Civic participation as mediating variable between relationship of lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation among youths in Malaysia

The youth political participation has been on the declining trend in most democratic countries. However, studies have shown that youth political participation has strong link with their media usage. In addition, youth were known as being the heavy users of the digital media. Studies have also...

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Main Author: Lai, Che Ching
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85372/1/FBMK%202020%2028%20-%20ir.pdf
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id my-upm-ir.85372
record_format uketd_dc
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection PSAS Institutional Repository
language English
advisor Hasan, Hamisah
topic Youth - Political activity
Youth - Societies and clubs

spellingShingle Youth - Political activity
Youth - Societies and clubs

Lai, Che Ching
Civic participation as mediating variable between relationship of lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation among youths in Malaysia
description The youth political participation has been on the declining trend in most democratic countries. However, studies have shown that youth political participation has strong link with their media usage. In addition, youth were known as being the heavy users of the digital media. Studies have also shown that civic participation among the youth was positively linked to political participation. The theoretical underpinning of the study was the Uses and Gratification theory (U&G) which suggested that gratification obtained, and media usage were two variables that were related. Thus, this study was conducted with the aims to examine the lifestyles, digital engagement, civic participation and political participation of youth in Malaysia. The study was also conducted to identify if civic participation mediates these relationships between lifestyles and political participation and digital engagement and civic participation. A quantitative survey method was conducted on 5237 respondents that were chosen through a stratified random sampling technique. These were youth aged between 15 to 25 years old. A set of questionnaires were used as the instrument for data collection. The lifestyles variable was measured through four domains namely; the media usage, religious and community services, recreation and vocational activities, and high-brow culture. The digital engagement measured the level of digital engagement. While the civic participation and political participation measured the activities that they were involved related to the variables. The data obtained for the study was analysed using descriptive analysis of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Linear regression analysis was used for the hypotheses testing while PROCESS mediation analysis was used to explain the mediation. The finding shows that the respondents were spending their leisure activities digitally engaged. Thus, suggesting a media-oriented lifestyle yet, they were only engaged at the basic level of the Internet usage, similarly with the digital engagement which was more on basic digital engagement as oppose to the advance digital engagement. The political participation of youth was low while the civic participation was slightly better. The relationships between the independent and dependent variables were positive, significant but at the moderate level. The civic participation of youth was found to mediate the relationships between the lifestyles of youth and digital engagement. Similarly, the civic participation also mediates the relationships between digital engagement and political participation. In terms of contribution to the body of knowledge, new approach for the U&G theory need to be considered in light with the interactivity feature offered by the media technology. The called for the theory to expand and include a broader outcome variable was supported. Newer measurement needs to be developed to capture the essence of youth consumption of the newer media in relations to their lifestyles as well as their civic and political participations. There were four major philosophical issues that warrant further investigation from the findings namely; the issues of preparedness of youth in embracing the advance level of digital engagement that will assist them for better political participation, the role of civic participation should be enhanced to induce better political participation; the lifestyles of youth is proven to be a predictor for youth political participation and finally, the implication of a serious generational gap between the youth and the older generation in the community.
format Thesis
qualification_level Doctorate
author Lai, Che Ching
author_facet Lai, Che Ching
author_sort Lai, Che Ching
title Civic participation as mediating variable between relationship of lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation among youths in Malaysia
title_short Civic participation as mediating variable between relationship of lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation among youths in Malaysia
title_full Civic participation as mediating variable between relationship of lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation among youths in Malaysia
title_fullStr Civic participation as mediating variable between relationship of lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation among youths in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Civic participation as mediating variable between relationship of lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation among youths in Malaysia
title_sort civic participation as mediating variable between relationship of lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation among youths in malaysia
granting_institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
publishDate 2019
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85372/1/FBMK%202020%2028%20-%20ir.pdf
_version_ 1747813534439309312
spelling my-upm-ir.853722021-12-30T03:31:08Z Civic participation as mediating variable between relationship of lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation among youths in Malaysia 2019-12 Lai, Che Ching The youth political participation has been on the declining trend in most democratic countries. However, studies have shown that youth political participation has strong link with their media usage. In addition, youth were known as being the heavy users of the digital media. Studies have also shown that civic participation among the youth was positively linked to political participation. The theoretical underpinning of the study was the Uses and Gratification theory (U&G) which suggested that gratification obtained, and media usage were two variables that were related. Thus, this study was conducted with the aims to examine the lifestyles, digital engagement, civic participation and political participation of youth in Malaysia. The study was also conducted to identify if civic participation mediates these relationships between lifestyles and political participation and digital engagement and civic participation. A quantitative survey method was conducted on 5237 respondents that were chosen through a stratified random sampling technique. These were youth aged between 15 to 25 years old. A set of questionnaires were used as the instrument for data collection. The lifestyles variable was measured through four domains namely; the media usage, religious and community services, recreation and vocational activities, and high-brow culture. The digital engagement measured the level of digital engagement. While the civic participation and political participation measured the activities that they were involved related to the variables. The data obtained for the study was analysed using descriptive analysis of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Linear regression analysis was used for the hypotheses testing while PROCESS mediation analysis was used to explain the mediation. The finding shows that the respondents were spending their leisure activities digitally engaged. Thus, suggesting a media-oriented lifestyle yet, they were only engaged at the basic level of the Internet usage, similarly with the digital engagement which was more on basic digital engagement as oppose to the advance digital engagement. The political participation of youth was low while the civic participation was slightly better. The relationships between the independent and dependent variables were positive, significant but at the moderate level. The civic participation of youth was found to mediate the relationships between the lifestyles of youth and digital engagement. Similarly, the civic participation also mediates the relationships between digital engagement and political participation. In terms of contribution to the body of knowledge, new approach for the U&G theory need to be considered in light with the interactivity feature offered by the media technology. The called for the theory to expand and include a broader outcome variable was supported. Newer measurement needs to be developed to capture the essence of youth consumption of the newer media in relations to their lifestyles as well as their civic and political participations. There were four major philosophical issues that warrant further investigation from the findings namely; the issues of preparedness of youth in embracing the advance level of digital engagement that will assist them for better political participation, the role of civic participation should be enhanced to induce better political participation; the lifestyles of youth is proven to be a predictor for youth political participation and finally, the implication of a serious generational gap between the youth and the older generation in the community. Youth - Political activity Youth - Societies and clubs 2019-12 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85372/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85372/1/FBMK%202020%2028%20-%20ir.pdf text en public doctoral Universiti Putra Malaysia Youth - Political activity Youth - Societies and clubs Hasan, Hamisah