Uprising of the young generation: exploring the association between social mobility belief and political engagement intention among Hong Kong youth

Civic engagement, particularly political engagement, is an important aspect of youth development. In response to rising youth activism, this study examined what was related to youth’s emerging intention to engage in both normative (legal) and non-normative (illegal) political actions through the lens of social mobility beliefs. Based on the reports of college students in Hong Kong (N = 1,033), the findings revealed that social mobility belief regarding average people (i.e., societal belief) rather than that regarding oneself (i.e., personal belief) was negatively related to youth’s intention to engage in normative political action. Furthermore, parallel mediation analyses showed two indirect effects of social mobility beliefs after controlling for sociodemographic factors, post-materialistic values and political interest. Specifically, youth who endorsed a stronger societal social mobility belief tended to perceive lower social injustice, and they were then less willing to engage in normative and non-normative political actions. Additionally, those who endorsed a stronger societal social mobility belief tended to report higher external political efficacy, and they were then more willing to engage in normative political actions. The findings highlight the importance of considering youth’s worldviews in the theorization of the development of political attitudes and behaviors.