To Vote or Not To Vote?

Factors Contributing to the Political Efficacy and Intent to Vote of High School Students

Andrew Forrest, RHS ‘07

The turnout rate of America's youngest eligible voters is distressingly low, and it is vital to assess the factors associated with a commitment to participating in the electoral process. High school juniors (N=133) were surveyed to see how a variety of factors would predict political efficacy. One week later, participants were randomly assigned to view a political attack advertisement, a personal attack advertisement, or no advertisement and then were surveyed again. A multiple regression revealed that political cynicism, use of the media to learn about politics, and negativism toward the media and political campaigns significantly predicted efficacy and explained 12.5% of its variance. Additionally, efficacy was found to be a weak predictor of intent to vote. A repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated that students exposed to personal attacks experienced reductions in intent to vote. The findings reveal notable differences between high school students and adults studied previously.