Identity Development and Feelings of Fulfillment: Mediators of Future Civic Engagement

Previous research on youth civic engagement has focused on the direct association between previous civic behaviors and future civic participation. However, as with most activities, adolescents will not continue to participate if they do not derive fulfillment, enjoyment and meaning from the activity. To explore this, this paper examines the relation between civic engagement in adolescence and in adulthood, and also whether being engaged and fulfilled by the civic activity in adolescence and forming a positive citizenship identity partially mediates this relation. In order to test this hypothesis, the authors use a large, longitudinal dataset of African American and European American youth who were followed throughout adolescence and into young adulthood.