Political Efficacy and Media Consumption as Predictors of Political Polarization among Educated Youth in Pakistan

Abstract

Polarization in politics has become a characteristic issue to modern democracies, especially among the young people who have acquired the access to multiple and frequently contradictory political information through the digital media. This paper looks at how media consumption and political efficacy predict political polarization among Pakistani university students. The conceptualization of polarization in the research is based on the Social Identity Theory and Political Socialization Theory. The research design was quantitative, cross-sectional, where data were collected among 528 students enrolled in the public sector universities in Pakistan using a structured questionnaire to collect them based on validated scales. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS and consisted of descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression. The results indicate that the relationship between media exposure and political polarization is moderate, positive, and these exposures are associated with the selective exposure, echo chambers, and reinforcement of prior beliefs. Internal political efficacy gives a positive but statistically insignificant effect, indicating that individuals who have a higher level of confidence in their political understanding are more inclined towards adopting rigid ideological positions. Conversely, negative, though non-significant, relation exists between external political efficacy and low institutional trust and low perceived responsiveness. In general, the research paper finds that media consumption habits are stronger correlates of political polarization among educated youth in Pakistan than is political efficacy alone. The results underscore the importance of media literacy programs, institutional confidence-building, and democratic political engagement among young people to curb the ideological differences and to encourage democratic participation in political affairs among the youth.