The political choice depending on the image of family members
Main Article Content
Abstract
The relevance of the study stems from the significance of political elections for the development of a democratic society. Thus, it is necessary to better understand those factors of the choice, which are usually considered less, including certain kinship factors.
The aim of the article is to determine the role of family members’ images in making political choices.
Method and methodology. The study used the data collected after the second round of the presidential election in Ukraine in 2019. Sixty students of V.Karazin Kharkiv National University aged 18-23 took part in the study, 30 of them voted for Volodymyr Zelenskyi, 30 voted for Petro Poroshenko.
The study applied the following methods for data collection: a questionnaire, a personality differential, and a D. Johngward modification questionnaire. Both the Mann-Whitney U-criterion and the logistic regression analysis with a step-by-step selection method of predictor variables were used for statistical processing.
Main results. A special layer and a mechanism of political choice is described in the article and that is a family political choice. The point is that people tend to give their votes for politicians who are similar to their family members. It has been identified that the images of an energetic father, a responsive mother, a benevolent and independent sibling are important for Zelenskyi’s voters, and they percept themselves as strong, responsive, honest, and independent persons and they assess themselves more positively in general. The expressed ego-state is an adult. As for Poroshenko’s voters, they have images of a strong, independent, energetic and confident mother, the sibling appears as a fussy individual, the expressed ego-state is a controlling father. It has been proven that the strength of a mother is the key predictor of a political choice, which makes it possible to predict voting for Zelenskyi or Poroshenko. If the respondent perceives his mother as a strong person, his probability of voting for Zelenskyi drops down.
The study is of a practical significance as it allows us to better understanding the psychology of a voter, the in-depth social psychological mechanisms of voting, and using this knowledge to support a conscious and meaningful political choice. At the same time, we emphasize the importance of social ethics and protest against the Machiavellian use of the results and interpretations given.
The prospects foresee testing the identified patterns on large samples and taking into account other family factors of political choice.
Downloads
Article Details
References
Brown, J., & Christensen, D. (1999). Family Therapy : Theory and Practice (2nd ed.). Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Pub.
Cesarini, D., Johannesson, M., & Oskarsson, S. (2014). Pre-Birth Factors, Post-Birth Factors, and Voting: Evidence from Swedish Adoption Data. American Political Science Review, 108(1), 71-87. doi:10.1017/S0003055413000592
Drozdova, M. (2010) Mekhanizmy vidtvorennya batʹkivsʹkykh obraziv v uyavlennyakh molodi pro politychnykh lideriv [Mechanisms of Reproduction of Parental Images in the Ideas of Young People about Political Leaders]. (Candidate’s thesis). Chernihivsʹkyy natsionalʹnyy pedahohichnyy universytet imeni T.H. Shevchenka. Cherihiv (in Ukrainian)
Gidengil, E., Lahtinen, H., Wass, H., & Erola, J. (2020). From Generation to Generation: The Role of Grandparents in the Intergenerational Transmission of (Non-)Voting. Political Research Quarterly. doi: 10.1177/1065912920971715
Gidengil, E., Wass, H., & Valaste, M. (2016). Political Socialization and Voting: The Parent–Child Link in Turnout. Political Research Quarterly, 69 (2), 373–383. doi: 10.1177/1065912916640900
Hess, R.D., Torney, J.V. & Valsiner, J. (2006). The Development of Political Attitudes in Children (1st ed.). Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315131726
Iqbal, Y. W., Shabir G. (2019) Influence of Interpersonal Communication Sources on Voting Behaviour of Youth. Global Social Sciences Review, 4 (2), 202–208.
Johnson, T., Dawes, C.T. (2016) Do Parents’ Life Experiences Affect the Political and Civic Participation of Their Children? The Case of Draft-Induced Military Service. Political Behavior, 38, 793–816. doi: 10.1007/s11109-016-9334-z
Oswald, A. J., Powdthavee N. (2010) Daughters and Left-Wing Voting. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 92 (2), 213–227. doi: 10.1162/rest.2010.11436
Shtoyko, YA. (2013). Zvyazok obraziv batʹkiv i politychnoyi elity zi stavlennyam do politychnoho vyboru u molodi [The Connection Between the Images of Parents and the Political Elite and the Attitude to Political Choices among Young People]. Visnyk Kharkivsʹkoho natsionalʹnoho universytetu imeni V.N. Karazina. Seriya: Psykholohiya, (52), 233-238. (in Ukrainian)
Smith, J. M (1964). Group Selection and Kin Selection. Nature, 201 (4924), 1145–1147. doi:10.1038/2011145a0
Stalsburg, B. (2010). Voting For Mom: The Political Consequences of Being a Parent for Male and Female Candidates. Politics & Gender, 6(3), 373-404. doi:10.1017/S1743923X10000309
Zimovin, O. (2019). Predyktory ta vymiry sotsialʹnoyi blyzʹkosti [Predictors and Dimensions of Social Proximity]. Psychological Journal, 5(11), 309-328. (in Ukrainian)