Psychological and socio-demographic variables as predictors of youth participation in politics

Abstract

This study examined psychological and socio-demographic variables as predictors of youth participation in politics. A total number of three hundred youths was selected by the researchers for the study using stratified sampling. The study adopted ex-post facto design. The mean age and standard deviation of participant were 26.5year and 6.5. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested: the results showed that political consciousness and political self-efficacy jointly predicted youth participation in politics (R = .95; R² = .91; p <. 05). The study also revealed that socio-economic status (β =-.010, p<.01), religion (β =-.064, p<.01) and educational qualifications (β =.099, p<.01) respectively predicted youth participation in politics. Recommendations were made by the researcher at the end of the study.