| dc.description.abstract | Considering the importance of active citizenship, the goal of the present research was to identify meaningful predictors of intentions to participate in
politics in adolescence (Study 1) and young adulthood (Study 2). Based on the
assumptions of the civic voluntarism model, three main predictors were examined:
Resources (educational level), experiences in social networks (club membership,
important others’ attitudes toward political behaviors, political discussions), and
individual characteristics (attitudes toward political behaviors, internal political
efficacy). Despite the differences in age, both studies identified a strikingly similar
pattern of results: Especially experiences in social networks predicted changes in
young people’s intentions to participate in politics. These effects, however, were
mediated by the examined individual characteristics. While the effect of political
discussions was largely mediated by the young people’s sense of internal political
efficacy, the effect of important others’ attitudes was mediated by their own attitudes
toward political behaviors | en_US |
