Developmental Contexts and Processes in Adolescents’ Civic Engagement: Person-Centered Analysis of International Data

Abstract

Large scale datasets from national representative samples of adolescents possess untapped potential for studying contexts and also processes of civic development (how social and civic attitudes are patterned within individuals). Both represent gaps in existing research. Shinn and Toohey (2003) suggest using archived large-scale data to overcome “context minimalization errors” – insufficient attention to how contexts ranging from “nations to neighborhoods” shape psychological processes. This argues for sources such as international large-scale assessments of civic engagement that include measures of contexts. Large representative samples can also further the understanding of processes of development through person-centered analysis. First, we frame our presentation with the “developmental niches model”, which looks at nested psychological processes in the development of civic attitudes in neighborhood contexts. Second, the presentation examines profiles of civic attitudes using latent class analysis, and also correlates in school and peer group experience of the identified latent classes. The data come from two international large-scale assessments – the IEA CIVED99 Study of nationally representative samples of 14 years old in 28 countries and IEA ICCS09 with similar samples in 38 countries (both archived at CivicLEADS/ICPSR). A recent review of secondary analyses of these data found more than 100 published articles, and our presentation will first summarize those findings relevant to developmental contexts and processes. Further background comes from person-centered analysis using ICCS09 data from Scandinavia, which identified five latent classes in perceptions of school and class climate (Authors, in press). The ICCS09 data collection did not include the U.S. or Australia and also omitted measures of peer group context administered in CIVED99. Thus here we analyze data from the 1999 study using latent class analysis in these two countries plus England. Our analysis connects latent classes in the perceptions of school and class climate with independently derived latent classes using measures of social attitudes. Of particular interest is a group identified as “alienated.” These students were characterized by anti-immigrant attitudes, as well as negative perceptions of ethnic groups and women’s rights (e.g., see Figure 1). This is the cohort of adolescents who are now in their early thirties, and we suggest that individuals with these attitudes may have formed a core of the angry voters in the 2016 U.S. election and Brexit voters in England. We will discuss possible ways to design school contexts to ameliorate alienation and support civic development, and datasets available for studying context and processes of civic development.