Youth Politicization Viewed From the Perspectives of Social Psychology and Developmental Psychology

Abstract

In recent years, there have been antithetical patterns of youth political and civic engagement. Many young people are uninterested in politics and political participation, whereas others are highly engaged political actors, some of whom participate in acts of political violence. What are the factors that lead some to be politically active and others not? Moreover, in times of crisis when the social fabric is endangered, it is important to understand the position that young people might take toward politics. In this issue of Zeitschrift für Psychologie, social psychology partners with developmental psychology in order to focus on young people's political and civic engagement.Social psychological research has proposed factors that influence participation in collective action, such as group identification, dual identities, perceived discrimination, political attitudes and ideologies, motivations, and emotions. Do these factors explain youth political participation? Developmental psychology has explored the role played by the family, the peer group, youth organizations, and school in fostering young people's civic and political engagement. However, nowadays, patterns of youth engagement and actions of participation are changing and new forms of activism have appeared in relation to new technologies and social media. How has this affected the role of political socialization agents such as the peer group and youth organizations? These are questions that are addressed by the papers in this topical issue.There are two main questions that transcend this topical issue: How do young people politicize? And what are the factors that lead to their political actions? The papers presented use different concepts emerging from research with adults such as identities, emotions, motivations, political efficacy, and ideological beliefs to understand the patterns of youth politicization. We present research conducted in different parts of the European continent (Albania,