Study Notes on Political Socialization and Political Learning
CHAPTER 5: Political Socialization and Political Learning
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe the influence of the family on political predispositions.
Describe how personality and our genes influence political predispositions.
Describe how schooling affects political opinions.
Identify life cycle and generational effects on political opinions.
Introduction
Political learning is analogous to learning skills like reading, writing, and fashion sense; it begins before one can vote.
Adults often generalize childhood experiences with family authority to their views on political authority.
Adult party identification and ideological orientations trace back to childhood experiences, a concept known as "the primary principle."
The primary principle posits that preadult learning is crucial for shaping adult political behaviors and attitudes.
Perspectives on Political Socialization
Political socialization can be viewed as:
Learning: The process through which the older generation passes culture and values.
Generic Political Learning: Individual political change over time rather than conforming to community norms.
This chapter will explore political learning from childhood through adulthood, focusing on different agents of socialization.
5-1 The Preadult Years: Socialization to Citizenship
Children are indoctrinated into the political system from an early age, fostering loyalty to the government.
According to David Easton and Jack Dennis, the stability of a political system relies on children acquiring positive feelings towards the state (1969).
Importance of Early Socialization: Loyalty to the national government is crucial; failure to establish this loyalty can lead to instability, as observed in post-Saddam Iraq where tribal and religious loyalties overshadowed national allegiance, resulting in civil war (Reidy et al. 2015).
Studies from the 1950s and onwards examined children from preschool to eighth grade to evaluate political socialization.
Early Childhood Socialization
Political awareness begins before formal education, with preschoolers primarily identifying political authority figures with divinity (example: 30% of kindergarteners thought God or Jesus run the country).
Children idealize public figures; 90% can identify policemen and associate them with benevolence.
Benevolent Leader Hypothesis: Positive early images of the president shape future political beliefs and perceptions of authority, leading to what Easton calls "diffuse support" for the political system, forming a reservoir of goodwill that legitimizes government even during crises.
Adolescence: Transition in Political Understanding
Around age ten, children begin to critically distinguish between political offices and the individuals holding them. While remaining supportive of the office, they become critical of incumbents.
Adolescence becomes a critical period for political learning, establishing a young person’s identity as a citizen, yet levels of political tolerance remain disappointingly low (Conover and Searing, 2000).
Consequences of Early Socialization
Idealization of authority varies among children based on background (racial, socioeconomic). For example, marginalized groups like African-American and Latino children often hold more cynical views towards political authority.
Long-term effects of childhood political ideals on adulthood are difficult to document empirically, highlighting complexities in socialization dynamics.
5-2 The Agents of Preadult Socialization
Key the agents include family, schools, peers, and media, with significant roles played by historical events.
The Family
Family dynamics shape political predispositions fundamentally, through both communication and receptivity (Sears and Levy, 2003).
Children spend extensive time with parents, allowing political attitudes to be learned. Communication is vital; children often mirror their parents’ political views, particularly on issues that elicit affective responses (e.g., school prayer, abortion).
The Youth-Parent Socialization Panel (1965-1997) provides evidence showing that children's political opinions correlate strongly with their parents.
Table 5.1 illustrates the relationship between high school seniors’ views on various policies correlated with their parents’ stances, highlighting significant biases toward shared opinions.
Sibling and Peer Influence
Siblings can influence political beliefs; studies reveal variations in partisanship based on sibling gender.
Peer groups influence political attitudes during adolescence; they often reinforce familial lessons but have differing impacts based on specific political issues.
Schools
Schools are foundational in teaching political obedience and citizenship responsibilities—civics education serves to reinforce existing political values among youth.
Polls indicate disappointment with the interest of adolescents in current events, despite universal civics education requirements (e.g., only 28% of high school seniors express significant interest in politics). Studies have shown some effective curriculum innovations can impact civic engagement positively.
5-3 College: Higher Education and Its Impact
College serves as a transitional period toward adulthood, at which a majority of individuals acquire political views.
Trends suggest that the proportion of adults with college degrees has been rising, influencing their political attitudes.
Data from CIRP surveys indicate a slight liberalization among college freshmen over the last few decades alongside trends in increasing polarization in self-identification among students.
Possible Explanations for Liberality
Increased awareness of political issues due to education potentially leads to liberalization.
Enlightenment during college years causes transformation in values toward more open, humanitarian attitudes, while liberal faculty could affect student outlooks but data shows mixed evidence of direct indoctrination.
College students compared to non-college youth exhibit more progressive stances on various policies.
5-4 Personal Predispositions and Political Attitudes
Individual differences in personality, largely stable from childhood and partly hereditary, contribute to political attitudes. The psychological community identifies five major traits known as the "Big Five".
Openness: Willingness to consider new ideas.
Conscientiousness: Organization and preference for routine.
Extraversion: Sociability and affability.
Agreeableness: Trustfulness and helpfulness.
Neuroticism: Calmness versus anxiety.
Traits of openness correlate with liberal perspectives; conscientiousness often aligns with conservativism. Studies reflect how personality may weakly influence ideology but is a determinant in strong partisanship affiliation.
Genetic Influences on Political Attitude
Investigations into the role of genetics elucidate potential inherited predispositions toward certain political orientations; identified correlations found between the political beliefs of identical twins compared to fraternal twins.
Meta-analyses indicate genetics contribute significantly to liberals versus conservative leanings, with approximately 58% of ideological variance attributed to genetic factors.
5-5 Socialization During Adulthood
Socialization does not cease upon adulthood; early political experiences lay a foundation for future attitudes.
Generational and life-cycle effects manifest in adulthood—age influences political solidification and shifts in voting behavior.
Generational Cohorts
Generations experience political awakening, once entering the adult world; life experiences dramatically influence collective political attitudes and can lead to pronounced polarization.
Current tendencies show that younger cohorts are more aligned with Democratic values while older voters often maintain steadfast loyalties to Republican ideologies.
5-6 The Persistence of Political Orientations
Evidence shows political beliefs formed early in life tend to persist. Studies show core political values gain stability after reaching adulthood; historical data backs the impressionable years/later persistence theory.
Core beliefs often crystallize during adulthood and are resilient against life changes unless impacted by significant life events or shifting social contexts.
5-7 Conclusion
Political socialization begins early in life with significant influence from family, peers, and educational environments; while early experiences set a tone, adult experiences can alter but typically reinforce political orientations.
Critical Thinking Questions
Discuss solutions if political socialization failed to occur effectively in society.
What implications arise when associating one’s political opinions with genetic predispositions?
Identify potential contemporary events that could uniquely influence the political socialization of a generation.