Journal #7
• Name (1 pt)
• Date (1 pt)
• Copy question (1 pt)
• Answer question (7 points)
Why do you have the political beliefs and values that you do?
Where do they come from?
Political Socialization
Unit 3
Socialization
• A continuing process
• Acquires a personal identity
• Learn the appropriate norms, values, behavior, and social skills for
his/her culture
Socialization: Going to Wimbledon?
How should you dress? All England Tennis Club
OK!
• Gentlemen: lounge suit or
tailored jacket, shirt, tie,
trousers and dress shoes…
• Ladies are expected to dress to a
similar standard.
What is you show up looking this this?
• “The Club's dress standards in
the Members' Enclosure will be
strictly enforced…To avoid any
embarrassment please ensure
your attire and that of your
guests is appropriate.”
• We LEARN what is appropriate
and HOW to behave
• We also acquire IDEAS/BELIEFS
through socialization
Political socialization
• How do you feel about immigration?
• What do you think about healthcare funding?
• How about gun control?
• When did you form these opinions, and why did you form them?
Political Socialization
• Life-long process
• Form your ideas about politics & acquire political values
• Influences?
#1: Family
• Most important early influence
• Few parents “talk politics” with kids, casual remarks
• Family tradition, “lifelong Republican” or “lifelong Democrat”
• Children want to please parents
• Little real understanding of what being a Republican or Democrat
Class poll:
How many of us have followed in our parents’ footsteps
when it comes to party identification?
#2: Socioeconomic status
• What is SES?
• Economic & social position
• Based on: EDUCATION, INCOME, OCCUPATION
• 2010 mid-term elections: 56% $30,000 voted Democrat
62% $200,000 voted Republican
Socioeconomic status
• What issues become MOST important to you based on your SES?
• High SES
• Middle SES
• Low SES
Socioeconomic status
• Lower income:
– More likely to favor government action to benefit the poor or
promote economic equality
– More likely to be Democrat
Socioeconomic status
• Higher income
– More likely to oppose government intervention in the economy or
support it only when it benefits business
– More likely to be Republican or Libertarian
Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status (SES) = best predictor of whether or not one
participates in politics
• Wealthy:
-More opportunities to be a part of the process (have time)
-More defined opinions
- Income available to donate $
-Family may place more value on political participation
#3: Education
• The classes you take (Government, History) teach you how
government works
• Learn patriotism (freedom, equality, liberty)
• Encourage you to form opinions
• Participate in “political” experiences, i.e. class elections
• More education, more likely to be interested in politics
#4: Peers
• Teenage peers…definite influence on lifestyle choices (clothing,
hairstyles, music), less influence on political attitudes
• Exception? Does the issue DIRECTLY relate to you?
• As you age, your WORK PEERS become important
Teachers, bankers, etc., tend to share similar political views
#5: Geographic location
• Region
– South, Great Plains, and Rockies --> Republican
– West Coast and Northeast --> Democratic
• Residence (urban/suburban/rural)
– Big cities --> liberal and Democratic
– Small communities --> conservative and Republican
#5: Geographic location (red vs blue states)
#6: Religion
• Different religious traditions have different values
• One’s faith often significantly influences one’s political views
• Examples: Roman Catholics & LDS have well-defined positions on
many issues (abortion, capital punishment, definition of marriage)
• NOT ALL members of those faiths share those positions, but many do
as result of their religious faith
Guess: Top religious states in union? Least?
