IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/teinso/v62y2020ics0160791x19302404.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of political behavior and the role of technology in the classroom: An empirical investigation in Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Coelho Junior, Francisco Antonio
  • Hedler, Helga
  • Faiad, Cristiane
  • Marques-Quinteiro, Pedro

Abstract

University professors face numerous challenges, especially when teaching issues related to political behavior. Recent studies in Brazil have shown that technology, clarity of information and impartial debates in the classroom have led to the development of more frequent political behaviors among Brazilian students. However, this research subject remains poorly addressed in Brazil. We investigated the development of political attitudes and political behavior of undergraduate students in Brasília, Brazil. We applied questionnaires to students (N = 349) in undergraduate courses (social, exact and health sciences) of a public university in Brasília (Federal District), capital of Brazil. Principal Components Analysis was used and three dimensions of political attitudes were created: (i) Degree of political knowledge Factor (PK), (ii) Positive Feelings about Politics Factor (PFP) and (ii) Negative Feelings about Politics Factor (NFP). The results suggest that students from social sciences undergraduate courses have a higher PK average in comparison to other student groups. Moreover, a linear regression model was developed for PFP factor. For PFP and NFP, the students from the social sciences areas were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Based on the outcomes of this study, we argue that it is essential for teachers to be aware of the importance of introducing themes related to political behavior in the classroom, considering the influence that political attitudes have on political behavior. It is the professor's role to stimulate impartial debate, free of personal preferences while presenting arguments from the students' arguments, in order to promote the scientific understanding of these subjects.

Suggested Citation

  • Coelho Junior, Francisco Antonio & Hedler, Helga & Faiad, Cristiane & Marques-Quinteiro, Pedro, 2020. "Determinants of political behavior and the role of technology in the classroom: An empirical investigation in Brazil," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0160791x19302404
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101279
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X19302404
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101279?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mondak, Jeffery J. & Hibbing, Matthew V. & Canache, Damarys & Seligson, Mitchell A. & Anderson, Mary R., 2010. "Personality and Civic Engagement: An Integrative Framework for the Study of Trait Effects on Political Behavior," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 104(1), pages 85-110, February.
    2. Mark Elchardus & Bram Spruyt, 2009. "The Culture of Academic Disciplines and the Sociopolitical Attitudes of Students: A Test of Selection and Socialization Effects," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(2), pages 446-460, June.
    3. Lustig, Nora & Lopez-Calva, Luis F. & Ortiz-Juarez, Eduardo, 2013. "Declining Inequality in Latin America in the 2000s: The Cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 129-141.
    4. Potrafke, Niklas & Fischer, Mira & Ursprung, Heinrich, 2013. "Does the Field of Study Influence Students' Political Attitudes?," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79934, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Baber, Hasnan, 2020. "Intentions to participate in political crowdfunding- from the perspective of civic voluntarism model and theory of planned behavior," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francisco H G Ferreira & Sergio P Firpo & Julián Messina, 2022. "Labor Market Experience and Falling Earnings Inequality in Brazil: 1995–2012," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(1), pages 37-67.
    2. Guido Neidhöfer, 2019. "Intergenerational mobility and the rise and fall of inequality: Lessons from Latin America," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(4), pages 499-520, December.
    3. Ofori, Isaac K. & Osei, Dennis B. & Alagidede, Imhotep P., 2022. "Inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the interaction between ICT diffusion and financial development," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 46(7).
    4. Saud, Muhammad, 2020. "Civic engagement, youth socialisation and participation in public spheres in Indonesia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    5. Nasfi Fkili Wahiba & Mahmoudi Dina, 2023. "Technological Change, Growth and Income Inequality," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(1), pages 121-131, January.
    6. Isaac K. Ofori & Mark K. Armah & Emmanuel E. Asmah, 2021. "Towards the Reversal of Poverty and Income Inequality Setbacks Due to COVID-19: The Role of Globalisation and Resource Allocation," Working Papers 21/043, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    7. Wilman J. Iglesias & Alexandre B. Coelho, 2020. "Poverty and inequality within Brazilian households: an application of a collective consumption model," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1923-1952, April.
    8. Potrafke, Niklas & Fischer, Mira & Ursprung, Heinrich, 2013. "Does the Field of Study Influence Students' Political Attitudes?," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79934, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Juan Grigera, 2022. "Adding Insult to Injury: The COVID‐19 Crisis Strikes Latin America," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(6), pages 1335-1361, November.
    10. Gáfaro, Margarita & Ibáñez, Ana María & Sánchez-Ordoñez, Daniel & Ortiz, María Camila, 2023. "Farm Size and Income Distribution of Latin American Agriculture New Perspectives on an Old Issue," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13078, Inter-American Development Bank.
    11. Ofori, Isaac Kwesi, 2021. "Catching The Drivers of Inclusive Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Application of Machine Learning," EconStor Preprints 235482, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    12. Kauder, Björn & Potrafke, Niklas & Ursprung, Heinrich, 2018. "Behavioral determinants of proclaimed support for environment protection policies," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 26-41.
    13. Ofori, Isaac K. & Asongu, Simplice, 2021. "ICT Diffusion, Foreign Direct Investment and Inclusive Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 110599, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Daniela Barni & Alessio Vieno & Michele Roccato & Silvia Russo, 2016. "Basic Personal Values, the Country’s Crime Rate and the Fear of Crime," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 1057-1074, December.
    15. Fabiola Saavedra & Mónica Ospina, 2014. "Decisions about Postsecondary Education, their returns in Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 12542, Universidad EAFIT.
    16. Muñoz-Muñoz, E. & Crespo-Cebada, E. & Mirón-Sanguino, A.S. & Díaz-Caro, C., 2025. "Investors personality correlates with sustainability preferences in investment – A choice experiment with Spanish investors," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    17. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2014. "Under the Thumb of History? Political Institutions and the Scope for Action," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 951-971, August.
    18. Enamorado, Ted & López-Calva, Luis F. & Rodríguez-Castelán, Carlos & Winkler, Hernán, 2016. "Income inequality and violent crime: Evidence from Mexico's drug war," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 128-143.
    19. Nora Lustig & Luis F. Lopez-Calva & Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez & Célestin Monga, 2016. "Deconstructing the Decline in Inequality in Latin America," International Economic Association Series, in: Kaushik Basu & Joseph E. Stiglitz (ed.), Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy, chapter 7, pages 212-247, Palgrave Macmillan.
    20. Diego Winkelried & Bruno Escobar, 2022. "Declining inequality in Latin America? Robustness checks for Peru," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(1), pages 223-243, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0160791x19302404. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/technology-in-society .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.