Neal E. Cutler

Age and Political Alienation: Maturation, Generation and Period Effects

Trends in political alienation may be defined in terms of one or more of three age-related explanations reflecting different aspects of change over time. These may be posed as the following set of hypotheses: (1) trends in political alienation represent cumulative effects of maturational pro cesses—aging—of subgroups within the population; (2) trends in political alienation represent the flow of successive generational cohorts through the population; (3) trends in political alienation reflect political and historical events or periods which affect all members of the population in a similar fashion. The purpose of this research is to discern the plausibility of these hypotheses by analyzing data on political alienation via the technique of cohort analysis. An analysis of three nationwide political attitude surveys re vealed that, of the three possible explanations, the historical or period effect best explains changes in political alienation across the years 1952 to 1968. Much less marked is a trend attributable to generational effects. No maturation or aging effects were evident.

Voluntary Association Participation and Life Satisfaction: Replication, Revision, and Extension.

A secondary analysis of a national sample of American adults is used to examine the correlation between membership in voluntary associations and life satisfaction. It is hypothesized that the influence of membership on overall life satisfaction is indirect: Membership influences organizational satisfaction; in turn, organizational satisfaction influences satisfaction with life as a whole. The findings suggest that the hypothesized pattern of relationships is not ubiquitously present for all four of the older age categories studied. Such differences suggest the critical importance of utilizing age-appropriate rather than generic indicators when studying these issues.

Generational Approaches to Political Socialization.

The purpose of t h i s article is to explore the dual meaning of the generational concept in the context of political socialization research. Underlying this discussion is the belief that wliile the study of political socialization is not typically labeled as being generational in nature, in fact empirical and theoretical interest in political socialization reflects an interest in continuities and discontinuities across generations. One way t o introduce the dimensions of the generational issue is to consider the concept in its public embodiment: concern with the notion of “generation gap.” Indeed, the 1960s and, to some extent, the 1970s have experienced substantial public concern over “the generation gap” and a parallel substantial scholarly concern with political socialization research. In such a context, then, what is a “generation gap?” That is, from the scholar’s point of view, what kinds of evidence and what rules of inference are needed to identify the existence, magnitude, and potential meaning of a generation gap? Can social critics concerned with the generation gap learn anytlliiig from the study of political socialization?,