#6: Religion
• Traditional view was that religious groups transmit definite political
preferences
– Roman Catholics --> more liberal
– Protestants --> more conservative
– Jews --> more liberal
Not so clear cut…
• More recent trends suggest…
– Jews --> liberal socially and economically
– Non-religious --> very liberal socially; mixed economically
– Protestants and Catholics vary socially and economically
Powerful predictor
• Powerful predictors of social conservatism (i.e. “traditional values”) among
Christians (varied on economic issues)
#1: Degree of religious commitment
#2: Identify as “conservative,” “evangelical,” or “fundamentalist”
“Religious Right”
Tend to hold more conservative positions on school prayer, intelligent
design, abortion, pornography
#6: Religion (Gallup, 2012)
• Most religious states: Republican, least religious: Democrat
• ↑ religiosity, ↓income
• ↑ college grads, ↓religiosity
• ↑working class, ↑religiosity
#7: Ethnic/racial background
Those who have faced discrimination &/or poverty, ↑liberal
Examples: African Americans
Hispanic: Democratic
(However, Cuban Americans tend to vote more Republican)
Socialization impacts political activities chosen
• Whites: contact public officials and join political organizations
• African Americans: election campaigns & social movements
#8: Effects of political events
Events can shape people’s political attitudes
• Generational effect = a long-lasting effect of events of a particular time on the
political opinions of those who came of political age at that time
– Great Depression (role of government, more involved in daily life)
– World War II (America’s role in the world; more involvement overseas)
– Vietnam War & Watergate (Disillusionment with government)
– 9/11?
Defense spending? War on terror? Immigration? Safety vs. civil liberty?
#8: Media
• POWERFUL influence on political attitudes, especially TV (90% of
Americans get political information from TV)
• Mass communication: 24 hr. news, talk radio, internet (blogs)
• Effect difficult to measure
• Promotes cynicism about government
• Agenda setting – telling us what to think about; framing – tells us
what to think about what is presented
Media: Opinion leaders
• Influences the opinions of others because of position, expertise, or
personality
#9: Gender
• Significant differences in the way males & females are socialized to
politics
• Historically, men have occupied a more central position
• Institutionalized from founding of government; no vote for women in
Constitution
• Women have made strides over the past century to achieve political
equality, but gender-role socialization differences still exist
Gender differences in voting
Gender
– Men more likely to vote for Republican presidential candidate
– Women more likely to vote for Democratic presidential candidate
Why?
View Democrats as supporting "women's issues," such as equal work,
equal pay, and equal legal rights, education, and health care
Obama (Democrat/blue), Romney (Republican/Red)
What does gender mean?
• Gender identity: knowing if you are male or female (2 years)
Appears to be set by biology
Androgenization (2nd trimester); Y chromosome switches on begins to
produce androgen that masculinizes the body and the mind
• Gender role: social expectations for men & women
Set by society in which you live
How are you supposed to behave? Clothing? Occupations?
Language? Division of labor?
Story time
• What characteristics to we expect in men? Women?
• Gender role stereotypes
Stereotype: unfair generalization of a group
Gender role: What does society expect?
• Changes over time…who initiates dates? Drives the car? Picks up the
paycheck? Decorates the home? Buy & care for children’s clothes?
Select wedding gifts?
• U.S. Men: 1 ½ hour more time at work, 1 hour less on caregiving &
household activities
• Both parents work, 90% of women stay home with a sick child
Journal #8
• Name: 1 pt
• Date: 1 pt
• Copy question: 1 pt
• Answer (7 pts):
Can a woman be President of the United States?
Masculinity, femininity, androgyny
• Bem’s scale
Gender role
• Can smooth social relations, save awkward decisions…but do they
cost us if we deviate?
• Do gender roles reflect what is biologically natural for men & women?
Or are they constructed by culture?
• CULTURE has a HUGE influence
-Nomadic…little differences in division of labor by gender
-Agricultural societies…more distinct (men herd livestock, women in
fields)
Gender role
• Attitudes vary widely in industrialized nations
• Australia & Scandinavian countries…greatest gender equity
• Middle Eastern & N. African…least
• Change over time…only New Zealand allowed women right to vote in
1900
• Job & educational opportunities have changed dramatically
Women’s educational gains
• Nationally: 57% of women enroll in college, 43% of men
• Women more likely than men to complete college and attend graduate
school
• Women make up nearly half of the country's total workforce
• Women now account for almost half of students in law, medical and
business administration graduate programs (1960s women made up 10%)
• Shift in occupations women
What about in Utah?
