The Intergenerational Transfer of Political Ideologies in Eight Western Nations*

Abstract

ABSTRACTPre–adult socialization is one way in which political ideologies are formed. Parents can affect the ideologies of their offspring through direct transmission or through the indirect mechanism of family social milieu. This paper analyses parent–adolescent pairs drawn from a larger sample survey study of eight western nations carried out in the mid–1970s. Three varieties of ideological perspectives are addressed: the traditional left–right continuum, pro– and anti–establishment attitudes, and material–postmaterial value structures. In general the familiar and historically rich orientations of the left–right dimension are transmitted much more successfully than are the remaining two, which are newer and less encapsulating. Regardless of particular ideology, the direct transmission model is significantly more faithful to the findings than an indirect model based on the family's social class and religious composition. The distortion in the reproduction of ideologies between the generations indicates the importance of intra–individual development and macro–level forces as sources of political ideologies.