Commitment to community and political involvement: A cross-cultural study with Italian and American adolescents

• Authors: Elisabetta Crocetti , Parissa Jahromi , Christy Buchanan
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The purpose of this study was to test whether personal commitment to community was related to political involvement in two cultural contexts: Italy and the USA. Participants were 566 adolescents (48.2% males) aged 14–19 years (M = 16 years; SD = 1.29): 311 Italians and 255 Americans. Participants filled out a self-report questionnaire. Analyses of variance revealed that American high school students reported higher levels of personal commitment to community than did their Italian peers and that many forms of political involvement were significantly more common among American adolescents. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that personal commitment to community was strongly and positively associated with involvement in political activities in both adolescent samples. Thus, fostering personal commitments to community could potentially lead youth to political engagement.

Keywords

EN

commitment to community; political involvement; gender; Italians; Americans; adolescence

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 375-389

Dates

published

2012-07-01

online

2012-06-25

Contributors

author

Elisabetta Crocetti

• Utrecht University

author

Parissa Jahromi

• Stanford University

author

Christy Buchanan

• Wake Forest University

References

• [1] Andolina, M. W., Jenkins, K., Keeter, S., Zukin, C. (2002). Searching for the Meaning of Youth Civic Engagement: Notes from the Field. Applied Developmental Science 6(4), 189–195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S1532480XADS0604_5[Crossref]
• [2] Arbuckle, J. L. (2010). Amos 19.0 [Computer Software]. Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.
• [3] Bollen, K. A. (1989). Structural Equations with Latent Variables. New York: Wiley.
• [4] Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, London: Harvard University Press.
• [5] Byrne, B. M. (2009). Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming (2nd edition). New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
• [6] Cartocci, R. (2002). Diventaregrandi in tempi di cinismo. [Growing up in Times of Cynicism]. Bologna, Italy: ilMulino.
• [7] Cheung, G. W., Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating Goodness-Of-Fit Indexes for Testing Measurement Invariance. Structural Equation Modeling 9, 233–255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5[Crossref]
• [8] Cicognani, E., Pirini, C., Keyes, C., Joshanloo, M., Rostami, R., Nosratabadi, M. (2008). Social Participation, Sense of Community and Social Well-Being: A Study on American, Italian and Iranian University Students. Social Indicator Research 89, 97–112. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9222-3[Crossref]
• [9] Crocetti, E. (2004). I processi dell’identità in adolescenti e giovani. (Identity Processes in Adolescents and Emerging Adults). Unpublished Master Thesis. Bologna, Italy: University of Bologna.
• [10] Crocetti, E., Palmonari, A. (2011). Le fasi adolescenziali e giovanili nello sviluppo individuale. (Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood in Individual Development). In A. Palmonari (Ed.). Psicologia dell’adolescenza (Terza Ed.). [Psychology of Adolescence], pp. 53–66. Bologna, Italy: il Mulino.
• [11] de Luca D. (2007). Giovani divisi fuori e dentro la politica [Youth Divided Outside And Inside Politics]. In C. Buzzi, A. Cavalli, A. de Lillo (Eds.). Rapporto giovani. (Youth Report), pp. 289–299. Bologna, Italy: ilMulino.
• [12] Erikson, E. (1968). Identity, Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton.
• [13] Esser, F., de Vreese, C. H. (2007). Comparing Young Voters’ Political Engagement in the United States and Europe. American Behavioral Scientist 50, 1195–1213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002764207299364[Crossref]
• [14] Flanagan, C. (2003). Developmental Roots of Political Engagement. PS: Political Science & Politics 36(2), 257–261. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S104909650300218X[Crossref]
• [15] Fredricks, J.A, Eccles, J.S. (2006). Is Extracurricular Participation Associated with Beneficial Outcomes? Concurrent and Longitudinal Relations. Developmental Psychology 42(4), 698–713. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.4.698[Crossref]
• [16] Grassi, R. (2007). I valori (Values). In A. Cavalli and G. Argentin (Eds.). Giovani a scuola. [Youth at School], pp. 61–80. Bologna, Italy: il Mulino.
• [17] Graziani, A.R. (2004). Gruppi formali e gruppi informali di adolescenti: Le diverse funzioni dell’appartenenza di gruppo per l’identità sociale. (Formal and Informal Adolescent Groups: The Different Functions of Group Membership for Social Identity). Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Bologna, Italy: University of Bologna.
