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The roots of political beliefs: How do your parents shape your political views?
Political behavior theory is an important part of political science. It attempts to quantify and explain the influencing factors that define a person's political concepts, ideology and political participation, with a special focus on politicians and their influence on public opinion. A person's political beliefs are influenced by multiple factors, from their parents' political views to social media trends. These factors are not limited to the family environment, but also include educational institutions and social networks, among others.
Factors that influence political orientation over time include interactions with parents, which is often cited as the number one factor influencing political views.
Research shows that the political environment of the family plays a crucial role in the formation of an individual's political orientation in the early stages of development. These early political socializations may change over time in line with an individual's life experiences, but parents' opinions still largely shape children's political perceptions. In the United States, students spend an average of approximately 180.4 days over the school year in elementary and secondary school, which means they spend nearly 1,210 hours in the classroom each year.
In higher education, a study of 9,784,913 college students found that student turnout in the 2016 presidential election was 68.5%, compared with an average turnout of 46.1% among voters aged 18 to 29.
These data show that education level has a significant impact on a person's political ideology and behavior. In addition to family and education, peer groups also play an important role in shaping political beliefs, especially on social issues within the same generation, with shared understanding among friends fostering future ideological growth.
Socialization is the process by which an individual acquires knowledge, habits, and values that will be useful in the future.
As we age, the impact on the formation of political attitudes cannot be underestimated. The adult impression hypothesis holds that political orientations become more stable in youth, while the so-called "gradual stabilization hypothesis" holds that the likelihood of political attitudes changing gradually decreases with age. However, the Lifelong Openness Hypothesis contends that individuals' attitudes remain flexible regardless of age, which illustrates the complexity of shaping political beliefs.
Short-term influencing factors
In addition to long-term factors, short-term factors also play a key role in electoral behavior, with the media and single election issues playing an important role. These short-term factors are often temporary but can significantly change voter attitudes during an election. Political scientists generally believe that mass media has a profound impact on voting behavior, and some studies have pointed out that during the transition to liberal democracy in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the media became a major battlefield.
Electoral issues include campaign matters, debates, and advertising, which can change certain political behaviors based on the candidates.
In research on the relationship between social groups and political outcomes, political scientists have begun to pay attention to the impact of group behaviors such as age, gender, and race on political outcomes. Taking American politics as an example, Hispanics are gradually becoming an important political force, and their voting behavior and social influence are becoming more and more prominent in elections.
The impact of social groups on political outcomes
The impact of Hispanics was most pronounced in the 2000 presidential election. Although their votes were not entirely unified, this group gradually gained power in politics over time. Additionally, African Americans turned out at higher rates than white voters in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, demonstrating the importance of this group in the democratic process.
In the 2016 presidential election, female turnout exceeded that of men for the first time, demonstrating the important impact of the gender gap on political outcomes.
Biology and Political Science
Another emerging area of research is at the intersection of biology and political science, where scholars explore how biology influences political behavior, including the genetic basis of ideology. In genetic politics, researchers focus on how genes influence an individual's political orientation. Research in this area frequently challenges traditional social psychological perspectives.
Political participation
Understanding how individuals participate in the democratic process is another important direction of political science. The driving factors of behaviors such as voting, volunteering, and protests often cannot be explained by rational behavior. Many scholars believe that people’s voting decisions are driven by social factors. Such as the influence of family members or friends.
Political Psychology
Political psychology is committed to explaining political behavior through psychological analysis, and the theories discussed include right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and system rationalization theory.
In summary, the formation of political beliefs is a multi-faceted process involving family, education, social groups and biological factors. These potential influencing factors not only shape our political orientation, but also influence the ever-changing society. How we participate. Is this influence etched in our genes, or is it ingrained in the environment in which we were raised?
