Graduation Semester and Year
2023
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Lauri A Jensen-Campbell
Abstract
Latinos have grown to be the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S. since the 2000 U.S. Census count but have historically voted at lower numbers compared to White Americans. Two studies examined a new construct, ethnic group political efficacy (GPE), to understand better marginalized groups voting participation. Study 1 developed a group political efficacy scale (GPE). Using exploratory factor and item response theory analysis, results revealed that the scale has three factors: internal, external, and power GPE. More importantly, minorities’ voting intent was partially explained by ethnic GPE. Next, a focal second short-term longitudinal study with an online national sample of Latinos was conducted to examine Latino GPE further. Ethnic GPE was experimentally manipulated by priming participants' ethnicity and asking them to make a plan to vote for themselves and someone close to them. Study 2 results replicated and confirmed the scale development of ethnic GPE. Additionally, although participants in the treatment conditions were not more likely to vote in the midterm, they were more likely to vote with someone else instead of going alone and reported they would take someone to vote with them in the future. Findings suggest that politicians need to highlight the collectivism (group) in Latino culture when getting out the vote.
Keywords
political efficacy, voter participation, self-identification, groups, Latinos
Disciplines
Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Garza Reyes, Norma Elizabeth, "Ethnic Group Political Efficacy: Scale Development and Latino Political Participation" (2023). Psychology Dissertations. 154.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/psychology_dissertations/154
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington