Social Benefits Motivate Young Adult Civic Engagement

• In Event: Pathways to Motivated Student Agency through Intentional Civic Pedagogy

Abstract

Civic engagement benefits both participants and society, but what motivates young adults to decide to become civically engaged? Prior literature has extensively examined the characteristics of young adults who are civically engaged, but less work has considered factors that prompt initial involvement. I argue that resume-building is a major motivator for young adult civic engagement participation because it has more visible short-term impacts compared to social or community motivators. Using a pre-registered survey experiment (N=964) and follow-up focus groups fielded to a representative sample of college students at a medium sized, public institution in the South, I demonstrate that respondents exposed to a treatment describing the social benefits of civic engagement are significantly more interested in increasing their civic engagement. Counter to expectations, career benefits appear only as a secondary motivating factor.

These results suggest that civic engagement does not sell itself as inherently beneficial to young adults. Non-profit organizations and educators may wish to consider ways to draw attention to the social benefits of civic engagement as a method of attracting additional program interest. This implication fits with the TLC at APSA theme of Reimagining Civic Engagement, as it suggests that some young adults may become more interested in being civically engaged if the benefits of such involvement are described in new and different ways. At a time when democratic participation is being reimagined, a key objective is to inspire young adults to become more civically engaged.

Author

• William O'Brochta, Texas Lutheran University