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Civic Participation and Meaning in Life: Similarities and Differences Across Diverse Youth

Yue Ni,G. J. Geldhof,R. Settersten,Shauna L. Tominey

Published 2025 in Youth & Society

ABSTRACT

Civic engagement is an important component of youth thriving, but prior research—focused primarily on political engagement—has found a “civic engagement gap” between youth with marginalized identities and those with privileged social identities. Research is needed to understand youth involvement in other civic activities, patterns of disparities, and any implications of these differences for youth well-being. In this study, we examined differences in community service activities, political activities, and expressive activities and their relationships with meaning in life 2 years later across 11 groups of 1,088 adolescents defined by intersections of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and nativity. Findings reveal great diversity in civic activities across groups of youth, suggesting the need to reframe the “gap” as “civic engagement diversity.” At the same time, our findings indicate that not all forms of participation offer the same developmental benefits—only political participation consistently predicted greater meaning in life across all youth.

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