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Abstract

Perceived loss of control of ones’ political environment breeds cynicism and lowered self-motivation for future political action, all of which are marked indicators of learned helplessness. This leads to disengagement of a country’s people in political activity, thus leaving the government unaccountable and unregulated, while allowing corruption and selfserving policies to plague the nation’s well-being. Therefore, this study aimed to better understand the associations among political apathy, learned helplessness, age, and personality traits. It was hypothesized that learned helplessness, age, and personality traits would be significant predictors of political apathy. Participants were 200 Malaysian individuals (91 males, 109 females, M = 32.93, SD = 13.91) who completed questionnaires including the MiniInternational Personality Item Pool, Self-Motivation Scale, and Voter Involvement Scale. Learned helplessness and Neuroticism were positively correlated with political apathy, whereas Extraversion and Intellect showed negative correlations with political apathy. Age, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness showed no significant relationships with political apathy. Extraversion was the most significant predictor of political apathy, followed by intellect. Thus, the insights yielded from this study may allow for its accumulated knowledge to be informedly applied to reach an artificial resurgence in political engagement.

Bahasa Abstract

Kehilangan kontrol yang dipersepsikan pada lingkungan politik akan melahirkan sinisme dan menurunkan motivasi diri untuk melakukan tindakan politik di masa depan. Sebagai indikator dari konsep ketidakberdayaan yang dipelajari, kondisi ini mengarah pada ketidakterlibatan orang-orang di suatu negara untuk melakukan aktivitas politik. Dampak dari hal ini adalah pemerintahan dibiarkan tidak bertanggung jawab dan tidak teratur, sambil membiarkan korupsi terjadi dan membuat kebijakan yang mementingkan diri sendiri untuk mengganggu kesejahteraan bangsa. Oleh karena itu, studi ini berusaha untuk lebih memahami hubungan antara apatis politik, ketidakberdayaan yang dipelajari, usia, dan kepribadian. Kami berhipotesis bahwa ketidakberdayaan yang dipelajari, usia, dan trait kepribadian akan menjadi prediktor yang signifikan dari apatis politik. Sebanyak 200 partisipan Malaysia (91 laki-laki, 109 perempuan, M = 32,93, SD = 13,91) menyelesaikan serangkaian kuesioner yang mencakup kuesioner Kepribadian Mini-Internasional, skala motivasi diri, dan skala keterlibatan pemilih. Ketidakberdayaan yang dipelajari dan neuroticism berkorelasi positif dengan apatis politik, sedangkan dua dimensi kepribadian yang lain, extraversion dan intellect menunjukkan korelasi negatif dengan apatis politik. Usia, agreeableness, dan conscientiousness tidak menghasilkan hubungan yang signifikan dengan apatis politik. Extraversion adalah prediktor paling signifikan dari apatis politik diikuti oleh intellect. Dengan demikian, wawasan pengetahuan yang dihasilkan dari studi ini melalui akumulasi pengetahuan yang dapat diterapkan secara informal untuk mencapai keterlibatan politik yang dibangkitkan secara artifisial.

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