Unfair teachers encourage populist attitudes among teenagers
Published: Monday, Jun 17th 2024, 09:01
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Unfair treatment by a teacher encourages populist attitudes among teenagers. This was shown by researchers involving pupils from the border triangle of Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
Much less relevant, however, seems to be how teenagers feel about their own circle of friends. The quality of their relationship with their parents is not relevant at all, as the study published in the journal "Perspectives on Politics" - which claims to be the first to look at the factors behind populist attitudes among teenagers, for example in the form of pronounced black-and-white thinking - suggests.
The team conducted surveys and interviews in schools in the area around Lake Constance (Germany, Switzerland, Austria). Over 3,000 teenagers aged between twelve and 18 were included.
Cantonal students are less populist
The study also found that girls and teenagers at schools that qualify for university were less likely on average to display populist attitudes. However, adolescents with a migration background and those from wealthy families were more affected. In addition, those who experienced disadvantage at an early age are also more inclined to think in black and white terms later on.
"Our study shows very clearly that adolescence is a crucial phase for susceptibility to populist ideas," Julia Weiss from the German Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences was quoted as saying in a statement. "Populism flourishes when people feel they have little say, when they perceive injustice, and when they perceive a lack of will or an inability among those with power to respond to individual and social grievances."
©Keystone/SDA
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