of civic engagement (Malin, Han, & Liauw, 2017). Whereas emerging adulthood is often a time of decreased civic engagement for White and Asian emerging adults in the United States (Malin et al, 2017), significant increases in levels of civic engagement for Black and Latinx youth are often reported (Flanagan & Levine, 2010;Malin et al, 2017;Su arez-Orozco, Hern andez, & Casanova, 2015), including students from undocumented backgrounds (Perez, Espinoza, Ramos, Coronado, & Cort es, 2010). Evidence suggests that social support may promote civic engagement by increasing a connection to an "undocumented" identity (Gonzales, 2016).…”

Moral Growth Mindset is Associated with Change in Voluntary Service Engagement

“…Hence, we decided to use this 5-item version for this study as we did in Study 1. Youth service engagement survey: We measured participants' voluntary service activity engagement during the last two months with a questionnaire previously used in civic and community service purpose studies [2,3,47,48]. The survey form was designed to measure the frequency of engagement in service activity offered by: 1.…”

“…Intention to engage in prosocial behavior, such as various civic activities, is a foundational source producing actual prosocial behavioral outcomes. Previous longitudinal studies have demonstrated that the presence of prosocial intention is closely associated with actual prosocial engagement [1][2][3]. However, the mere presence of prosocial intention does not necessarily produce prosocial behavioral outcome in the reality.…”