Ethnic majority and minority youths’ ascription of responsibility for solving current social issues: Links to civic participation

SCOTT, Zuzana and Jan ŠEREK. Ethnic majority and minority youths’ ascription of responsibility for solving current social issues: Links to civic participation. Journal of Adolescent Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc., 2015, vol. 30, No 2, p. 180-212. ISSN 0743-5584. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0743558414554701.

Basic information

• Original name: Ethnic majority and minority youths’ ascription of responsibility for solving current social issues: Links to civic participation
• Authors: SCOTT, Zuzana (703 Slovakia, guarantor, belonging to the institution) and Jan ŠEREK (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Journal of Adolescent Research, Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications Inc. 2015, 0743-5584.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 50100 5.1 Psychology and cognitive sciences
• Country of publisher: United States of America
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Impact factor: Impact factor: 1.439
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14230/15:00082136
• Organization unit: Faculty of Social Studies
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0743558414554701
• UT WoS: 000349621400002
• Keywords in English: civic participation; responsibility; efficacy; social norm; minority; focus groups

Abstract

The study examined current social issues that adolescents and young adults from majority and minority groups consider to be pressing issues in society, such as the environment, racism, and unemployment. Fourteen focus groups were conducted with majority (Czech) and minority (Roma and Ukrainian) participants (15-26 years of age). The issues were discussed with an emphasis on where the participants believed the responsibility lay for finding a solution. Responses could be classified into three categories: ascribing responsibility only to the self, only to others (e.g., to the government), or to both. We used the data from the follow-up survey study to test whether internal ascription of responsibility would align with young people's attitudes toward civic participation. The results suggest that for majority (Czech) and Ukrainian youth, willingness to participate is predicted not only by social norms that encourage civic engagement and collective efficacy beliefs, but also by one’s ascription of responsibility to the self. We discuss various explanations for why this finding did not hold true for Roma respondents.

Links

• EE2.3.20.0184, research and development project: Name: Vytvoření interdisciplinárního týmu v oblasti výzkumu internetu a nových médií
• EE2.3.30.0009, research and development project: Name: Zaměstnáním čerstvých absolventů doktorského studia k vědecké excelenci