| 1. |
- Dahl, Viktor, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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The moderating role of political interest : Investigating involvement in institutional and non-institutional political participation among young adults in Sweden
- 2016
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Ingår i: Politics, Culture and Socialization. - : Verlag Barbara Budrich. - 1866-3427 .- 2196-1417. ; 7:1-2, s. 157-181
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many efforts have been made to explain variations in political participation. One such effort was made by Gamson, who hypothesized that different combinations of political efficacy and trust will generate different kinds and intensity of involvement in political activity. This study tests this hypothesis on a broad variety of political activities, while at the same time including the potentially moderating effect of people’s political interest. Using data from a longitudinal study in Sweden (2009-2015), this study shows that different combinations of efficacy-trust do indeed generate distinct patterns of participation for young adults. By adding political interest to the model, the effect of certain efficacy-trust combinations on political participation is present foremost among politically interested citizens. Hence, the hypothesis requires to be complemented by political interest to more accurately understand under which circumstances people engage in various political activities.
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| 2. |
- Sohl, Sofia, 1981-
(författare)
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Pathways to political efficacy : theoretical considerations and empirical illustrations on youths' acquisition of political efficacy
- 2011
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Ingår i: Politics, Culture and Socialization. - : Verlag Barbara Budrich. - 1866-3427 .- 2196-1417. ; 2:4, s. 389-414
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- By scrutinizing previous research, I offer a merger of the two research disciplines concerning the conceptof political efficacy, i.e. the perception held by individuals of their own abilities to execute actions aimedat producing a change in society. Four pathways for how political efficacy develops, building on themerged perspective, are then tested in a single two-step hierarchical OLS regression. The results showthat mastery experiences, role models, encouragement, and empowering outlooks in a political settingare predictors of youths’ political efficacy, over and above the effects of political interest and perceivedpolitical knowledge. This study contributes to theorizing about the development of political efficacy bydiscussing understanding of the concept, with input from both political science and psychology, and byempirically testing an existing multidisciplinary theory
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| 3. |
- Sohl, Sofia, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Potential leverage effects of political efficacy on youths’ political participation
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The issue of some people engage frequently in political activities while others rarely or never get involved is a key theme in the field of political socialization. In this paper we study three of the main predictors of youths’ political behavior: political interest, political knowledge and political efficacy. Much attention has already been paid to the influence each of these factors have on political participation separately but few studies have investigated the potential interaction effects between them. Our study takes this step and explores the possible leverage effects of strong political efficacy beliefs in combination with high political interest orpolitical knowledge.The data consist of a longitudinal study including 1857 youths at Time 1 (M age=15.03; 51.1% male, 48.9% female) and 1530 youths at Time 2 (M age=15.79; 50.3% male, 49.7% female). Moderated regression analysis in Mplus is used to investigate the impact of political knowledge, political interest and political efficacy on political participation. The interaction effects of political efficacy and the two other predictors are then tested using simple slope tests.We conclude that, political efficacy and political interest show a significant interaction effect on political participation, while no effect is found for political efficacy and knowledge. In other words, the effect of high political interest on political participation is stronger for youths who also have a strong belief in their own capacity to perform political actions. A politically interested person is more likely to take political action if s/he also believes in her/his ability to produce a change in society.
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| 4. |
- Sohl, Sofia, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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The school’s role in youths’ political efficacy : can school provide a compensatory boost to students’ political efficacy?
- 2015
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Ingår i: Research Papers in Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0267-1522 .- 1470-1146. ; 30:2, s. 133-163
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the democracies of today, school often have a dual role to play. Not only should they give students the knowledge they need to enter the labour market, they should also teach young people about democracy, and develop students’ capacity to exercise their citizenship. A third task for schools is to enhance political equality in society by supporting the least privileged students. In this study, we explore how school can contribute to increased equality by strengthening students’ political efficacy. Upper secondary students’ political efficacy levels are compared over time by creating four groups on the basis of their educational choices and experiences of the school and teaching environment. The results indicate that school matters for the development of political efficacy, but not in the same ways for all students. Signs of there being compensatory effects of having a positive school/teaching environment are found for students on vocational programmes, but not for those on academic programmes. Moreover, the results suggest that classroom/teaching factors play a more important role than the social environment offered by schools.
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| 5. |
- Sohl, Sofia, 1981-
(författare)
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Youths' political efficacy : sources, effects and potentials for political equality
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this dissertation is to increase knowledge of political efficacy,both theoretically and empirically. A thorough theoretical discussion iscombined with empirical studies of the development of political efficacy and of its effects on political participation. The results are also discussed in the light of political equality.In three papers, quantitative data on Swedish adolescents are analyzed. The first paper discusses what political efficacy actually entails. Based on an overview of previous research, a merged multidisciplinary perspective with a focus on people’s beliefs in their capacities to perform political actions is presented. Four main pathways concerning how youths gain political efficacy are tested. The second paper’s main question is whether, and in which ways, schools can help students gain political efficacy. In the light of political equality, it reflects upon the individual and societal effects of potential gains in youths’ political efficacy. The third paper scrutinizes the effects of political efficacy on political participation. In addition, the combinations of having political efficacy beliefs, and political knowledge or interest, are tested in order to explore potential interaction (leverage) effects. Altogether, this dissertation presents a more refined and stringent view on political efficacy. It further clarifies the concept itself, which may aid clearer, more coherent, and less ambiguous research. It also provides an input into an existing framework for understanding the development of youths’ political efficacy. Finally, it finds that political efficacy seems to work as a lever for participation. Combined with political interest, it facilitatesthe transformation of psychological engagement into political action.The findings will inform discussion on the implications of stimulating youths’ political efficacy to promote political participation and political equality. By boosting political efficacy along various pathways – in part independently of socioeconomic status – political equality may be promoted by benefiting the least advantaged.
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