Traditional models of socialization hold that socialization agents (e.g., parents, peers, and media) drive the development of youths’ political interest, whereas models of interest development suggest that interest is mostly driven by basic psychological needs. We tested these competing ideas using longitudinal data (sample of adolescents and young adults, age range 13-26, N = 2621). Results of latent change models showed that needs for autonomy (to freely explore political stimuli), competence (to feel confident in undertaking political actions), and relatedness (to establish a satisfying involvement with significant others) strongly affected the development of political interest. Influences of parents, peers, and media were marginal. These findings indicated that the development of political interest is grounded in internal psychological needs. In sum, they provided support to the human agency perspective by showing that youths are mostly self-determining their own political development.
