Young Adults' Knowledge of Politics: Evaluating the Role of Socio-Cognitive Variables Using Structural Equations

Abstract

The aim of this study was to create an explanatory model that allows analyzing the predictive power of a set of variables related to political knowledge; more specifically, to analyze the relationship between the education level of young adults and the variables, interest in politics and internal political efficacy. We also analyzed the combined relationship between these variables, together with age, and political knowledge. We worked with a sample group of 280 young adults between the ages of 18-30 from the city of Córdoba (Argentina). The data was subjected to a structural equation modelling SEM analysis, which allowed for the corroboration of the following hypotheses: the higher the education level, the more the interest in politics; the higher the education level, the better the perception of internal political efficacy; the higher the education level, the more the political knowledge; the more the interest in politics, the more the political knowledge; and the better the perception of internal political efficacy, the more interest in politics. Moreover, the following hypotheses could not be verified: the older an individual, the more the political knowledge; and the better the perception of internal political efficacy, the more the political knowledge. The model obtained allows for discussion of the explanatory value of these socio-cognitive variables.