Abstract
While parents remain key socializing agents for political attitudes of adolescents, we observe that parent–child similarity in these attitudes is less substantial than initially theorized and seems to vary across studies and type of attitude. We hypothesize that social learning mechanisms explain differences in the strength of parent–child similarity. To assess this proposition, we compare the moderating power of political discussion, political sophistication, parental homogeneity, and gender using data from the Belgian Parent–Child Socialization Study 2013 (N = 1943 families). Our results demonstrate that parents and children resemble in their political and social attitudes and that this similarity is stronger for concrete and socially salient attitudes and reinforced by frequency in political discussion. Results also indicate that social learning practices, or at least the ones considered in this study, are not necessary conditions (anymore) for parent–child correspondence. Frequency of cue-giving in the form of direct communication is important to internalize parental attitudes but political sophistication and consistency in cue-giving less so. Parents and children correspond even in the absence of optimal social learning conditions which suggests that informal learning and observation of parental behavior are crucial to consider as well.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
We did not control for clustering in schools because for 264 child–mother–father triads we did not know which school the children are in (i.e., new pupils who switched schools between the first and second wave). Additional analyses showed almost identical results when controlling for clustering in schools.
References
Abts, K., M. Swyngedouw, and J. Billiet. 2011. De structurele en culturelekenmerken van het stemgedrag in Vlaanderen. Leuven: Centrum voorSociologischOnderzoek.
Acock, A.C., and V.L. Bengtson. 1978. On the relative influence of mothers and fathers: A covariance analysis of political and religious socialization. Journal of Marriage and the Family 40 (3): 519–530.
Bandura, A. 1977. Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Boonen, J. 2015. The development of stable party preferences: Explaining individual-level stability among adolescents in Belgium. Young 23 (4): 313–335.
Boonen, J., C. Meeusen, and E. Quintelier. 2014. The link between social attitudes and voting propensities: Attitude-vote consistency among adolescents in Belgium. Electoral Studies 36: 81–93.
Boonen, J., E. Quintelier, and M. Hooghe. 2017. The Difference between self-reported and perceived survey measures and the implications for political socialization research. Political Science Research and Methods 5 (2): 367–378.
Dassonneville, R. 2012. Electoral volatility, political sophistication, trust and efficacy: A study on changes in voter preferences during the Belgian regional elections of 2009. ActaPolitica 47 (1): 18–41.
Degner, J., and J. Dalege. 2013. The apple does not fall far from the tree, or does it? A meta-analysis of parent-child similarity in intergroup attitudes. Psychological Bulletin 139 (6): 1270–1304.
Deschouwer, K. 2009. The politics of Belgium: Governing a divided society. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dinas, E. 2014. Why does the apple fall far from the tree? How early political socialization prompts parent-child dissimilarity. British Journal of Political Science 44 (4): 827–852.
Eaves, L.J., and P.K. Hatemi. 2008. Transmission of attitudes toward abortion and gay rights: Effects of genes, social learning and mate selection. Behavior Genetics 38 (3): 247–256.
Eaves, L. J., Martin, N., Heath, A., Schieken, R., Meyer, J., Silberg, J., … Corey, L. (1997). Age changes in the cause of individual differences in conservatism. Behavior Genetics, 27(2), pp.121–124
Filler, N., and M.K. Jennings. 2015. Familial origins of gender role attitudes. Politics & Gender 11 (1): 27–54.
Fitzgerald, J., and K.A. Curtis. 2012. Partisan discord in the family and political engagement: A comparative behavioral analysis. The Journal of Politics 74 (1): 129–141.
Flanagan, C.A. 2013. Teenage citizens. The political theories of the young. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Gastil, J., and J.P. Dillard. 1999. Increasing political sophistication through public deliberation. Political communication 16 (1): 3–23.
Glass, J., V.L. Bengtson, and C.C. Dunham. 1986. Attitude similarity in three-generation families: Socialization, status inheritance, or reciprocal influence? American Sociological Review 51 (5): 685–698.
