Political socialisation (models and theories) Essay

Political socialisation (models and theories) - Essay Example The hypotheses include moral development, life course, and gender and moral development (Glasberg, & Shannon, 2011). The theory of moral development that was developed by Kohlberg argues that individuals acquire various political ideologies based on three stages of reasoning (Glasberg, & Shannon, 2011). The theory argues that the first stage of reasoning is the pre-conventional phase. In this stage, children appreciate the things that give them pleasure while they dislike those that give rise to pain. This means that at this stage, individuals acquire the behaviours and beliefs that give rise to happiness. For example, children support the ideas of leaders who provide them with resources such as books in school. The next stage is the conventional phase that takes place during teenage years (Glasberg, & Shannon, 2011). According to the theory, children appreciate the beliefs and ideas that are in accordance with the beliefs of their culture. In the last stage, which is the post-conventional stage, individuals begin to embrace the attitudes and behaviors that are ethically upright. The life course theory that was developed by Erikson argues that individuals experience various challenges in eight phases during their life time. The eight stages of life course include infancy, adolescence, pre-school, old age, pre-adolescence, toddlerhood, middle, and young adulthood (Glasberg, & Shannon, 2011). Erikson argues that in the first stage of infancy, children learn to differentiate trust from mistrust; while in the last stage of old age individuals face the challenges of hopelessness and honesty. Therefore, Erikson postulates that individuals acquire the ideologies and beliefs that are shaped by the challenges that they face. For example, during infancy when the main challenges are trust and mistrust, children may hold onto the beliefs of their parents because they trust them. Children trust their parents more than other people at this