Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 1
Adolescents’ perspectives on traditional, non-traditional, and direct political activities: The
role of identity-processing styles and political beliefs
Jan Šerek, Zuzana Petrovičová, & Petr Macek
Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
serek@fss.muni.cz
Published in Revista de psicología social:
Šerek, J., Petrovičová, Z., & Macek, P. (2012). Adolescents’ perspectives on traditional, nontraditional,
and direct political activities: The role of identity-processing styles and political
beliefs. Revista de psicología social, 27(2), 243-250.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1174/021347412804932848
This version is an original submission to the journal with revisions after peer review accepted
by the editor.
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 2
Perspectivas de Adolescentes en Actividades Políticas Tradicionales, No Tradicionales y
Directas: El Rol de los Estilos de Identidad y las Creencias Políticas
Adolescents’ Perspectives on Traditional, Non-traditional, and Direct Political Activities:
The Role of Identity-Processing Styles and Political Beliefs
Resumen
La investigación abordó si la tendencia de los adolescentes al emplear el estilo de identidad
informativo o normativo predice su efectividad percibida en diferentes actividades políticas.
Los datos fueron tomados de un amplio estudio longitudinal realizado en la República Checa
y en el que se incluyeron reportes de 179 participantes (primera etapa de evaluación = a los
17 años; segunda etapa evaluación = a los 19 años). El análisis de trayectorias sugirieron que
los adolescentes los cuales buscaron información se inclinaron a percibir la actividad política
tradicional (por ej. en las organizaciones civiles) como efectiva, mientras que el conformismo
normativo de los participantes predijo la no creencia en actividades propiamente políticas
(por ej. las peticiones). La efectividad percibida en actividades tradicionalmente políticas (por
ej. votar) reflejó la confianza política de los adolescentes a diferencia de sus estilos de
procesamiento de identidad. Estos resultados complementan investigaciones previas en la
correlación entre los estilos de identidad y el pensamiento político de los adolescentes.
Abstract
The study examined whether adolescents’ tendency to employ informational, or normative
identity-processing style predicts their perceived effectiveness of different political activities.
Data were taken from the broader longitudinal study conducted in the Czech Republic, and
included reports from 179 participants (Time 1 = age 17; Time 2 = age 19). Path analyses
suggested that adolescents who sought information tended to perceive non-traditional
political activity (e.g., in civic organizations) as effective, while participants’ normative
conformism predicted disbelief in direct activity (e.g., petitions). Perceived effectiveness of
traditional activity (e.g., voting) reflected adolescents’ actual political trust rather than their
identity-processing styles. These results complement previous findings on the correlates of
identity-processing styles and adolescents’ political thinking.
Palabras claves: adolescencia tardía, confianza política, efectividad en actividades políticas,
eficacia política, estilos de identidad
Keywords: identity-processing styles, late adolescence, political activity effectiveness,
political efficacy, political trust
Word count (incl. text, references, tables, figures): 3,498.
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 3
Introduction
The past years have seen growing youth engagement in unconventional political
activities (Zukin, Keeter, Andolina, Jenkins, & Delli Carpini, 2006). Thus, the need to
understand why young people prefer one kind of political activity over the others is becoming
more apparent. Previous studies have shown that the ways in which adolescents process selfrelevant
information (identity-processing styles) have the implications for their values and
social and religious beliefs (Berzonsky, Cieciuch, Duriez, & Soenens, 2011; Duriez, Soenens,
& Beyers, 2004). So far, however, too little attention has been paid to the association between
adolescents’ identity styles and their perceptions of political activities. In order to fill this gap,
the present paper examines whether adolescents’ tendency to employ different identity styles
relates to how they perceive the effectiveness of various political activities.
