Peer effect on the political decisions making process: A research on university youth

Social factors are one of the most influential factors in consumers' purchasing decision processes. Among these factors, family is very important because it is the first environment in which socialization is provided. The child learns to be a consumer first from his family. With the school age, other social groups are becoming influential in decisions. Among the social factors, the reference groups are the groups in which the individual is or wishes to exist, and the first examples are usually peer groups. Over time, peer groups have become the main rivals of the family in shaping their purchasing decisions. Peer groups are the most influential groups after the family in shaping the political decisions of individuals. If parents are psychological voters, the child can shape emotional commitment to the political organization adopted as a family tradition. However, especially in cases where the family does not have a strict political view, peer groups become an important actor in shaping the individual's political decisions. In this study, it is aimed to reveal whether the young people studying at the university are influenced by their peers in the voting decision process. For this purpose, a quantitative study was conducted with the students of Amasya University. The questionnaire technique was used to collect the data. The data were subjected to explanatory factor analysis and three factors were obtained. These factors were named as peer-based peer communication, belonging to peer group and peer effect on voting decision. It was found that university students had a high level of belonging to the peer group, but they did not communicate sufficiently with their peers on their political decisions and their decisions were not affected by their peers. Independent Two Sample T Test and One Way Variance analysis were used to determine whether students' tendency to be affected by peers in political decisions differed in demographic characteristics. While their tendency to be influenced by their peers in political decisions differs in terms of gender, they do not differ in terms of age. According to the results, various suggestions were made to political actors and researchers who will work on similar subjects in the future.