Intergenerational congruency - The role of the family in political attitudes of youth

The role of parents in transmitting political values to their children is investigated. A survey of parents and their children from two western Canadian urban centers was undertaken. Using a path analysis technique, the authors analyze the multiple roles parents play in transmitting political values and attitudes to their children. Both internal and external components of the family were analyzed with regard to their impact upon parent-child attitudinal similarity. The results show that parents' gender, political activity of the parents, socioeconomic status, and the type of family have an impact on the degree of parent-child political value similarity.