The influence of significant others on political party preference: a replication and extension

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dc.contributor.authorWhite, Randall Phillipen
dc.contributor.departmentSociologyen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:38:18Zen
dc.date.adate2010-06-12en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:38:18Zen
dc.date.issued1976en
dc.date.rdate2010-06-12en
dc.date.sdate2010-06-12en
dc.description.abstractThe problem structuring this investigation is to determine the extent to which parents influence political party preference in their offspring, thus accounting for those individuals expressing a party preference similar to their parents. The conceptual framework for this study follows that of an earlier investigation (Brooks, 1967) in which the conclusion is drawn that if parents serve as the individual's highly salient significant others, then his political party preference will be similar to theirs. Issue is taken with three points in the original investigation. First, there is a failure to completely test the alternative argument that similar party preference between parents and offspring is dependent not upon parental preference but upon socioeconomic and background factors. Second, the terms significant others and reference group are treated synonymously, thus obscuring any distinction between them. Lastly, the individual’s referral to his parents, as significant others, is treated in a static, unchanging, fashion. A detailed review of the literature supports the contention that an interface exists between the terms significant others and reference group. The establishment of this interface allows for a more dynamic conceptualization of the individual's referral to parents within the context of political party preference. A questionnaire is administered to a random sample of sociology classes. Results suggest that no statistically significant relationship exists between socioeconomic or background variables and similar political party preference between parents and offspring. A statistically significant relationship exists, however, when knowledge of the individual's role specific others is utilized as a determinant of similar party preference.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.format.extent83 leavesen
dc.format.mediumBTDen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.otheretd-06122010-020135en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-06122010-020135/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/43227en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartLD5655.V855_1976.W47.pdfen
dc.relation.isformatofOCLC# 39294381en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subject.lccLD5655.V855 1976.W47en
dc.titleThe influence of significant others on political party preference: a replication and extensionen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
thesis.degree.disciplineSociologyen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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