The Role of the Media and Reference Groups on the Shaping of Political Attitudes of Students (Case Study: Islamic Awakening Uprisings in the Middle East)

Political attitudes of students is an issue which has a special place in our society since the attitudes are considered as precursor of formation of behaviors and social interactions. On the other hand, the Islamic uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, are regarded as major issues in recent years in the region. Since there is no empirical documentary data on the subject, a brief assessment of this issue seems necessary.This article is an attempt to study the role of the media and reference groups on students’attitudes about recent Islamic uprisings in the region. Therefore, the views of 977 students from 16 universities of the country were taken using stratified random sampling and then X2 test, multiple regression analysis, path analysis were performed. Results of regression analysis showed that overall, 42.8% of changes in student's attitudes, has been explained with two factors; sources of news and community reference groups (p<0.001). Also, based on the results of the path analysis; among 33 sources of news, television and satellite networks and internet sites, and among the primary and secondary reference groups, the role of the leader and religious leaders in shaping the special attitude of the students is significant. Finally, the implications of this study are also investigated.