Life Cycle Effects

Life cycle effects refer to changes to political attitudes and behaviors associated with the specific phase of an individual’s life. Specifically, the engagement of the self at a certain age with the external context determines the individual’s political attitude and behavior. The cause of the change is the conjunction of endogenous and exogenous factors. The endogenous factor is the political behavior of individuals differing depending on their age, whereas the exogenous factor of the change implies that the changes are driven by external contexts within which the individual experiences a maturational process. While studying the impact of life cycle effects on political behavior, scholars typically attempt to explain the relationship between different political behaviors and the different phases of the individual’s life. This entry provides ...