Politics across Generations: Family Transmission Reexamined

2009/07/01 by M. Kent Jennings, Laura Stoker, Jake Bowers · 1,115 citations
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #American political science #Biology #Character (mathematics) #Cultural transmission in animals #Demography #Developmental psychology #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Longitudinal data #Longitudinal study #Medicine #Political science #Political socialization #Politics #Psychology #Set (abstract data type) #Social Capital and Networks #Social Policy and Reform Studies #Social psychology #Socialization #Sociology #Transmission (telecommunications)

paper · doi:10.1017/s0022381609090719

published in The Journal of Politics 71(3), 782-799 (University of Chicago Press)

openalex publication_date 2009/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

We use longitudinal data incorporating three generations of Americans to reevaluate the character and consequences of political socialization within the family. Findings about parental influence based on youth coming of age in the 1990s strongly parallel those based on youth socialized in the 1960s. As expected on the basis of social learning theory, children are more likely to adopt their parents’ political orientations if the family is highly politicized and if the parents provide consistent cues over time. The direct transmission model is robust, as it withstands an extensive set of controls. Early acquisition of parental characteristics influences the subsequent nature of adult political development.

Citations

• Attitude importance and attitude change
• Ideological Realignment in the U.S. Electorate

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