Gender differences in youths’ political engagement and participation. The role of parents and of adolescents’ social and civic participation

Abstract

Research examining youths' political development mostly focused on young people as a general group; comparatively less attention has been devoted to the examination of gender pathways toward citizenship. Two studies were conducted addressing (a) the role of parents' participation and the moderating role of adolescent gender and age group (n = 1419) and (b) the role of adolescent social and civic participation and the moderating role of adolescent gender and type of school (n = 1871). Results confirmed the gender gap in political interest and in the use of the Internet for political participation, while no differences emerged for political activity and voting intentions. Adolescents' political engagement and participation are influenced by parents' participation (especially among girls) and by adolescents' social and civic participation (especially among boys). The impact of adolescents' social and civic participation on conventional participation (voting intentions) is partially mediated by sense of community and institutional trust.

Youth civic and political participation through the lens of gender: The Italian case

“…The Internet in this sense can be an opportunity but also a trap, if people do not move from the virtual to the real public life domain. Gordon (2008) emphasised the need to increase females' opportunities to emerge as political actors; Cicognani et al (2012) underlined the influential role of mothers. We propose reconsidering the family as a catalyst for participation, in order to increase female manifest political participation and to reduce the gender gap.…”

“…This is not surprising: there is a huge amount of research that has shown that young people follow their parents' political orientations (McFarland & Thomaswith, 2006), even if few studies suggest specific gender effects. Cicognani et al (2012) found a more influential role of mothers compared to fathers, while Matthews, Hempel and Howell (2010) found that family education was more influential in predicting civic participation for girls than for boys.…”

“…This suggests that political dispositions are formed early in life and in experiences occurring prior to adulthood (Hooghe & Stolle, 2004;Atkeson & Rapoport 2003;Delli Carpini & Keeter 1996). A significant exception is represented by the recent work of Cicognani et al (2012) that examined gender differences in civic and political participation in adolescence, considering the role of parents' political participation, and the mediating role of sense of community and of trust toward institutions in the relationship between civic and social participation and voting intentions. The study confirmed the existence of gender differences in adolescence related in particular to political interest and to the use of the Internet for political participation (both are higher among male youths), but also in social participation.…”

How School can Teach Civic Engagement Besides Civic Education: The Role of Democratic School Climate

“…Moreover, considering the gender differences highlighted in the literature on civic engagement (with females generally scoring higher in civic engagement and voluntary behavior: e.g., Cicognani et al 2012), we used a multiple group model to test, without any specific hypotheses, the extent to which the proposed theoretical model is consistent across gender.…”

Intergroup contact and peacebuilding: Promoting youth civic engagement in Northern Ireland

“…It may include a number of dimensions, but overall, civic engagement is a "process in which people take collective action to address issues of public concern" (Checkoway & Aldana, 2013, p. 1894) and "promot[e] the quality of life in a community" (Ehrlich, 2000, p. 4). Thus, through both political participation, such as demonstrations, boycotts, strikes, or signing a petition (Cicognani, Zani, Fournier, Gavray, & Born, 2012), and non-political processes, such as volunteering, community service, sports or recreational clubs, cultural associations (Bringle, 2005;Cicognani et al, 2012), youth may try to improve their social environments. These two forms of civic engagement, political participation and volunteering, are not entirely interconnected nor entirely separate constructs; in fact, social participation such as volunteering often paves the way for political participation (Gauthier, 2003).…”