GENERAL IDEOLOGICAL ORIENTATIONS AMONG STUDENTS ACCORDING TO SOME SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

Although topics related to political orientation are always current and in the focus of many sociological theorists, studies on general ideological orientations are relatively rare in Croatia and other countries in the region. Since there have been significant changes in the economic and political system in the last twenty years precisely in these transitional countries, along with a significant change in general and social values, the aim of this study was to assess general ideological orientations of the students, and their potential socio-demographic correlates. The study included 162 students with an average age of 23.5 years. The study was conducted in groups, with participants filling out a questionnaire about socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, number of family members, household financial status, level of education of their mother and father). Furthermore, a questionnaire assessing general ideological orientations (especially designed for the purposes of this study) was also applied. Although, theoretically, a two-dimensionality of the applied questionnaire was expected (social issues and economic issues), factor analysis showed a one-factor structure of the measuring instrument, and the obtained results were interpreted in terms of a general left-wing or general right-wing orientation. The distribution of the results on the general ideological orientation scale was approximately normal and slightly negatively skewed (a tendency towards a slightly higher left-wing orientation on the student population). Furthermore, the results show the following assessed socio-demographic characteristics as good predictors of general ideological orientation: gender (female students showed higher levels of a left-wing orientation), education of the mother (the tendency towards a right-wing orientation is higher in students whose mothers are on the lowest and the highest level of education), and average household financial status (students who come from families of lower financial status show a higher left wing orientation).