Alternate Models of Family Influence on Student Political Ideology

Research on the role of the family in political socialization has often assumed that intergenerational continuity and conflict are opposing models of political development. In a longitudinal design, cross-lagged correlational analysis and path analysis were used to examine the causal relations among parental political ideology, parent-student interpersonal relations, and student political ideology. The results showed both parental ideology and family relations to be important determinants of a student's ideology. Leftist parental ideology and high family conflict each led to leftist student ideology, at least as the family variables were reported by the students. The finding that nonpolitical interpersonal relations were translated into political ideologies may be understood from psychoanalytic, social learning, or historical perspectives.