The Acquisition of Political Orientations by College Students: A Theoretical Model

Abstract

This paper suggests a multidimensional model by which the acquisition of political attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge may be investigated. Three hypotheses were examined by use of data on college students and a control group of town cohorts. The first hypothesis, that political socialization is not uniform across levels, was confirmed. The second hypothesis, that political affect remains relatively stable throughout the college years while political cognition changes, was also confirmed. Finally, the third hypothesis, that present structural variables have a greater effect on cognition while background variables are more likely to have an impact on affect, was verified for the students and partly verified for the town cohorts. The verification of these hypotheses demonstrates the utility of a complex differentiated model such as the one that has been postulated. One fruitful use of this typology lies in the possibility that researchers could develop linkages between it and a developmental model of political socialization. The agents involved in socialization toward any component of the political domain, at any point in the life cycle, might then be located.