How Activism correlates with Well-Being in Adolescence: a Systematic Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13129/2612-4033/0110-3198Abstract
Background: The evidence shows that activism in adolescents is positively correlated with mental health and well- being, but there is a lack of in-depth research about this correlation. There are just a few studies, however, that refer to adolescent activism as a specific shape of social engagement, positively correlated to a multitude of well-being outcomes.
Methods: The present study aim to analyze correlation between activism and well-being during the adolescence by reviewing studies from the past 10 years to better analyze the impact of these topics on nowadays situation and to hypothesize the direction of it in the near future.
Results: Analyzing these studies, it emerged that activism during adolescence has been researched as a phenomenon that acts on various shades of well-being, both at a personal and a collective level. Among the selected studies, only one shows that activism is linked to more health-risk behaviors, rather than mental health.
Conclusions: Creating a group environment that enables adolescents to build up their knowledge and personal craving, work jointly on issues of bilateral interest, build skills, and increase social connections not only may lead to tangible social change but could also have significant psychological benefits for the young people involved.
References
Akiva T et al. (2017). Reasons youth engage in activism programs: Social justice or sanctuary?, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 53, 20-30
Albanesi C, Cicognani E., Zani B, (2007). Sense of community, civic engagement and social well-being in Italian adolescents, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 17, 387-406.
Ballard P.J, Hoyt L. T, Pachucki M.C (2019). Impacts of Adolescent and Young Adult Civic Engagement on Health and Socioeconomic Status in Adulthood. Child Development, 90 (4), 1138-1154
Ballard P.J, Ozer E.J (2016). Implications of Youth Activism for Health and Well-being, Contemporary Youth Activism: Advancing Social Justice in the United States, Publisher: ABC-CLIO, Editors: J. Conner & S.M. Rosen, 1-31
Becker, J. C., Tausch, N., & Wagner, U. (2011). Emotional consequences of collective action participation: Differentiating self-directed and outgroup-directed emotions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 1587–1598. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167211414145
Berger, B. (2009). Political theory, political science and the end of civic engagement. Perspectives on Politics, 7, 335–350. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S153759270909080X
Boehnke K, Wong B (2011). Adolescent political activism and long-term happiness: a 21- year longitudinal study on the development of Micro and Macro worries. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(3), 435-447
Conner, J. O. (2011). Youth organizers as young adults: Their commitments and contributions. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 923–942. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011. 00766.x
Corning, A. F., & Myers, D. J. (2002). Individual orientation toward engagement in social action. Political Psychology, 23(4), 703-729.
Costabile A. et al (2020). Adolescent Psychological Well-being, Radicalism, and Activism: The Mediating Role of Social Disconnectedness and the Illegitimacy of the Authorities. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31(1) 25-33
Dahl, R. E. (2004). Adolescent brain development: A period of vulnerabilities and opportunities. Keynote address. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1021(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1308.001
Diemer, M. A. (2009). Pathways to occupational attainment among poor youth of color the role of sociopolitical development. The Counseling Psychologist, 37(1), 6–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000007309858
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.
Doosje, B., Loseman, A., & van de Bos, K. (2013). Determinants of radicalization of Islamic youth in the Netherlands: Personal uncertainty, perceived injustice and perceived group threat. Journal of Social Issues, 69 (3), 586-604
Eccles, J. S., & Barber, B. L. (1999). Student council, volunteering, basketball, or marching band: What kind of extracurricular involvement matters? Journal of Adolescent Research, 14, 10–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0743558499141003
Eigner, S. (2001). The relationship between “protecting the environment” as a dominant life goal and subjective well-being. In P. Schmuck & K. M. Sheldon (Eds.), Life goals and well-being: Towards a positive psychology of human striving (pp. 182–201). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe and Huber.
