Political socialization

Political socialization refers to the process where actors acquire value patterns and preferences as a result of the interaction with socialization agents. The available research shows that this process is most strongly present during the 'impressionable' years of adolescence and young adulthood. We briefly review the research on parents, schools, and peer groups as socialization agents. While the exact causal mechanism of political socialization is intensively debated, we argue that in parenting the transmission of status and value patterns are most often linked and strengthen one another. While socialization studies have adapted to changing circumstances in society, we argue that it is necessary to investigate how political socialization and social and cultural change can be reconciled. In a process of selection and adaptation, adolescents and young adults actively construct their own world views, and therefore they should not be considered as mere passive recipients of political socialization effects.