• 49% of Utah college students are women; lowest percentages at U of U
(44%), & UVU (43%)
• Largest gap in nation between male & female college graduation rates
• Utah young women start college at above average rates, they are less likely
to complete their degrees [median marriage age 26.2 male, 24.1 female;
lowest nationally; 29.1 male, 27.1 female]
• Substantially lower in business & STEM fields; higher in certificate trade
programs (cosmetology, massage, culinary arts)
Disparities between genders
Gender differences…what does research say?
• 46 chromosomes, 45 are unisex
Differences:
• Average woman: enters puberty 2 years earlier, lives 5 years longer, carries
70% more fat/40% less muscle, 5” shorter), smell fainter odors, express
emotions (except aggression) more freely, offer to help more often, more
vulnerable to depression, anxiety, and more at risk of developing eating
disorders
• Average man: 4x more likely to commit suicide, suffer alcohol
dependence, autism, color-blindness, ADHD, anti-social PD, more physically
aggressive (not verbally)
Gender differences…what does research say?
• Play in children differ
Girls: smaller groups (1 friend), less competitive, social
Boys: “rough & tumble,” large groups
Females more interdependent…spend more time on social-networking, use
conversations to explore relationships
Men enjoy side by side activities, use conversation to communicate solutions
New Zealand study…emails 2/3 could guess if writer were male or female
Gender differences…what does research say?
• Do women talk more?
Both genders average 16,000 words a day
Gender differences peak in late adolescence & early adulthood.
As teens, girls become less assertive & more flirtatious; boys become
more domineering & unexpressive
But by age 50, these differences diminish. Men become more
empathic & less domineering, women become more assertive & selfconfident.
Gender differences…what does research say?
• We are MORE alike than different psychologically
• Intelligence tests scores (girls 100.6, boys 100.5)
• Relatively minor, but that is where we tend to focus
Gender differences
Females
Males
•
•
•
•
• Math problem solving/reasoning
• Spatial ability tests
• Verbal analogies
• Remember geometric layouts
• Males outnumber girls at the
extremes (high & low)
Better spellers
Verbal fluency
Remembering words & facts
Better at remembering & locating
objects
• More sensitive to touch, taste,
odor
• Better emotion detectors
• Rapid math calculations
How do we teach our children these gender
roles?
• Starts at birth (colors, how we talk to your infants, play with them)
• Toys we choose, books we read, media (TV programs, movies,
reinforce these stereotypes)
• By the time kids have a sense of gender identity, they are beginning to
apply gender role stereotypes to behavior; become enforcers among
peers (point out, ostracize)
• What did you find?
Gender: political socialization
• Traits associated with political leadership: being powerful, showing
authority, are more associated with males than females
• Girls have fewer opportunities to observe women taking political
action
• Few women hold highly visible positions, such as member of Congress
and Cabinet Secretaries, that are covered by mass media
Women in Government
Nation
State of Utah
President: Male
Congress:
Senate (100 total; 44 D, 54R, 2I)
Women: 20 (14D, 6R)
Governor: Male
Legislature:
Senate (29 total)
Women: 6
House of Rep (435 total; 188D,
247R)
Women: 84 (62D, 22R)
House of Rep (75 total)
Women: 10
15% of both (women make up 49%
of population)
Ranked 44th among state legislatures
for proportion of women
How do we compare? (2012)
Slow change…
• Madeline Albright (former Secretary of State, President Clinton)
• Hillary Clinton (former Secretary of State, President Obama)
• Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2007-2011,
currently Minority Leader)
Gender
• Despite these developments, women are still socialized to supporting
political roles (volunteers in political campaigns) than leading roles
(higher-level elected officials)
• Result: Fewer women seek careers in public office beyond the local
level
Impact? Differing leadership styles:
• Men more autocratic, women democratic
• Men more likely to offer opinion, women support
Can a woman be President of the U.S.?
20 women currently serving as the prime leader of countries around
the world—Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Argentina, Australia,
Thailand, Liberia, Kosovo, and Brazil
Why not the U.S.?
Readings
“Save the Last Word”