Beyond the ballot: Factors shaping political participation among university students in Bangkok
Vol 8, Issue 13, 2024
VIEWS - 35 (Abstract) 26 (PDF)
Abstract
This study explores the determinants of political participation among Thai youth, focusing on the roles of political interest, knowledge, and efficacy. Employing stratified random sampling, data were collected from 191 university students in Bangkok. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via Smart PLS was utilized to test hypotheses regarding the direct and mediating effects of political interest and knowledge on participation, highlighting the mediating role of political efficacy. The findings indicate that political efficacy significantly enhances participation, while political interest boosts knowledge significantly but does not directly influence efficacy. Furthermore, political knowledge positively affects efficacy but not participation directly. Notably, the indirect effects of political interest on participation through efficacy alone are insignificant, but the pathways from interest to participation through both knowledge and efficacy, and from knowledge to participation through efficacy, are significant. These results elucidate the complex interactions between political interest, knowledge, and efficacy in shaping the political engagement of Thai youth.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Arens, A., & Watermann, R. (2017). Political efficacy in adolescence: Development, gender differences, and outcome relations. Developmental Psychology, 53(5), 933–948. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000300
Bobkowski, P. S., & Rosenthal, H. M. (2021). Journalism civic self-efficacy: Predicting political participation among secondary-school journalism students. Journalism Practice, 16(10), 2166–2184. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.1897475
Levy, B. L., & Akiva, T. (2019). Motivating political participation among youth: An analysis of factors related to adolescents’ political engagement. Political Psychology, 40(5), 1039–1055. https://doi.org/10.1111/POPS.12578
Burnett, C. M., McCubbins, M. D. (2018). Is political knowledge unique? Political Science Research and Methods, 8(1), 188–195. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2018.43
Chen, C., Bai, Y., & Wang, R. (2019). Online political efficacy and political participation: A mediation analysis based on the evidence from Taiwan. New Media & Society, 21(8), 1667–1696. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819828718
Farman, L., Riffe, D., Kifer, M. J., & Elder, S. L. (2018). Finding the truth in politics: An empirical validation of the epistemic political efficacy concept. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 26(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2018.1398162
Grobshäuser, N., & Weisseno, G. (2020). Does political participation in adolescence promote knowledge acquisition and active citizenship? Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 16(2), 150–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1746197919900153
Guo, J. (2022). Is computer-mediated communication more powerful than face-to-face discussion in mobilizing political participation? A study examines participation in electoral campaigns and political advocacy in Taiwan. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 20(3), 235–249. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2022.2084483
Haenschen, K., Collier, J. R., & Tedesco, J. (2022). The impact of news trust and scandal knowledge on political efficacy. American Behavioral Scientist, 68(7). https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642211062867
Hair, J. F., Hollingsworth, C. L., Randolph, A. B., & Chong, A. Y. L. (2017). An updated and expanded assessment of PLS-SEM in information systems research. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 117(3), 442–458. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-04-2016-0130
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage Publications.
Hair, J. F., Sarstedt, M., Hopkins, L., & Kuppelwieser, V. G. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): An emerging tool in business research. European Business Review, 26(2), 106–121. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-10-2013-0128
Hair, Jr., J. F., Sarstedt, M., Matthews, L. M., & Ringle, C. M. (2016). Identifying and treating unobserved heterogeneity with FIMIX-PLS: part I—method. European business review, 28(1), 63–76. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-09-2015-0094
Hoffman, L. H. (2019). Political knowledge and communication. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.109
Hooghe, M., & Marien, S. (2013). A comparative analysis of the relation between political trust and forms of political participation in Europe. European Societies, 15(1), 131–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2012.692807
Jo, J., Lee, J., & Kim, Y. (2017). Political Knowledge and Voter Turnout in South Korea. Korea Observer, 48(1), 135–156.
Jung, N., Kim, Y., & Zúñiga, H. (2011). The mediating role of knowledge and efficacy in the effects of communication on political participation. Mass Communication and Society, 14(4), 407–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2010.496135
Keeling, S. (2023). A matter of content: overcoming the gender gap in political knowledge, expression of knowledge, and interest. Italian Political Science Review, 53(3), 384–398. https://doi.org/10.1017/ipo.2023.15
Kim, H., Kim, Y., & Lee, D. (2020). Understanding the role of social media in political participation: Integrating political knowledge and bridging social capital from the social cognitive approach. International Journal of Communication, 14, 4803–4824.