Eiroa-Orosa, F. J. (2016). Community engagement as mental health promotion: Towards a committed psychological practice. International Journal of Psychology, 51, 242. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12302
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., & Spinrad, T. L. (2007). Prosocial development. In N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Series Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (Vol. 3, pp. 646–718). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Gilster, M. E. (2012). Comparing neighborhood-focused activism and volunteerism: Psychological well-being and social connectedness. Journal of Community Psychology, 40, 769–784. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20528
Ginwright, S. (2003). Youth organizing: Expanding possibilities for youth development. Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing: Occasional Papers Series, 3. Retrieved from http://lvejo.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/4243_Papers_no3_v3.qxd_.pdf
Harré, N., Tepavac, S., & Bullen, P. (2009). Integrity, efficacy and community in the stories of political activists. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 6, 330–345. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14780880903324764
Hart, D., & Carlo, G. (2005). Moral development in adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15, 223-233. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2005.00094.x
Hope, E. C (2016). Preparing to participate: The role of youth social responsibility and political efficacy in civic engagement for black early adolescents. The International Society of Child Indicators, 9(3), 609-630
Hope, E. C., & Spencer, M. B. (2017). Civic engagement as an adaptive coping response to conditions of inequality: An application of phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST). In N. Cabrera & B. Leyendecker (Eds.), Handbook of positive development of minority children (pp. 421–435). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12030
Kasser T, Klar M (2009). Some Some Benefits of Being an Activist: Measuring Activism and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being, Political Psychology, 30 (5), 755-777 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2009.00724.x
Kirshner, B. (2009). “Power in numbers”: Youth organizing as a context for exploring civic identity. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 19(3), 414–440. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00601.x
Marcia, J. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159–187). New York, NY: Wiley.
Maskaliunaite A. (2015).Exploring the theories of radialization. International Studies. Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal, 17, 9–26. https://doi.org/10. 1515/ipcj- 2015-0002
Montague A.C, Eiroa-Orosa F.J (2017). In it together: Exploring how belonging to a youth activist group enhances well-being, Journal of Community Psychology 2017; 46:23-43, DOI: 10.1002/jcop.21914
Montague A.C; Eiroa-Orosa J. (2017) Exploring The Role Of Engagement On Well- Being And Personal Development: A Review of Adolescent and Mental Health Activism, The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Positive Psychology (pp. 437–446). London, UK: Routledge.
Moskalenko S, McCauley C (2009) Measuring political mobilization: the distinction between activism and radicalism. Terrorism and Political Violence, 21(2), 239–260
Noguera, & J. Cammarota (Eds.). Beyond resistance! Youth activism and community change: New democratic possibilities for practice and policy for America’s youth (pp. 287–299). New York, NY: Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203961001
Pearce, N., & Larson, R. (2006). How teens become engaged in youth development programs: The process of motivational change in a civic activism organization. Applied Developmental Science, 10(3), 121–131. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532480xads1003_2
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Schwartz, S. H., & Melech, G. (2000). National differences in micro and macro worry: Social, economic and cultural explanations. In E. Diener & E. M. Suh (Eds.), Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 219-256). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Sherrod, L. R. (2006). Promoting Citizenship and Activism in Today’s Youth. In S. Ginwright, P. Noguera, & J. Cammarota (Eds.), Beyond Resistance! Youth Activism and Community Change: New Democratic Possibilities for Practice and Policy for America’s Youth (pp. 287–300). New York, London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203961001
Sohr, S. (2001). Eco-activism and well-being: Between flow and burnout. In P. Schmuck & K. M. Sheldon (Eds.), Life goals and well-being: Towards a positive psychology of human striving (pp. 202–215). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe and Huber.
Steger, M. F. (2006). Development and validation of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire: A measure of eudaimonic well-being. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 66, pp. 4257.
Watts, R. J., & Flanagan, C. (2007). Pushing the envelope on youth civic engagement: A developmental and liberation psychology perspective. Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 779–792. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20178
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
Articles and conference papers published in Journal of Clinical and Development Psychology are distributed under the terms and conditions of a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Correspondingly, authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
