Political Involvement: Characteristics and Categories

Abstract

Political involvement is conceptualized as an orientation toward a political
situation that distinguishes qualitative differences in message
processing. This stands in contrast to traditional conceptions of
political involvement, which describe deep-seated individual traits that
differ little over time. Three categories of situational political
involvement are proposed (active involvement, passive involvement, and
uninvolved) and accompanying communication patters are examined with a
52-item Q sample during the 1994 California gubernatorial campaign. The
actively involved category indicated different communication behaviors
than the passively involved - and especially the uninvolved. The most
important behaviour distinguishing the actively involved was
interpersonal communication - talking about politics.