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Is civic life beneficial to identity formation and well-being? the case of Hong Kong youth
Date Issued
2023
Citation
Li, H., Chan, F., Cheung, Y. W., Cheung, R., Chui, R., Li, A., & Peng, K. (15 Jul 2023). Is civic life beneficial to identity formation and well-being? the case of Hong Kong youth. The 15th Biennial Conference of the Asian Association of Social Psychology (AASP), The Education University of Hong Kong.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Existing research suggests that active involvement in civic and political life stimulates youth identity work and is positively related to their psychosocial adjustments. However, this relationship remains unexplored outside Western countries. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate how different forms of civic and political participation are related to youth identity formation and their perception of psychological well-being in the context of Hong Kong. The empirical data comes from the first wave survey of a 4-wave longitudinal study among late adolescents and emerging adults in Hong Kong. The
sample consists of 1,783 secondary students and post-secondary students between 15 and 25 years of age. Based on 13 indicators of civic (CP) and political participations (PP), latent class analysis revealed five distinct classes with varying degrees of participation: Unengaged youths (low CP & PP, 39% of the sample); Helpers (moderate CP & low-moderate PP, 25%); Activists (low-moderate CP & high PP, 13%); Standby youths (low CP & moderate PP, 14%); and Engaged youths (high CP & PP, 9%). Using the bias-adjusted three-step approach in auxiliary variable modelling, multinomial logistic regression analyses found that level of education, gender, and place of birth were significant predictors of their latent class memberships. The auxiliary variable modelling revealed significant differences in students’ identity confusion and synthesis and their life satisfaction among different latent classes. In alignment with the literature, helpers scored the highest in identity synthesis and the lowest in identity confusion. Contrarily, unengaged youths scored the highest in identity confusion and the lowest in identity synthesis. However, the unengaged group were more satisfied with their life than the groups of engaged, standby, and activists. These findings confirm the beneficial roles of civic engagement in triggering identity development, but civic and political life does not necessarily foster positive psychosocial adjustments in youth.
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