People can choose among various means how to express their political views and
promote social change. Such means comprise (1) traditional activity, targeting established
agencies such as political parties; (2) non-traditional activity, aiming at civic organizations;
and (3) direct activity oriented towards specific causes and includes petitions or
demonstrations (see Norris, 2003). Deciding among these activities depends on whether the
person perceives a given activity as an effective instrument for achieving the desired outcome
because people usually do not participate politically if they doubt the effectiveness of such
participation (Klandermans, 1997).
The preference for particular forms of political activity is known to be associated
with one’s political beliefs. Traditionally, political trust and political efficacy are
hypothesized to affect persons’ willingness to act politically (Gamson, 1968) and their
preference for either traditional or non-traditional means of participation (Bandura, 1997).
Political efficacy consists of two interrelated beliefs: an assessment of personal capabilities
and resources (internal efficacy), and an assessment of the openness of a social system to
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 4
change (external efficacy). This paper focuses rather on the external aspect, which represents
generalized belief that social changes are possible, and as such, positively relates to perceived
effectiveness of a wide variety of political activities targeting these changes. On the other
hand, political trust (a belief that political authorities observe the rules of the game and serve
the public) relates to the preference for traditional activity while not for other activities
(Bandura, 1997).
Besides, political thinking and behavior have to be seen at the context of personal
and social development of the individual (Mondak & Halperin, 2008). These processes
become salient especially in late adolescence, when political identity is being formed and
young people express their identities and identity-related processes through their behavior,
including political activities (Bynner, Romney, & Emler, 2003; Erikson, 1968). Using a
social-cognitive developmental perspective, Berzonsky (1989) identified three ways in which
young people seek, process, and use identity-relevant information: (1) the informationoriented
style, characterized by the search for, and evaluation of information before
committing to certain decisions, (2) the normative style, with a predominant focus on the
norms and expectations of significant others, and (3) the diffuse-avoidant style with a
tendency to procrastinate when making decisions. We suppose that namely two active
identity-processing styles (informational and normative) can influence the process of political
thinking and participation of adolescents since people employing diffuse-avoidant style do
not commit to specific planned actions and tend to drift from one decision to another.
We expect that young people employing informational style are more inclined than
other people to non-traditional solutions to problems and appreciate creative and
sophisticated political activities that go beyond traditional politics. It comes from the fact that
they are able to cope with conflicting information, are more autonomous and complex in their
thinking (Berzonsky & Ferrari, 1996), have a higher need for cognition (Berzonsky &
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 5
Sullivan, 1992), and are more open to new experiences, ideas or actions (Dunkel, Papini, &
Berzonsky, 2008; Duriez et al., 2004). Moreover, their tendency to gather information and
look for new solutions is associated with a perceived internal control over the events around
them (Berzonsky, 1989). Thus, we suppose that the informational style positively predicts the
overall sense of political efficacy.
On the other hand, people high in the normative style are expected to decry the
direct forms of political activity and incline to the traditional ones. These people are
conformist, internalize the values and goals of others, and protect themselves from
information that might interfere with their perceptions (Berzonsky & Sullivan, 1992).
Previous research has also revealed their tendency to approve of right-wing authoritarian
political ideology and conservative attitudes (Duriez & Soenens, 2006; Soenens, Duriez, &
Goossens, 2005), which are characterized by an adherence to conventional norms and an
aversion to any form of social rebellion (Altemeyer, 1996). In addition, the respect for social
authorities, typical among normative-oriented young people, may translate into higher
political trust, which strengthens their appreciation of the traditional activity.
In sum, our question is whether the employment of different identity styles relates to
how a person perceives the effectiveness of traditional, non-traditional, and direct political
activity. We expect that people employing an informational style will perceive non-traditional
activity to be effective, while people employing a normative style will appreciate traditional
and diminish direct activities. Next, we suppose that the informational style affects the
development of political efficacy, and that the normative style affects the development of
political trust, thus the effect of identity-processing styles will be mediated by these two
political beliefs.
