What Does Generation Z Feel and Expect? Political Sentiments and Future Perception of Young People in Türkiye

Abstract

This study aims to reveal what Generation Z think and feel about the future of society and their own futures, as well as the emotions they expect in politics and political communication. For this purpose, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 355 youth in Generation Z, who held diverse political views and educational levels, across 14 cities in seven regions of Türkiye. According to the data obtained, it was observed that the youth were generally pessimistic about the future of society, yet they expressed hopefulness in other areas. The third response about the future of humanity was uncertainty. The youth provided answers about their future, mainly concerning their professions and career plans. The following reactions were about being hopeful and uncertain about their future. The youth in the study expect to feel the most trust in politics and political communication. This was followed by answers emphasizing hope, national feelings, the importance of not appealing to emotions, and happiness. It is observed that the youth avoid emotions that contain negativity in politics. The youth who say that emotions should not be appealed to in politics emphasize that politics should be a rational field based on the studies conducted.

Keywords

• Politics
• Political Communication
• Generation Z
• Emotions
• Youth

Z Kuşağı Ne Hisseder ve Ne Bekler? Türkiye’de Gençlerin Siyasal Duyguları ve Gelecek Algısı

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı Z kuşağı içinde yer alan gençlerin toplumun geleceği ve kendi gelecekleri hakkında ne düşündüklerinin ve hissettiklerinin, siyasette ve siyasal iletişimde hangi duyguları beklediklerinin ortaya konulmasıdır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda Türkiye’nin yedi bölgesinden 14 şehirde Z kuşağında bulunan farklı siyasi görüşlere ve eğitim düzeylerine sahip 355 gençle yarı yapılandırılmış yüz yüze görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen verilere göre gençlerin toplumun geleceği konusunda genellikle karamsar oldukları görülmüştür. Ancak karamsarlığı takiben gençler en çok umut taşıyor olmaktan söz etmişlerdir. Toplumun geleceği konusundaki üçüncü yanıt ise belirsizlik olmuştur. Gençler kendi gelecekleri hakkında daha çok mesleklerine ve kariyer planlarına ilişkin yanıtlar vermişlerdir. Ardından gelen yanıtlar ise gelecekleri hakkında umutlu olmaları ve geleceklerindeki belirsizler üzerine olmuştur. Çalışmada yer alan gençler siyasette ve siyasal iletişimde en çok güven duygusunu beklemektedir. Ardından umut, milli duygular, duygulara hitap edilmemeli ve mutluluk yanıtları gelmektedir. Gençlerin siyasette olumsuzluk barındıran duygulardan kaçındığı görülmektedir. Siyasette duygulara hitap edilmemeli diyen gençler ise siyasetin yapılan çalışmalara dayalı rasyonel bir alan olması gerektiğine vurgu yapmaktadır.

Keywords

• Siyaset
• Siyasal İletişim
• Z Kuşağı
• Duygular
• Gençler

References

1. Adams, J. (2012). Causes and electoral consequences of party policy shifts in multiparty elections: Theoretical results and empirical evidence. Annual Review of Political Science, 15(1), 401–419. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-031710-101450
2. Adams, W. C. (2015). Conducting semi-structured interviews. J. S. Wholey, H. Hatry, & K. Newcomer (Ed.), Handbook of practical program evaluation içinde (ss. 492–505). Jossey-Bass.
3. Akdağ, M., & Özdemir, M. (2021). Seçmen kararlarında duyguların rolü ve işlevi: Duygusal içerikli reklamlar üzerine bir analiz. Selçuk İletişim, 14(2), 895–926. https://doi.org/10.18094/JOSC.882765
4. Akgün, B. (2000). Türkiye'de seçmen davranışı: partizan tutumlar, ideoloji ve ekonomik faktörlerin oy vermeye etkisi. Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Meslek Yüksekokulu Dergisi, 1(4), 75–92.
5. Alfaruqy, M. Z., Padmonurcahyo, A., & Salsabila, A. (2022). Explaining the forms of Generation Z’s political engagement: A study on Generation Z in Semarang, Indonesia. Simulacra, 5(2), 99–112. https://doi.org/10.21107/sml.v5i2.17047
6. Arnold, M. B. (1960). Emotion and personality. Columbia University Press.
7. Aslan, S. (2021). Public tears: populism and the politics of emotion in AKP's Turkey. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 53(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743820000859
8. Barhate, B., & Dirani, K. (2021). Career aspirations of generation Z: A systematic literature review. European Journal of Training and Development, 46(1/2), 139–157. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-07-2020-0124

