Political Attitudes of Students and Social Factors Affecting it (Study of Students of Universities in Tehran)

Introduction: The political attitude of all groups of society is important, but the political attitude of the students is of particular importance. Students are at the core of the new middle class, whose main demand is political development, and their numbers have expanded in Iran in the last three decades due to the expansion of the higher education system. Studying the political attitude of students is a necessity that every political system and foresight government should consider. The continuity of the programs of each state and government depends on the political attitude of the citizens. Political attitudes have different dimensions, which, according to Almond and Verba, can be regarded as an important part of political culture. The main objective of this research is to measure the political attitude of students on a range of positive political attitudes (hope for the socio-political future of the country) to negative political attitude (disappointment to the socio-political future of the country) and social factors that affect it.
Method: The research method is survey and data collection through questionnaire. Research data is also based on quantitative data. Statistical population of the research are students of student associations. Student associations from university of Tehran, university of Kharazmi and Islamic Azad university of science and research branch have been selected. Using Cochran sampling method, from among 1311 students of student associations, 381 students were selected as the statistical sample.
Finding: The research findings show that the majority of students are male and single. Students are generally bachelors of humanities. There are numerous student news sources and it can be said that the most important source of student news is mobile messenger application. Almost half of the students stated that mobile messenger application is their main source of news. The level of social capital of students is moderate to high. More than 75% of students have their cultural capital in the middle of the spectrum. Students' religiousness, such as their social capital, is at a moderate to high level. The majority of students, about 70%, are in the middle of the distribution of political attitudes and about 20% have a positive political attitude and only 8% of students in the student associations have a negative political attitude. Social factors such as social capital, religiosity and the type of student associations have higher explanatory power than variables such as age, gender, marital status, and educational level.
Results & Conclusion: Various social factors can influence students' political attitudes and enhance their participatory political culture. Students' social capital is one of the most important factors. Increased bridging social capital of students causes increases the trust of student associations in each other. Therefore, the force of the student associations, if necessary, is directed towards achieving a common principle. The synergy of student forces can make their impact on political institutions more effective. The consequence is to strengthen students' positive political attitudes and their participatory political culture. In addition, being religious can create optimism and hope for the country's political future, especially in religious governments.