Family, School, and Personal Political Factors in Student Politics: A Case Study of the 1972 Presidential Election

Abstract

Instead of bivariate analyses, used to explain student political behavior in the past, a multivariate sequential model appears better-suited to test the relationships among select family, school, and personal politicalfactors as they affect student politics. The model suggests that family and school variables influence personal political factors and student politics directly; in addition, these socialization agents act through personal political factors to affect student politics in an indirect sense. Prior to the 1972 Presidential election, a random sample of 373 Syracuse University (SU) students was collected to determine the thrust of their politics (vote intentions, Presidential candidate support, and urge to participate in demonstrations). Path analysis was employed to estimate the direct, indirect, and total effects of the variables in the model. Results indicated that: (1) a single variable was able to predict SU students' intent to vote in 1972, with only 3 per cent of the variance accounted for; (2) 54 per cent of the variance in Presidential candidate support was directly explained by personal political and family background factors; (3) 37 per cent of the variance in students' urge to demonstrate was directly attributed to personal political factors, and to a lesser extent family background; and (4) a number of family and school factors indirectly influenced candidate support and urge to demonstrate, acting through the intervening dimension of personal political factors.