Adolescent Girls’ Political Efficacy: Changes Across Time

Melanie R. Quick*, Aaron Metzger
Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation Category: Social & Behavioral Sciences (Poster Presentation)

Student’s Major: Psychology

Political efficacy is one’s believed influence on politics and trust in their government. In developed democracies, research has found that women are less politically efficacious than men. This is problematic as it relates to less political participation and public policy benefits. Prior research has looked at political efficacy cross-sectionally, but little research has been done on how it has changed over time. By looking at political efficacy in populations longitudinally, we can determine if external factors (i.e. increased female representation in politics) are actually helping increase female political efficacy at a higher rate. We studied adolescents’ (age 12-18) political efficacy from a self-reported survey across five years, while controlling for socioeconomic status. Latent growth models indicated that adolescent political efficacy increased across time. Compared to boys, girls’ average political efficacy was lower. Across time, girls’ political efficacy increased at a higher rate, though this difference was not statistically significant (p = .197). These results hinted at the gender gap in adolescents’ political efficacy slightly minimizing. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Funding: SURE Funding

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: a West Virginia SURE program