The study of political socialization is essential because political attitudes and behavior do not suddenly emerge at ones eighteenth birthday, but are formed gradually during childhood and adolescence. Children and adolescents often develop their political behavior and attitudes through experiences with socialization agents, such as the school, peers, media or the family unit. Moreover, parents are often considered have as the main socialization agents. A way for parents to socialize their children is through their parenting practices. To measure democratic parenting, the concept of parental attachment is frequently used, since it is considered to be a powerful predictor for behavior and attitudes among adolescents.
In this paper, we will focus on the effect of parents and parental attachment on the level of political trust of adolescents. Given the recent concern about a possible decline of political trust in liberal democracies (Hetherington, 2005), even among adolescents (e.g. Delli Carpini & Keeter, 1996), it seems important to investigate how these levels of political trust develop. Despite the growing attention to the field of political socialization, few studies have further investigated the mechanisms that enhance the socialization processes. Research has shown that the socialization process is mainly experience based (Claes et al., 2012). These experiences can be direct or indirect. We will consider both direct and indirect socialization while concentrating on the family, since only limited attention is given by political scientist to the effect of parenting on the development of political attitudes. The direct view on socialization is based on the notion of intergenerational transmission. The indirect view on socialization is based on Baumrind’s (2005) notion that parenting styles are considered to be a more subtle process of socialization.
To examine these hypotheses, we will use data from the Parent-Child Socialization Study (PCSS). This is a Belgian study among 3400 adolescents and their parents, which was conducted in the Spring of 2013. To measure parental attachment, this survey used the same questions as the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA). To examine the hypotheses, we will use structural equation modeling. We expect to find evidence for direct and indirect socialization, but, based on previous research, we suspect that the second will have a slightly stronger effect.