Method
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 6
Participants and procedure
Our data came from the psychological branch of the broader European Longitudinal
Study of Pregnancy and Childhood, conducted in the Czech Republic (Jezek, Lacinova,
Sirucek, & Michalcakova, 2008). Original sample consisted of 883 children (age 8),
randomly selected from almost all children born in medical institutions in a city with 400,000
inhabitants between March 1991 and June 1992. Data for the present study were drawn from
the biennial 2008/09 (T1 = age 17; N = 477) and 2010/11 (T2 = age 19; N = 213)
examinations. The analyses included all 179 participants (64 % girls) who had valid values of
dependent variables at T2. Adolescents with higher education level were overrepresented in
the sample due to dropout in the previous examinations (49 % grammar school, 44 %
vocational school, 5 % art school or lyceum, 2 % not studying). Those who left the study
between T1 and T2 did not have significantly different identity styles, political efficacy, or
political trust from those who remained.
Adolescents completed self-report computer-based questionnaires at the research
institute. Measures comprised identity styles and political beliefs at T1 and T2. Moreover,
participants answered items about perceived effectiveness of political activities at T2.
Measures
Identity styles. Two information-processing strategies were measured by the two
subscales of the fourth version of the Identity Style Inventory (Likert-type scale with
responses ranging from one to five; Berzonsky, Soenens, Smits, Luyckx, & Goossens, 2007):
(1) informational style (12 items, e.g. “When I have to make a decision, I like to spend a lot
of time thinking about my options”; alphas .83 at T1, and .83 at T2); (2) normative style
(seven items, e.g. “I find it is best for me to rely on the advice of close friends or relatives
when I have a problem”; alphas .80 at T1, and .73 at T2). Latter subscale was formed from
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 7
the original 12-item version by omitting five items, uncorrelated with total score. CFA
showed that the present version was one-dimensional (standardized factor loadings from .32
to .78) and retained measurement invariance over time. A model with two correlated latent
factors (normative style at T1 and T2), assuming equal factor loadings and intercepts of the
same indicators, reached a reasonable fit (χ2
77 = 153.22, p < .01; χ2
/df = 1.99; SRMR = .08;
CFI = .90; RMSEA = .07) after two pairs of T1 residuals and three pairs of T2 residuals were
allowed to correlate.
Political beliefs. Two Czech Likert-type scales with responses ranging from one to
four, piloted in the previous studies (Serek & Macek, 2010), were used. (1) Political efficacy
scale assessed adolescents’ beliefs that they can achieve any change or stop the negative
development in their communities (eight items, e.g. “People like me can influence what is
going on in the place where they live”; alphas .81 at T1, and .84 at T2). CFA proved onedimensionality
of the scale (standardized factor loadings from .43 to .80) and full
measurement invariance. A model with two correlated latent factors (political efficacy at T1
and T2), assuming equal factor loadings and intercepts of respective indicators, reached an
acceptable fit (χ2
109 = 171.45, p < .01; χ2
/df = 1.57; SRMR = .08; CFI = .93; RMSEA = .06)
after one pair of T1 residuals was allowed to correlate. (2) Political trust scale assessed
adolescents’ perceived trustworthiness of political environment, regarding politicians’ service
to the public and observance of the rules (six items, e.g. “Although it may seem different,
politicians pay respect to basic principles of decency and morality”; alphas .76 at T1, and .80
at T2). Similar to the previous scale, CFA confirmed one-dimensionality (standardized factor
loadings from .48 to .76) and measurement invariance. One T1 residual correlation had to be
allowed to reach an acceptable fit (χ2
57 = 76.36, p = .04; χ2
/df = 1.34; SRMR = .07; CFI = .96;
RMSEA = .04).
Perceived effectiveness of political activities. Participants were asked: “If ordinary
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 8
citizens want to influence decisions taken on social issues, they can choose from various
activities. How meaningful do you think the following activities are in terms of influence on
social issues?” Then they assessed seven activities on the four-point scale from “is always
meaningful” to “never is.” Traditional activity was represented by two items: voting, and
political party membership (α = .61). Non-traditional activity was represented by two items:
sending money to some organization dealing with the issue, and giving active help to some
organization dealing with the issue (α = .72). Direct activity was represented by three items:
petition signing, taking part in demonstrations, and illegal action (e. g., occupation) (α = .68).
