The role of the 1976 televised presidential debates in the political socialization of adolescents

Abstract

On the day immediately following their viewing of the first Carter‐Ford televised debate, 156 junior‐high‐school students were interviewed to determine the role of interpersonal communication, media exposure patterns, and family and social environments in the prediction of perceptions of victory and learning about the candidates by adolescents. It was found that parents' social class was the best predictor of adolescents' perceptions of the importance of the debates, whereas the best predictor of the. students' ability to attribute victory to one of the candidates was interpersonal communication prior to and immediately following the telecast. Results are discussed in terms of previous findings, which reflect low importance of the debates in political socialization.