Civic Literacy Report - Factors Shapping American's Political Orientation

Seventeen Factors that Have a Statistically Significant Impact on Self-Identified Political Orientation
Of all the variables examined, these seventeen were found to have a statistically significant impact on ISI’s political orientation scale. The variables are ranked by the magnitude of their influence on a person’s political orientation.* The arrow beside each factor indicates whether it moved a person left or right and the relative magnitude of that movement. Respondents were asked whether they were liberal, moderate, or conservative; and whether they were Democrat, Independent, Republican, or other. Responses were then placed on a 1-5 scale, with “Democrat liberals” assigned a “5,” “Independent moderates” a “3,” and “Republican conservatives” a “1.” Multivariate regression analysis was then employed to determine whether each variable “moved” an individual toward the leftward or rightward pole. Interestingly, gaining a college degree moves one to the left, and gaining civic knowledge to the right.
Democrat/Liberal influence		GOP/Conservative influence
	Minority
	Attending church at least weekly
	Female
	Holding Judeo-Christian religious beliefs
	Unmarried
	Earning a bachelor’s degree
	Acquiring civic knowledge
	Higher income
	Living in the South
	Serving in the military
	Speaking English at home as a child
	Engaging in political activities beyond voting
	Being a parent with a child at home
	Living in the Northeast
	Teaching in college
	Watching primetime TV sitcoms or movie DVDs
	Teaching at the K–12 level
*Using standardized regression coefficients

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