Confirmatory factor analysis proved the existence of three distinctive perceived forms of
political activity. A model with three correlated latent factors exhibited a perfect fit (χ2
11 =
9.09, p = .61; χ2
/df = .83; SRMR = .03; CFI = 1.00; RMSEA = .00), while an alternative
model assuming only one latent factor fitted the data considerably worse (χ2
14 = 83.77, p <
.01; χ2
/df = 5.98; SRMR = .08; CFI = .74; RMSEA = .17).
Strategy of analyses
In order to retain a reasonable ratio between free parameters and sample size, we
estimated three separate path models with: perceived effectiveness of traditional, nontraditional,
and direct activity. Full information maximum likelihood estimator (Mplus 6.1)
was used to include the cases with partially missing data (covariance coverage from 82 to 100
%). All models contained T1 and T2 measurements of informational style, normative style,
political efficacy, and political trust. Based on our assumptions, we allowed informational
style to correlate with political efficacy, and normative style to correlate with political trust.
Also both political beliefs were allowed to intercorrelate. Further, we assumed two
longitudinal effects: from informational style to political efficacy, and from normative style to
political trust. All T2 variables were set to predict perceived effectiveness of traditional/nontraditional/direct
activity, which was measured only at T2 (see Figure 1).
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 9
Results
Three path models predicting perceptions of three forms of activity are depicted
together in Figure 1. All models had a perfect fit, suggesting that no relevant path was
omitted. Correlation matrix of all scales can be found in Table 1.
All variables measured at T1 were significantly associated in the expected way.
However, informational style did not predict a change in political efficacy, and normative
style did not predict a change in political trust. The paths could be removed from the model
without significant worsening of its fit (Δχ2
2 = 2.69, p = .26). Thus, despite the association at
T1 we found no longitudinal effect of identity styles on political beliefs. This result
implicated that the effect of identity styles on perceived effectiveness could not be mediated
by political beliefs.
Perceived effectiveness of different forms of political activity was predicted by
different variables. Perceived effectiveness of traditional activity was predicted mainly by
political trust, perceived effectiveness of non-traditional activity was predicted mainly by
informational style, and perceived effectiveness of radical activity was predicted by
adolescents’ political efficacy and (negatively) by normative style.
Discussion
We found that there is an association between how young people perceive the
effectiveness of various political activities and their identity-related cognitive strategies.
Information-oriented people are open to non-traditional ideas, actions, and values (Berzonsky
& Sullivan, 1992). Our data suggests that this openness is reflected in their political thinking
as well. Specifically, the tendency to search for information in the process of self-definition
(informational style) positively predicts greater appreciation of non-traditional political
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 10
activity aiming at organizations focused on specific social issues. At the same time, the
information-orientation does not translate into perceptions of direct activity and only slightly
affects the evaluation of traditional activity. The tendency of young people to conform and to
dismiss inconvenient information (normative style) has a weaker but still noticeable relation
to their perception of political activities. It is not true that highly normative people appreciate
traditional political activity more than the others as we hypothesized based on their
preference of conservative beliefs (Berzonsky et al., 2011; Duriez & Soensen, 2006).
Nevertheless, consistently with their conservative beliefs, they distrust the effectiveness of
direct activity. The associations are present despite the two-year interval between the
measurements, suggesting that some political perceptions do reflect more stable cognitive
styles.
Originally, we argued that the tendency to search for information strengthens one’s
general belief that achievement of social change is possible (political efficacy), and that the
normative style leads to higher political trust. Although these associations were moderately
present at the age 17, no longitudinal effects were found. These findings suggest that the
development of political efficacy and trust in late adolescence is driven by different factors
than the identity-related cognitive styles (e.g., direct and indirect experiences with political
world). The associations with cognate personality traits that are reported in the literature
(Mondak & Halperin, 2008) may originate from the earlier political development.
