ПСИХОЛОГІЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СХИЛЬНОСТІ МОЛОДИХ ВИБОРЦІВ ДО АБСЕНТЕЇЗМУ

Abstract

The article examines the problem of the political absenteeism and presents the results of a study of the psychological features of young people who have a tendency to electoral non-participation. The purpose of the article is to analyze the potential socio-psychological factors of young citizens` political abstention. The authors analyze the main political, social, cultural factors of the political absenteeism. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the causes of political passivity of young citizens (the impact of the life cycle, a narrow understanding of the policy concept, and specifics of the political socialization). The authors explore the features of the self-consciousness of the politically passive youth, in particular, it was analyzed the influence of such internal factors as a personal responsibility of the citizen, general trust to the world, a sense of control over events, their awareness of the own significance. The results of the study of socio-psychological factors of youth (18-25 years) propensity to the absenteeism are presented. The researchers found that young people prone to absenteeism are characterized by a higher level of employment (not only education but also work), the presence of unofficial income. Some of them show a certain infantilism and the financial dependence on other family members. Such young people are characterized by a higher (compared with politically active youth) degree of distrust of socio-political institutions (church, courts, President, Verkhovna Rada, Cabinet of Ministers) and an experience of dealing with corruption in various instances. Their avoidance of participation in elections is not related to cognitive factors (lack of the information about this process, candidates, etc.). They explain the reason for their non-participation in the elections by external and situational circumstances. Such respondents tend to show the political passivity, be less interested in politics, and do not show their own initiative in the public sphere. Male respondents were more prone to absenteeism. There is a clear tendency to show absenteeism among young people with distrust and alienation to the world around them, with a generally negative attitude towards controllability and fairness of events in it and a pessimistic attitude to their own "I", their self-worth, and to their own ability to manage events. In addition, respondents prone to absenteeism showed a reduced level of the personal responsibility and the dominance of the situational responsibility especially at the level of the moral-spiritual, emotional-motivational, and behavioral-volitional components of responsibility.