Young Citizens Facing the Future: Understanding Adolescents’ Civic Engagement in Relation to Their Macrosocial Worries, and Civic Knowledge

Abstract

As young citizens in an uncertain, complex and continuously changing world, adolescents have to navigate various societal challenges. This study explores whether civic engagement in adolescence relates to their macrosocial worries (negative expectations about the future of Europe and perceptions of global environmental threats). To deepen our understanding of individual differences in adolescents’ civic engagement, we use the concept of citizenship orientations and include civic knowledge in our analysis. ICCS data from 2,582 eighth-grade students (Mage= 14.1) in the Netherlands were used. Multilevel latent class analysis identified five citizenship orientations based on civic participation, sociopolitical interest and political trust: unengaged trustful (45%), occasionally engaged (29%), frequently engaged (16%), unengaged untrustful (5%) and active (5%). Our results show that citizenship orientations are differently related to macrosocial worries, and this association is moderated by civic knowledge. Both appear to be relevant to understanding individual differences in adolescents’ civic engagement.