Looking at our results from another perspective, young people’s thinking about
political activities is associated with both their political beliefs and more general cognitive
styles. However, both factors have unequal relevancy for different activities. Traditional
activity is perceived as effective by people who trust politicians, while personality
characteristics play only a minor (informational style), or no (normative style) role here.
When considering the effectiveness of non-traditional activity, the tendency to look for
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 11
information is the only substantial predictor while political trust does not matter. Direct
activity is favored by people who believe in the possibility to achieve social change and who
tend to be nonconformists. At the same time, the appreciation of direct activity does not stem
from lower political trust, which supports recent findings that direct activity is not the domain
of people frustrated by traditional politics (Norris, Walgrave, & Aelst, 2005). Generally, it
seems that perceived effectiveness of traditional activity reflects actual trust in the political
system, while more general and stable personality characteristics matter within perceptions of
less conventional activities.
Besides some limitations, our study extends current knowledge about the correlates
of identity-related cognitive styles. Since it was conducted on participants with higher
educational level, included a limited number of possible predictors, employed only one
measure of perceived effectiveness, and had not completely longitudinal design (dependent
variable was not measured at the age 17), further replications are needed. Based purely on the
fact that people reported some degree of effectiveness for certain actions, we cannot infer
whether they would engage in those activities in reality, because other factors come into play,
such as resources and opportunities. On the other hand, most of our results are consistent with
expectations deduced from the general characteristics of both identity styles. While previous
studies have shown the implications for a person’s values and social and religious beliefs, we
have pointed out that the perception of political activities is associated with identity styles as
well. At the same time, our research suggests that young people’s perceptions in this area are
not only based on their beliefs about the political system but also stem from more general
ways of approaching the social world.
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 12
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Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 15
Table 1. Bivariate correlations between all measures.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 M SD
1. Information style T1 3.47 0.57
2. Information style T2 .61** 3.54 0.55
3. Normative style T1 .02 .04 2.98 0.64
4. Normative style T2 -.06 .09 .64** 3.04 0.56
5. Political efficacy T1 .19* .08 -.10 -.09 2.61 0.49
6. Political efficacy T2 .17* .18* .01 -.12 .49** 2.65 0.52
7. Political trust T1 .04 -.01 .12 .08 .32** .10 2.14 0.45
8. Political trust T2 -.04 .05 -.01 .03 .28** .24** .42** 2.18 0.51
9. Perc. eff. traditional act. T2 .12 .21** -.02 .02 .22** .27** .19* .35** 3.00 0.65
10. Perc. eff. non-trad. act. T2 .26** .33** -.02 .10 .05 .21** .03 .14 .36** 2.74 0.69
11. Perc. eff. direct act. T2 .09 .12 -.23** -.19* .16 .27** -.05 .06 .28** .32** 2.47 0.56
* p < .05. ** p < .01.
Running head: IDENTITY STYLES AND POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS 16
Figure 1. Path models examining the relations among identity-processing styles, political beliefs, and perceived effectiveness of traditional/nontraditional/direct
activity.
Note. Standardized path coefficients are reported. Coefficients in the left part of the figure were identical for all three models. Model fit: χ2
21 =
19.59, p = .55; χ2
/df = .93; SRMR = .04; CFI = 1.00; RMSEA = .00 (model with traditional activity); χ2
21 = 21.95, p = .40; χ2
/df = 1.05; SRMR
= .04; CFI = 1.00; RMSEA = .02 (model with non-traditional activity); χ2
21 = 24.94, p = .25; χ2
/df = 1.19; SRMR = .05; CFI = .98; RMSEA =
.03 (model with direct activity).
* p < .05. ** p < .01.