Sociology Commons^™

Youth Cognitive Empowerment: Development And Evaluation Of An Instrument, Paul W. Speer, N. Andrew Peterson, Brian D. Christens, Robert Reid

Department of Family Science and Human Development Scholarship and Creative Works

Psychological empowerment (PE) is a multicomponent construct that involves the mechanisms through which people and groups gain control over their lives and environments. Psychological empowerment has previously been operationalized using measures of sociopolitical control among young people, with findings indicating links between PE and other positive developmental outcomes. Sociopolitical control, however, is only an indicator for the emotional component of PE. Research has largely neglected the cognitive component of PE, particularly in studies of younger people. In fact, few studies to date have presented and empirically tested measurement instruments for the cognitive component of PE among youth. In this study, …