Using Social Network Analysis to Study the Political Socialization of Youth

• In Event: Youth Civic Engagement

Abstract

The literature on political socialization has substantively contributed to our understanding of how young people develop their understanding of the political world (McDevitt, 2017; Neundorf & Smets, 2017; Wasburn, 2017). Among a host of key findings, the body of research from this field consistently highlights the importance of the interactions between adolescents and socialization agents such as family members, peers, teachers, community leaders, and media outlets. Political knowledge, attitudes, dispositions, and skills all appear to be dynamically shaped and influenced by the relationships that young people have with these actors (Van Ditmars, 2023; Terriquez et al., 2020; Van Goethem, 2014; Smetana & Metzger, 2005). Interestingly, most empirical studies on the field of youth political socialization have yet to leverage the opportunity of studying these interpersonal relations using a social network analysis approach. The handful of studies that use a network analysis framework seem to focus exclusively on networks of friends or peers (Settle, et al., 2011; Ajilore & Alberda, 2017; Tong & Kim; 2022), limiting the insights we can gather from a more comprehensive look at adolescents’ political networks.

In response to this, this paper makes an argument for expanding our understanding and definition of the networks of interest when studying the political socialization of youth. It makes the case for mapping young people’s reports of whom they talk to and listen to about issues that matter to them. By defining the contours of the network of interest by an action rather than by friendship, or kinship, it seeks to generate measures that can better describe how specific relationships mediate the processes of political socialization and civic learning. The paper further presents some hypothesis regarding how educational interventions can shape these networks by altering their size, content, or structure, with potential implications on the development of students’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and dispositions.

An abridged presentation and discussion of an empirical application using data from the 2016 wave of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) is included in the paper.

Author

• Nicolas Riveros Medelius, Harvard University