Youth political participation in The Republic of Croatia

Cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je istražiti dimenzionalnost konstrukta političke participacije kod mladih te ispitati na koji način određene psihosocijalne varijable sudjeluju u predikciji spremnosti na političku participaciju mladih i to u slučaju dva društvena pitanja – zaposlenosti mladih i zagađenja okoliša. Istraživanje je provedeno primjenom online upitnika, koji je u cijelosti ispunilo 370 sudionika u dobi od 18 do 30 godina. Sudionici su ispunjavali Skalu spremnosti na političku participaciju, Skalu političkog interesa, Skalu političke samoefikasnosti, Skalu političke bespomoćnosti, Skalu povjerenja u političke aktere te Skalu stava o demokraciji. Rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na jednofaktorsku strukturu političke participacije mladih. Osim toga, u predikciji spremnosti na političku participaciju u slučaju oba društvena pitanja značajnim prediktorima pokazali su se spol sudionika, politički interes, politička bespomoćnost i procjena osobne važnosti pojedinoga društvenoga pitanja, dok se u slučaju društvenoga pitanja zaposlenosti mladih značajnim prediktorom pokazalo i obrazovanja oca. Sociodemografske varijable, prijašnja politička participacija i psihosocijalne varijable korištene u ovome istraživanju objašnjavaju ukupno 34.2 % varijance spremnosti na političku participaciju u slučaju društvenoga pitanja zaposlenosti mladih, odnosno 30.2 % varijance u slučaju zagađenja okoliša. Pri tome, psihosocijalne varijable samostalno objašnjavaju 25.6 % varijance spremnosti na političku participaciju u slučaju društvenoga pitanja zaposlenosti mladih, odnosno 23.4 % varijance u slučaju zagađenja okoliša.The goal of this research was to explore the dimensionality of the political participation construct within youth, and to investigate the role of certain psychosocial variables in the prediction of readiness for political participation of youth. Said problems are examined in the case of two societal issues – youth employment and environmental pollution. The research was conducted via online questionnaire, which was completed in its entirety by 370 participants from 18 to 30 years of age. The participants filled out the following scales: Readiness for Political Participation, Political Interest, Political Self-Efficacy, Political Helplessness, Trust in Political Institutions, and Attitude towards Democracy. The results indicate that one dimension underlies the political participation of youth. Furthermore, in the case of both societal issues examined, statistically significant predictors of readiness for political participation were gender, political interest, political helplessness, and personal importance of a given societal issue. Additionally, in the case of youth employment, education level of the father turned out to be a significant predictor. Sociodemographic variables, previous political participation and psychosocial variables explain in total 34.2 % of variance of readiness for political participation in the case of youth employment, and 30.2 % of variance in the case of environmental pollution, respectively. Moreover, psychosocial variables independently explain 25.6 % of variance of readiness for political participation in the case of youth employment, and 23.4 % of variance in the case of environmental pollution, respectively