Second Shifts and Political Awakenings

Abstract

Links between personal life events (e.g., divorce) and political socialization have been understudied, particularly in midlife populations. This study examined a longitudinal sample of 98 female graduates from the University of Michigan class of 1967. Participants were divided into two groups: divorced (N = 27) and married (N = 71). T-tests and Chi-Square analyses were used to examine differences between groups for political orientation, power discontent, system blame, feminist identity, common fate, social responsibility, and political participation. Results showed that divorced women, when compared with married women, had a more liberal/radical political orientation, more system blame for gender, active commitment to feminist identity, and a sense of common fate with other women. No significant differences were found for measures of past or current political involvement. Implications for normative life events to restructure political viewpoints and attitudes are discussed.

What Makes the Political Personal? Openness, Personal Political Salience, and Activism

“…Further, our data suggest that openness may have different implications for behavior across the life span, indicating that researchers need to seriously consider developmental changes when looking both at the consequences of traits at different ages and at activist engagement in different age cohorts. Fahs (2007) and others (Stewart & Gold‐Steinberg, 1996; Zucker, 1999) have found that important life experiences between young adulthood and middle age shape activist engagements in middle‐aged adults. Many young adults may not yet have experienced certain kinds of significant and politicizing life events that often generate activist commitments.…”

“…Zucker (1999) and Stewart and Gold‐Steinberg (1996) found that adult reproductive experiences were related to increased political consciousness and political activism in women. Fahs (2007) found that divorced women were more likely to consider political movements of the 1960s to be personally significant and were more likely to be involved with politically oriented community organizations after their divorces compared to their still‐married counterparts. These results suggest that important adult life experiences have marked effects on the personal significance one retrospectively attributes to social events and activist involvements.…”

(When) Do Critical Life Events Push People to the Populist Radical Right? Support for the Swiss People’s Party Following Relationship Dissolution, Unemployment or a Health Crisis

“…Based on longitudinal data from the Swiss Household Panel, Voorpostel and colleagues (2018) showed that separation increased the likelihood to support the populist right Swiss People's Party (SVP). This finding was contrary to the anticipated shift to the left following separation (Chapman 1985;Fahs 2007;Smith 2007;Wilson and Lusztig 2004); with decreasing financial resources and often increased need for support such as childcare, separation was thought to increase support for left-wing parties. Our study expands on previous work on the association between life events and support for the populist right by assessing multiple life events, namely separation, unemployment and a health crisis.…”

Understanding Feminist Activism among Women: Resources, Consciousness, and Social Networks

“…Marital status, age, and place of residency can also influence feminist inclinations. Married women often endorse traditional gender prescriptions more than divorced or never married women (Bolzendahl and Myers 2004; Fahs 2007; Harnois 2015; McCabe 2005; Moore and Vanneman 2003). Life course studies occasionally find that young adult women are slightly more liberal in their gender attitudes than older women (Bolzendahl and Myers 2004; Carter and Borch 2005; Moore and Vanneman 2003), but older cohorts of women born in the “baby boom” might support feminist political leanings more than women born in different cohorts (Harnois 2015; Peltola et al 2004).…”