Originally published July 31, 2023 2:00 pm PDT
Recent trends highlight a notable shift in the political inclinations of American high school boys.
An authoritative federal survey revealed that boys in the 12th grade are nearly twice as likely to lean conservative than liberal.
The findings, which are part of the highly-regarded “Monitoring the Future” survey, reported by The Hill, show that approximately a quarter of male high school seniors self-identify as conservative or “very conservative,” compared to just 13% who identify as liberal or “very liberal.”
The results are surprising when compared to historical data.
Only a decade ago, liberal male students sometimes outnumbered their conservative peers.
In the era of President Jimmy Carter, both genders tended to have more liberal leanings.
Contrastingly, female students appear to be shifting toward liberal ideologies.
According to the same survey, conducted by the University of Michigan, 30% of 12th-grade girls identified as liberal in 2022, a significant increase from 19% in 2012. Just 12% of girls identified as conservative.
These trends seem to persist into early adulthood.
Women aged 18-29 now identify as liberal more than ever in the past twenty years, as per Gallup surveys.
Young women are nearly twice as likely as young men to claim liberal beliefs, signifying a growing gender gap in political ideologies.
Meanwhile, the political leanings of young men have seen minimal change in the last twenty years.
Survey Center on American Life analysis reveals that the distribution remains consistent: 43% moderate, 31% conservative, and 24% liberal.
This shift to the left by young women has significantly impacted the overall political spectrum of Generation Z.
According to 2022 NBC News polling, Generation Z now favors liberalism over conservatism 48% to 33%.
A decade ago, the distribution was almost even.
The trend of conservative inclination in high school boys is subtle, and many are hesitant to align with a specific political ideology.
The 2022 “Monitoring the Future” survey found that more than two-fifths of senior boys claimed no political affiliation, answering with “none of the above” or “I don’t know” when asked about their political leanings.
Roughly a fifth identified as moderate, and just 36% selected liberal or conservative.
Renowned author and psychology professor at San Diego State University, Jean Twenge, compiled and presented this data in her new book, “Generations.”
She noted, “Among liberals, the future is female,” and added, “And among conservatives, the future is male.”
Political affiliations amongst high school seniors remain complex and multifaceted, with a majority of both genders more likely to claim no political identity than affiliate with liberals or conservatives.
The rise in conservative leanings amongst high school boys might be influenced by the 45th President Donald Trump, who resonated with male voters through his “overt hypermasculinity” and his style of discourse often seen in high school environments.
Simultaneously, the Republican Party’s conservative faction has been actively reaching out to discontented men of all ages, accusing the left of excessiveness in their attempts to address injustices related to race, gender, and sexual orientation.
This shift has led to the perception, as articulated in a recent Politico article, that Democrats have a “masculinity problem.”
Heritage Foundation Research Fellow Delano Squires suggests, “I believe that traditional notions of masculinity are much more accepted within conservativism,” while feminist values “are clearly one of the driving forces of liberalism.”
