Parental Overprotection and Political Distrust

Abstract

Comparisons of Belgian, Dutch, and French high school and university students show that Belgian and French young people exhibit more political distrust and disaffection than do the Dutch high school and university students. Also the Belgian young people show signs of parental overprotec tion while the Dutch youth have more freedom. Parental overprotection is here defined as family practices which make the world outside the family appear as hostile and treacherous. Thus, the overprotection pattern may well account for distrust of political processes and institutions. Correlational analyses within each of the nations show statistically significant but fairly low relationships between overprotection and political distrust. The interplay between individual and cultural ori entations is discussed.