Lecheler, S., & Vreese, C. D. (2017). News media, knowledge, and political interest: Evidence of a dual role from a field experiment. Journal of Communication, 67(4), 545–564. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12314
Leguina, A. (2015). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 38(2), 220–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2015.1005806
Levy, B. L., & Akiva, T. (2019). Motivating political participation among youth: An analysis of factors related to adolescents’ political engagement. Political Psychology, 40(5), 1039–1055. https://doi.org/10.1111/POPS.12578
Maurissen, L. (2018). Political efficacy and interest as mediators of expected political participation among Belgian adolescents. Applied Developmental Science, 24(4), 339–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2018.1507744
Miller, J. M., Peterson, D. A. M., Saunders, K. L., & McClurg, S. (2022). Putting the Political in Political Interest: The Conditional Effect of Politics on Citizens’ Interest in Politics. American Politics Research, 51(4), 510–524. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X221139757
Nascimento, J. C. H. B., & da Silva Macedo, M. A. (2016). Structural equation modeling with partial least squares: an example of the application of Smart PLS in accounting research (Portuguese). Journal of Accounting Education and Research (REPEC), 10(3). https://doi.org/10.17524/repec.v10i3.1376
Oh, Y., & Lim, S. (2017). Connecting a missing link between participation in administration and political participation: the mediating role of political efficacy. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 83(4), 694–716. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852315591644
Pavlopoulos, V., Kostoglou, D., & Motti-Stefanidi, F. (2019). From political interest to participation in EU-related actions: The mediating role of European identity and political efficacy. Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 24(2), 102–121. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.24920
Pei, Z., Pan, Y., & Skitmore, M. (2018). Political efficacy, social network and involvement in public deliberation in rural China. Social Indicators Research, 139, 453–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11205-017-1737-7
Prior, M. (2010). You’ve either got it or you don’t? The stability of political interest over the life cycle. The Journal of Politics, 72(3), 747–766. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381610000149
Rapeli, L. (2022). What is the best proxy for political knowledge in surveys? PLOS ONE, 17(8), e0272530. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272530
Reichert, F. (2016). How internal political efficacy translates political knowledge into political participation. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 12(2), 221–241. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i2.1095
Reynolds, M. (2022). High-impact teaching practices and undergraduates’ political efficacy. Journal of Political Science Education, 19(1), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2022.2130071
Robison, J. (2017). The social rewards of engagement: Appealing to social motivations to stimulate political interest at high and low levels of external efficacy. Political Studies, 65(1), 24–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321715619431
Saud, M. (2020). Youth participation in political activities: The art of participation in Bhakkar, Punjab Pakistan. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 30(6), 760–777. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2020.1745112
Šerek, J., Machácková, H., & Macek, P. (2017). The chicken or egg question of adolescents’ political involvement: Longitudinal analysis of the relation between young people’s political participation, political efficacy, and interest in politics. Journal of Psychology, 225(4), 347–356. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000297
Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L., & Brady, H. E. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Harvard University Press.
Wang, C. H. (2015). A deeper look at the relationship between political knowledge and political participation: Evidence from presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan. Asian Journal of Political Science, 23(3), 397–419. https://doi.org/10.1080/02185377.2015.1098550
Weeks, B. E., Lane, D., & Hahn, L. (2021). Online incidental exposure to news can minimize interest-based political knowledge gaps: Evidence from two U.S. elections. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 27(1), 243–262. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161221991550
Wolak, J. (2018). Feelings of political efficacy in the fifty states. Political Behavior, 40(3), 763–784. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11109-017-9421-9
Wolfsfeld, G., Yarchi, M., & Samuel-Azran, T. (2016). Political information repertoires and political participation. New Media & Society, 18(9), 2096–2115. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444815580413
Zhu, J., Kuang, X., Kennedy, K., & Mok, M. (2018). Previous civic experience and Asian adolescents’ expected participation in legal protest: mediating role of self-efficacy and interest. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 38(3), 414–431. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2018.1493980
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i13.8501
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2024 Waiphot Kulachai, Chalermchai Kittisaknawin, Patipol Homyamyen
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.