Understanding how young people take decisions for social and political issues
We are a research team from Royal Holloway, University of London working in a European project that investigates how adolescents take decisions about social and political issues. Our project is funded by the European Union and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). We would like to invite your school and students to participate in our research.
About our research
What do we study?
Adolescence is a critical developmental period characterised by profound changes into how young people think about themselves and the world. Our research focuses on understanding how these changes influence adolescents’ decision-making about social and political issues, as well as their overall political engagement. We have developed a survey to capture some of the important factors that may be at play.
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​Why is our research important?
Recent reports show that young people are increasingly dissatisfied with how democracy works, and they are moving away from traditional forms of democratic engagement, leaning towards apathy and abstention or, conversely, radicalisation and the embrace of extreme political views. These scenarios pose significant challenges to the stability and the future of democratic systems. With our research, we aim to delve into these critical issues to better understand and support this emerging generation of future voters.
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​What do we hope to learn?
Understanding how exactly the cognitive and emotional development during adolescence shape political engagement is therefore very important. Our research can help to better understand and support a young generation of citizens who are the voters of tomorrow. We hope that our research can have a positive effect for the future of democracies.
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​What can we offer to your students and your school?
Our project aims to give voice to young people and understand how they think and feel about politics. Your students will get first-hand experience of participating in academic research. Beyond that, we are very eager to help your educational mission by visiting your school to give talks on topics that relate to our broad expertise across psychology, neuroscience, and political science, and to share our research findings with your school and students.
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We have designed our research to be minimally disruptive to your school’s routine, and our studies can be done by your students in their free-time at home. If you and your school are interested in becoming a part of this project, we invite you to reach out to us at ippad@rhul.ac.uk. We are more than happy to answer all questions and to provide more information at any time!