Hatemi, P., & Ojeda, C. (2020). The role of child perception and motivation in political socialization. British Journal of Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123419000516.
Hatemi, P.K., J.R. Alford, J.R. Hibbing, N.G. Martin, and L.J. Eaves. 2009. Is there a “party” in your genes? Political Research Quarterly 62 (3): 584–600.
Hatemi, P.K., C.L. Funk, S.E. Medland, H.M. Maes, J. Silberg, N. Martin, and L.J. Eaves. 2009. Genetic and environmental transmission of political attitudes over a life time. The Journal of Politics 71 (3): 1141–1156.
Hello, E., P. Scheepers, A. Vermulst, and J.R.M. Gerris. 2004. Association between educational attainment and ethnic distance in young adults: Socialization by schools or parents? ActaSociologica 47 (3): 253–275.
Holmberg, S. 2007. Partisanship reconsidered. In The Oxford handbook of political behavior, ed. R.J. Dalton, and H.-D. Klingemann, 557–570. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hyman, H. 1959. Political socialization: A study in the psychology of political behavior. Glenncoe: Free Press.
Inglehart, R. 2008. Changing values among Western publics from 1970 to 2006. West European Politics 31 (1): 130–146.
Jaspers, E., M. Lubbers, and J. de Vries. 2008. Parents, children and the distance between them: Long term socialization effects in the Netherlands. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 39 (1): 39–50.
Jennings, M.K., and R.G. Niemi. 1974. The political character of adolescence: The influence of families and schools. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Jennings, M.K., and R.G. Niemi. 1981. Generations and politics: A panel study of young adults and their parents. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Jennings, M.K., L. Stoker, and J. Bowers. 2009. Politics across generations: Family transmission reexamined. The Journal of Politics 71 (3): 782–799.
Jugert, P., K. Eckstein, A. Beelmann, and P. Noack. 2016. Parents’ influence on the development of their children’s ethnic intergroup attitudes: A longitudinal analysis from middle childhood to early adolescence. European Journal of Developmental Psychology 13 (2): 213–230.
Katz-Gerro, T., I. Greenspan, F. Handy, and Y. Vered. 2019. Environmental behavior in three countries: The role of intergenerational transmission and domains of socialization. Journal of Environmental Psychology 10: 1343.
Kinder, D. R., & Kam, C. D. (2010). Us against them. Ethnocentric foundations of American opinion. The University of Chicago Press.
Kosterman, R., K. Haggerty, R. Spoth, and C. Redmond. 2004. Unique influence of mothers and fathers on their children’s antisocial behavior. Journal of Marriage and Family 66 (3): 762–778.
Lachat, R. 2007. A Heterogeneous Electorate. Politcal Sophistication, predisposition strength, and the voting decision process. Baden-Baden: NomosVerlag.
McClosky, H., and H.E. Dahlgren. 1959. Primary group influence on party loyalty. American Political Science Review 53 (3): 757–776.
McDevitt, M. 2006. The partisan child: Developmental provocation as a model of political socialization. International Journal of Public Opinion Research 18 (1): 67–88.
McDevitt, M., and S. Chaffee. 2002. From top-down to trickle-up influence: Revisiting assumptions about the family in political socialization. Political Communication 19 (3): 281–301.
Meeusen, C. 2014. The intergenerational transmission of environmental concern: The influence of parents and communication patterns within the family. The Journal of Environmental Education 45 (2): 77–90.
Meeusen, C. 2014. The parent-child similarity in cross-group friendship and anti-immigrant prejudice: A study among 15-year adolescents and both their parents in Belgium. Journal of Research in Personality 50 (1): 46–55.
McIntosh, H., D. Hart, and J. Youniss. 2007. The Influence of Family Political Discussion on Youth Civic Development: Which Parent Qualities Matter? Political Science & Politics 40: 495–499.
Meeusen, C., and K. Dhont. 2015. Parent–child similarity in common and specific components of prejudice: The role of ideological attitudes and political discussion. European Journal of Personality 29 (6): 585–598.
