Adolescents' perspectives on traditional,non-traditional,and direct political activities: The role of identity-processing styles and political beliefs

Abstract

The study examined whether adolescents' tendency to employ informational, or normative identity-processing style predicts their perceived effectiveness of different political activities. Data were taken from the broader longitudinal study conducted in the Czech Republic, and included reports from 179 participants (Time 1 = age 17; Time 2 = age 19). Path analyses suggested that adolescents who sought information tended to perceive non-traditional political activity (e.g., in civic organizations) as effective, while participants' normative conformism predicted disbelief in direct activity (e.g., petitions). Perceived effectiveness of traditional activity (e.g., voting) reflected adolescents' actual political trust rather than their identity-processing styles. These results complement previous findings on the correlates of identity-processing styles and adolescents' political thinking.