An exploration of U.S. adults’ information processing skills and political efficacy

Abstract

As recent debates about the role of social media in election outcomes suggest, understanding the association between information processing skills and political efficacy in the U.S. is a significant inquiry for adult and continuing education. Data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies were used to explore relationships between U.S. participants’ information processing skills and political efficacy. Given the impact of certain demographic characteristics on political efficacy, the study also analyzed whether the relationship between information processing skills and self-reported political efficacy varied across levels of cultural engagement, formal educational attainment, or immigrant status. The results illustrate that higher levels of literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments are associated with higher political efficacy for U.S. participants. Our research is framed in both cognitive and critical lenses, and we provide implications for practice in adult and continuing education settings.

Facilitating Civic Learning Within Adult Literacy/Education Curricula

“…Using the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies data set (National Center for Education Statistics, 2015), we explored relations among information‐processing skills (literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in digital environments) as assessed by the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies and self‐reported political efficacy for U.S. adults. Our results indicated that information‐processing skills (especially literacy skills) were related to higher political efficacy among U.S. adults (Saal, Yamashita, Shaw, & Perry, 2019). Adults with greater literacy skills were more likely to report greater engagement in political and civic activities.…”

Associations Between Volunteering, STEM Backgrounds, and Information-Processing Skills in Adult Populations of the United States

“…Information processing skills have been consistently linked with economic (e.g., greater employment security, higher income) and non-economic benefits (e.g., more active civic engagement, such as volunteering, and better health) (Belzer & Kim, 2018;OECD, 2019;Rose et al, 2019). Additionally, literacy, numeracy and digital skills are positively associated with political efficacy (i.e., perception of a chance to make a difference in the community and society through political participation) (Saal et al, 2020). Moreover, information processing skills are the foundational skills to learn higher-level contents, and one may be unable to enhance knowledge and skills without them.…”

Adult Literacy Learners are (Mostly) Missing from JAAL: Rethinking Adulthood, Adult Literacy, and doing Antiracist Research

“…The population of adults with low reading skills has many strengths and resources, but they also tend to be more vulnerable in terms of unemployment, poor health outcomes, low social trust, and civic engagement, and their capacity to help their children succeed in school (Grotlüschen et al, 2021;National Council for Adult Learning, n.d.;Rhodes et al, 2019;Rose et al, 2019;Saal et al, 2020). U. S. and international population studies indicate that low literacy levels are relatively unchanging over time (Kutner et al, 2007;Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development, 2013), and research in this area is poorly funded.…”