Min, J., M. Silverstein, and J.P. Lendon. 2012. Intergenerational transmission of values over the family life course. Advances in Life Course Research 17 (3): 112–120.
Mutz, D.C. 2002. Cross-cutting social networks: Testing democratic theory in practice. American Political Science Review 96 (1): 111–126.
Neundorf, A., & Smets, K. (2017). Political Socialization and the Making of Citizens. In Oxford handbooks online in political science, Oxford University Press
Nieuwbeerta, P., and K. Wittebrood. 1995. Intergenerational transmission of political party preference in the Netherlands. Social Science Research 24 (3): 243–261.
O’Bryan, M., H. Fishbein, and P. Ritchey. 2004. Intergenerational transmission of prejudice, sex role stereotyping, and intolerance. Adolescence 39 (155): 407–426.
Ojeda, C., and P.K. Hatemi. 2015. Accounting for the child in the transmission of party identification. American Sociological Review 80 (6): 1150–1174.
Pinquart, M., and R.K. Silbereisen. 2004. Transmission of values from adolescents to their parents: The role of value content and authorative parenting. Adolescence 39 (153): 83–100.
Rekker, R. 2016. The lasting impact of adolescence on left-right identification: Cohort replacement and intracohort change in associations with issue attitudes. Electoral Studies 44: 120–131.
Rekker, R., L. Keijsers, S. Branje, and W. Meeus. 2015. Political attitudes in adolescence and emerging adulthood: Developmental changes in mean level, polarization, rank-order stability, and correlates. Journal of Adolescence 41: 136–147.
Rekker, R., L. Keijsers, S. Branje, and W. Meeus. 2019. The formation of party preference in adolescence and early adulthood: How and when does it occur in the multiparty context of the Netherlands? YOUNG 27 (1): 48–68.
Rico, G., and M.K. Jennings. 2012. The intergenerational transmission of contending place identities. Political Psychology 33 (5): 723–742.
Rico, G., and M.K. Jennings. 2016. The formation of left-right identification: Pathways and correlates of parental influence. Political Psychology 37 (2): 237–252.
Roest, A.M.C., J.S. Dubas, and J.R.M. Gerris. 2010. Value transmissions between parents and children: gender and developmental phase as transmission belts. Journal of Adolescence 33 (1): 21–31.
Schönpflug, U. 2001. Intergenerational transmission of values: The role of transmission belts. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 32 (2): 174–185.
Tam, K.-P. 2015. Understanding intergenerational cultural transmission through the role of perceived norms. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 46 (10): 1260–1266.
Tedin, K.L. 1974. The influence of parents on the political attitudes of adolescents. The American Political Science Review 68 (4): 1579–1592.
Thomassen, J., and M. Rosema. 2009. Party Identification revisited. In The European voter: A comparative study of modern democracies, ed. J. Thomassen, 42–59. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Trommsdorff, G. 2009. Intergenerational relations and cultural transmission. In Cultural transmission: Psychological, developmental, social, and methodological aspects, ed. U. Schönpflug, 126–160. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Van der Eijk, C., W. Van der Brug, M. Kroh, and M. Franklin. 2006. Rethinking the dependent variable in voting behavior: On the measurement and analysis of electoral utilities. Electoral Studies 25 (3): 424–447.
Ventura, R. 2001. Family political socialization in multiparty systems. Comparative Political Studies 34 (6): 666–691.
Vollebergh, W., J. Iedema, and Q.A. Raaijmakers. 2001. Intergenerational transmission and the formation of cultural orientations in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Marriage and Family 63 (4): 1185–1198.
Zuckerman, A.S. 2005. The social logic of politics. Personal networks as contexts for political behavior. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Zuckerman, A.S., J. Dasović, and J. Fitzgerald. 2007. Partisan families: The social logic of bounded partisanship in Germany and Britain. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendix
Appendix
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meeusen, C., Boonen, J. Facilitators of intergenerational similarity in social and political attitudes: the role of discussion, sophistication, attitudinal homogeneity, and gender. Acta Polit 57, 277–297 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-020-00186-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-020-00186-0