Political orientation in youth beyond the left-right divide: testing a three-factor model of political orientation and its relatedness to personal values

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for items used to measure political orientations

Item	M	SD	Skew.	Kurt.	SE
Social dimension
Preservation of natural environment.	4.38	0.89	−1.42	1.55	.03
Securing human rights and freedoms.	4.42	0.87	−1.60	2.35	.03
Social justice and social security for all.	4.33	0.93	−1.36	1.32	.03
Improving the position of women.	3.82	1.12	−0.64	−0.38	.04
Economic dimension
Incomes of the poor and the wealthy should be made more equal.	4.01	1.14	−0.94	−0.01	.04
Government ownership of business and industry should be increased.	3.10	1.24	−0.08	−0.93	.04
Government should take more responsibility that everyone is provided for reduction of unemployment.	4.03	1.04	−0.96	0.32	.03
International dimension*
Fight against illegal immigration of people.	3.77	1.09	−0.46	−0.66	.04
Fostering national identity.	3.51	1.15	−0.35	−0.58	.04
Strengthening of military power and national security.	3.46	1.22	−0.35	−0.83	.04

Notes: * The scores for international dimension items were reversed in subsequent analyses so higher scores mean more international orientation.

Table 2. Model fit indices for proposed three-factor models of political orientations

Model	χ2	df	p	CFI	TLI	RMSEA	95% CI			SRMR	BIC
Model 1	373.15	41	<.001	.89	.86	.099	.091	—	.108	.069	23209.83
Model 2.1	176.21	41	<.001	.95	.94	.063	.055	—	.072	.048	23003.13
Model 2.2	151.59	32	<.001	.95	.94	.067	.058	—	.078	.049	21482.52

Table 3. Item loadings and factor correlations for the final three-factor model of political orientations

		Correlations
	Item loadings	Economic	International	Left-Right
Social left	.61—.89	.53	-.48	-.12
Economic left	.40—.82		-.28	-.06
International	.59—.77			-.30

Notes: All correlations significant at p < 0,01.

Table 4. Correlation between dimensions of political orientation and measured values

Value/value group	L-R	SOC	ECO	INT
Self-enhancement		.11		-.17
Graduating from university
Having a successful career		.12	.09
Getting/being rich	.14			-.16
Wearing branded clothes		-.11	-.09	-.15
Achieving something (job selection)	-.14	.34	.26	-.13
Self-direction		.14
Taking responsibility		.11
Being independent		.13	.08
Self-transcendence		.26	.29	-.12
Being faithful to a partner		.13	.15
Being faithful to friends		.18	.20
Participating in civic actions			.10
Doing something valuable for society (job selection)		.32	.29	-.18
Conservation	.12
Strict discipline
Cheating on taxes		-.08
Using connections	.12		-.14
Job security (job selection)		.31	.33	-.26
Living in a good country		.08		-.10

Notes: only correlations significant at p < .05 are presented. L-R – left-right dimension (higher scores mean right placement), SOC – the social dimension of political orientation (social left), ECO – the economic dimension (economic left), INT – the international dimension.

Table 5. Variance of political orientation scores explained by control variables and values in regression models

	R^2		Model change
	Control variables	Control variables and values	F(4)	p
Left-right placement	.03	.06	3.62	.006
Social dimension	.06	.12	8.09	<.001
Economic dimension	.05	.13	13.39	<.001
International dimension	.02	.05	4.95	<.001

Data availability statement

Data used in this research is part of the FES Youth Study SEE 2018/19 and is accessible through the website of Fredric-Ebert-Stiftung (https://www.fes-soe.org/features/youth-studies/).