School Education and Political Socialization:Exploring Strength of Association betweenEducation and Self-Identity in Taiwan

Volume: 

14

Number: 

1

Published date: 

June, 2010

Authors: 

Kuang-hui Chen
Chi-lin Tsai

Abstract: 

Whether people identify themselves as Taiwanese or Chinese has been an issue of importance since the beginning of democratization in Taiwan. This article explores whether the strength-of-association statistic between education and self-identity among Taiwanese people has changed over the past 15 years during which Taiwan has undergone substantial political and social change. If the statistic did change during this time period, it is necessary to further clarify which factors contributed to this change. The analysis of survey data collected between 1992 and 2007 shows that the strength-of-association between education and self-identity has steadily weakened among the young cohorts and the mainlanders. Furthermore, the variation in the strength of association between education and selfidentity has been accounted for by the diminished functions of political indoctrination in formal education as well as by the varied dispersion of the two variables, namely, “education” and “self-identity”, over time.

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