Domain Specificity in Adolescents’ Concepts of Laws: Associations Among Beliefs and Behavior

Oosterhoff, Benjamin; Metzger, Aaron

doi:10.1111/jora.12261

Cited by 4 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Adolescence is an active time for civic engagement, during which youth are reflecting on their role within broader society and forming beliefs about which social problems are personally relevant and meaningful (Yates & Youniss, 1998). Prior research has shown that adolescents have a complex and nuanced understanding of a variety of social issues, reflected in their beliefs about the causes and consequences of poverty (Flanagan & Tucker, 1999;Mistry, Brown, Chow, & Collins, 2012), their awareness of racial inequality (Flanagan, Syvertsen, Gill, Gallay, & Cumsille, 2009), and their concern for the regulation of crime (Flanagan, 2013;Oosterhoff & Metzger, 2017). Research also indicates that youth form a more nuanced and complex understanding of these issues with age (Flanagan et al, 2014).…”

Section: The Development Of Youths' Social Concernsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Critical consciousness theory describes how young people, particularly those from marginalized groups, recognize and analyze structural injustice (Watts, Diemer, & Voight, 2011). Age-related changes in youths' social-cognitive development are thought to lead to greater recognition of structural inequality for all youth across adolescence (Flanagan et al, 2014), and likewise, youth are able to recognize structural causes of several different social issues, including racial biases, economic inequality, crime, and poverty (Diemer, Rapa, Park, & Perry, 2017;Flanagan et al, 2014;Oosterhoff & Metzger, 2017). Yet with age, increased autonomy, and heightened exposure to discrimination and oppression, youth from economically disadvantaged or historically oppressed backgrounds may have greater personal experiences with structural inequality and thus experience greater concerns about social issues that reflect inequality.…”

Section: Demographic Differences In Youths' Concerns About Social Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Historical Trends in Concerns About Social Issues Across Four Decades Among U.S. Adolescents

Oosterhoff

Wray‐Lake

Palmer

et al. 2019

J of Research on Adolesc

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This study examined adolescents’ concerns about social issues and how these concerns have changed over historical time. Separate cohorts of U.S. high school seniors (N = 110,953; 51.1% female) reported their worries about four social issues (crime/violence, economic problems, hunger/poverty, race relations) every year from 1976 to 2015. Youth were most concerned with crime/violence, followed by economic problems, hunger/poverty, and race relations. Adolescents’ social concerns varied by demographic characteristics and cohort, paralleling specific historical events and appearing responsive to the political challenges of the time. Initiatives seeking to engage youth within the political process may benefit from providing opportunities for teens to participate in civic activities aimed to address these issues.

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Section: The Development Of Youths' Social Concernsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Demographic Differences In Youths' Concerns About Social Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Trends in Concerns About Social Issues Across Four Decades Among U.S. Adolescents

Oosterhoff

Wray‐Lake

Palmer

et al. 2019

J of Research on Adolesc

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Prior research indicates that youth believe that government is obligated to protect citizens' safety and property by enacting laws that prevent harm and property destruction (Oosterhoff & Metzger, 2017). Results from this study suggest that youth who have personally experienced physical harm, threat, and property damage are generally less satisfied with government, potentially because government has failed to uphold its obligation to ensure life, liberty, and protect their safety.…”

Section: Victimized Youth Endorse Greater Discontent With Governmentmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Although prior research documents that American youth believe government has an obligation to enact laws that protect people from harm and property damage (Oosterhoff & Metzger, 2017), this belief was not directly tested in this study. Future research is thus needed to directly test whether links between victimization, beliefs about government, and political participation are explained by perceptions that government violated the social contract.…”

Section: Study Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Civilization and its discontented: Links between youth victimization, beliefs about government, and political participation across seven American presidencies.

Oosterhoff¹,

Kaplow²,

Layne³

et al. 2018

American Psychologist

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Promoting trust in public officials and active political engagement is vital to sustaining a wellfunctioning democracy. Developmental psychologists propose that youths' beliefs about government and participation in politics are rooted in personal experiences within their communities. Previous studies have focused on how positive experiences within youths' families, schools, and communities facilitate greater social trust and political participation. However, less is known about how negative interpersonal experiences-such as criminal victimization-intersect with youths' beliefs about the trustworthiness, competence, and knowledge of government officials, and their participation in political activity. Using data from 39 waves of the Monitoring the Future study, the current study examined associations among youth victimization, beliefs about government, and participation in various political activities. Adolescents (N ϭ 109,574; 50.9% female) enrolled in 12th grade across the United States reported on whether they had experienced various types of victimization during the previous year, their beliefs about government, and their participation in multiple forms of political activity. Adolescents who reported more frequent victimization experiences endorsed significantly greater discontent with government and were significantly more engaged in various forms of political activity. The magnitude and direction of these effects were generally consistent across different types of victimization, different demographic subgroups of youth, and different sociohistorical periods. Findings are interpreted from a social contract theory perspective, followed by a discussion of implications for building psychological theory and informing public policy.

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“…The DPM framework may be applied to adolescent delinquency. Engagement in delinquency often entails defiance of authority, violations of social rules, and threats to personal security (Oosterhoff & Metzger, 2016). Thus, engaging in delinquency directly conflicts with many of the principles central to RWA, including obedience of authority, structure, and maintenance of social order, and contradicts the theorized underlying motivational goals of social conformity and security.…”

Section: Rwa Sdo and Adolescent Delinquencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential and Domain-Specific Associations Among Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, and Adolescent Delinquency

Oosterhoff

Shook

Clay

et al. 2017

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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Using a dual-process model (DPM) framework, this research examined whether right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) are differentially associated with adolescent delinquency. In Study 1 ( N = 847; M = 15.96) and Study 2 ( N = 340; M = 16.64), adolescents completed measures of RWA, SDO, and engagement in different forms of delinquency. In Study 2, adolescents also reported their beliefs about obeying different laws. Across both studies, adolescents who endorsed greater RWA engaged in lower levels of delinquency and those who endorsed greater SDO engaged in higher levels of delinquency. Findings from Study 2 suggest that these associations are contingent on the domain-specific purpose of the law being violated and are also present with adolescents' beliefs about their obligation to obey laws. These results extend the DPM, demonstrating that RWA and SDO are differentially linked with youth delinquency.

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Domain Specificity in Adolescents’ Concepts of Laws: Associations Among Beliefs and Behavior

Cited by 4 publications

References 66 publications

Historical Trends in Concerns About Social Issues Across Four Decades Among U.S. Adolescents

Historical Trends in Concerns About Social Issues Across Four Decades Among U.S. Adolescents

Civilization and its discontented: Links between youth victimization, beliefs about government, and political participation across seven American presidencies.

Differential and Domain-Specific Associations Among Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, and Adolescent Delinquency

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