British Journal of Political Science

Table of Contents - 1984 - Volume 14, Issue 04  

Research Article

Persistence and Change in Political Confidence over the Life-span: Embedding Life-cycle Socialization in Context

Kenneth P. Langton*

There are currently two views of the potential link between early learning and adult political attitudes and behaviour. The first holds that the consequences of early socialization persist over the life-cycle and have a pervasive effect on adult behaviour. Much of the research on child and adolescent political socialization adhered to this position. It is supported by studies which find that some orientations and personality dispositions seem relatively stable over time. This approach also finds some support in research which shows that earlier-learned orientations and experiences may influence later attitudes and behaviour, although this has been strongly contested.

Footnotes

* Department of Political Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Heraclio Bonilla collaborated with the author on the collection of the Peruvian data. Financial assistance was provided by the Ford Foundation, NSF (#SES-8309363), and the Wenner Gren Foundation (#4171). I wish to thank Bonnie Fought and Katherine Baisden for their research assistance.