• [18] Hart, D., Donnelly, T. M., Youniss, J., Atkins, R. (2007). High School Community Service as a Predictor of Adult Voting and Volunteering. American Educational Research Journal 44(1), 197–219. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0002831206298173[Crossref]
• [19] Havighurst, R.J. (1952). Developmental Tasks and Education. New York: Davis McKay.
• [20] Jahromi, P. (2008). Community Service Activity among Adolescents as a Predictor of Civic Attitudes, Goals, and Values. Unpublished Master Thesis. Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Wake Forest University.
• [21] Jahromi, P., Crocetti, E., Buchanan, C.M. (2012). A Cross-Cultural Examination of Adolescent Civic Engagement: Comparing Italian and American Community-Oriented and Political Involvement. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community 40(1), 22–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2012.633065[Crossref]
• [22] Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and Practices of Structural Equation Modeling (2nd ed). New York: Guilford.
• [23] Lopez, M. H., Levine, P., Both, D., Kiesa, A., Kirby, E., Marcelo, K. (2006). The 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation: A Detailed Look at How Youth Participate in Politics and Communities. Medford, MA: Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
• [24] Marta, E., Pozzi, M. (2007). Psicologia del volontariato [Psychology of Volunteerism]. Roma, Italy: Carocci.
• [25] McFarland, D. A., Thomas, R. J. (2006). Bowling Young: How Youth Voluntary Associations Influence Adult Political Participation. American Sociological Review 71, 401–425. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000312240607100303[Crossref]
• [26] Metz, E., McLellan, J., Youniss, J. (2003). Types of Voluntary Service and Adolescents’ Civic Development. Journal of Adolescent Research 18(2), 188–203. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0743558402250350[Crossref]
• [27] Niemi, R. G., Hepburn, M. A., Chapman, C. (2000). Community Service by High School Students: A Cure for Civic Ills? Political Behavior 22, 45–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1006690417623[Crossref]
• [28] Obradović, J., Masten, A. S. (2007). Developmental Antecedents of Young Adult Civic Engagement. Applied Developmental Science 11, 2–19. [Crossref]
• [29] Pancer, M. S., Pratt, M., Hunsberger, B., Alisat, S. (2007). Community and Political Involvement in Adolescence: What Distinguishes the Activists from the Uninvolved? Journal of Community Psychology 35, 741–759. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20176[Crossref]
• [30] Perry, J. L., Katula, M. C. (2001). Does Service Affect Citizenship? Administration & Society 33, 330–265. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00953990122019794[Crossref]
• [31] Smith, E. S. (1999). The Effects of Investment in the Social Capital of Youth on Political and Civic Behavior in Young Adulthood: A Longitudinal Analysis. Political Psychology 20, 553–580. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00156[Crossref]
• [32] Theiss-Morse, E., Hibbing, J.R. (2005). Citizenship and Civic Engagement. Annual Review of Political Science 8, 227–249. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.8.082103.104829[Crossref][WoS]
• [33] Vandenberg, R. J., Lance, C. E. (2000). A Review and Synthesis of the Measurement Invariance Literature: Suggestions, Practices, and Recommendations for Organizational Research. Organizational Research Methods 3, 4–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/109442810031002[Crossref]
• [34] Vecchione, M., Mebane, M. E. (2006). Il grande freddo: La disaffezione giovanile verso la politica convenzionale. [The Big Cold: Youth Disaffection towards Conventional Politics]. Psicologia Contemporanea 198, 50–57.
• [35] Vollebergh, W. A. M., Iedema, J., Raaijmakers, Q. A. W. (2001). Intergenerational Transmission and the Formation of Cultural Orientations in Adolescence and Young Adulthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family 63, 1185–1198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.01185.x[Crossref]
• [36] Walker, T. (2000). The Service/Politics Split: Rethinking Service to Teach Political Engagement. PS: Political Science and Politics 33(3), 646–649. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/420873[Crossref]
• [37] Walker, T. (2002). Service as a Pathway to Political Participation: What Research Tells Us. Applied Developmental Science 6, 183–188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S1532480XADS0604_4[Crossref]
• [38] Youniss, J., Bales, S., Christmas-Best, V., Diversi, M., McLaughlin, M., Silbereisen, R. (2002). Youth Civic Engagement in the Twenty First Century. Journal of Research on Adolescence 12, 121–148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1532-7795.00027[Crossref]

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s13374-012-0031-2