9. Berger, J., Meredith, M., & Wheeler, S. (2008). Contextual priming: Where people vote affects how they vote. PNAS, 105(26), 8846–8849. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0711988105
10. Brader, T., & Marcus, G. E. (2013). Emotion and political psychology. L. Huddy, D. O. Sears, & J. S. Levy (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of political psychology içinde (ss. 165–204). Oxford University Press.
11. Brader, T. (2005). Striking a responsive chord: How political ads motivate and persuade voters by appealing to emotions. American Journal of Political Science, 49, 388–405. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0092-5853.2005.00130.x
12. Boynukısa, M., Karagül, E., & Işıker, E. (2024). Z kuşağının kariyer beklentileri. Kadim Akademi SBD, 8(2), 179–206. https://doi.org/10.55805/kadimsbd.1583922
13. Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Miller, W. E., & Stokes, D. E. (1960). The American voter. University of Chicago Press.
14. Caprara, G. V., Vecchione, M., Schwartz, S. H., Schoen, H., Bain, P. G., Silvester, J., Cieciuch, J., Pavlopoulos, V., Bianchi, G., Kirmanoglu, H., Baslevent, C., Mamali, C., Manzi, J., Katayama, M., Posnova, T., Tabernero, C., Torres, C., Verkasalo, M., Lönnqvist, J.-E., ... Caprara, M. G. (2017). Basic values, ideological self-placement, and voting: A cross-cultural study. Cross-Cultural Research, 51(4), 388–411. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397117712194
15. Carlson, N. R., & Buskist, W. (1997). Psychology: The science of behavior. Allyn & Bacon.
16. Converse, P. E. (2000). Assessing the capacity of mass electorates. Annual Review of Political Science, (3), 331–353. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.3.1.331
17. Coşkun, E. R. (2023). Uluslararası ilişkiler’de duygusal dönüş: Duyguların analizi. Marmara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilimler Dergisi, 11(Özel Sayı), 119–137. https://doi.org/10.14782/marmarasbd.1377622
18. Collin, P., Dastyari, A., Hartup, M. E., & Hugman, S. (2024, 8 Mayıs). What do young people want to see in politics? More than 20,000 pieces of their writing hold some answers. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/what-do-young-people-want-to-see-in-politics-more-than-20-000-pieces-of-their-writing-hold-some-answers-250062
19. Çağlayan, S. (2025). Seçim kampanyalarının z kuşağı seçmenlerinin siyasal katılımı, oy verme davranışı ve aday tercihi üzerindeki etkisi: 2024 Türkiye yerel seçimleri. Öneri Dergisi, 20(63), 278–313. https://doi.org/10.14783/maruoneri.1543172
20. Çinko, L. (2006). Seçmen davranışları ile ekonomik performans arasındaki ilişkilerin teorik temelleri ve Türkiye üzerine genel bir değerlendirme. Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi, 61(1), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.1501/SBFder_0000001390
21. Dassonneville, R. (2018). Electoral volatility and parties’ ideological responsiveness. European Journal of Political Research, 57, 808–828. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12262
22. Deckman, M. (2024). The politics of Gen Z: How the youngest voters will shape our democracy. Columbia University Press.
23. Deniz, D., & Gemlik, N. (2022). Z kuşağı öğrencilerinin kişilik özellikleri bağlamında iş hayatına yönelik görüşlerinin incelenmesi. Sağlık ve Sosyal Refah Araştırmaları Dergisi, 4(1), 1–11.
24. Dikeç, G., Öztürk, S., Taşbaşı, N., Figenergül, D., & Güler, B. B. (2023). The perceptions of Generation Z university students about their futures: A qualitative study. Sci, 5(4), 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/sci5040045
25. Filiz, U., & Polat, F. (2022). Sosyo-Psikolojik faktörlerin seçmen davranışlarına etkileri: Pamukkale Üniversitesi örneği. Pamukkale Journal of Eurasian Socioeconomic Studies, 9(1), 83–116. https://doi.org/10.34232/pjess.1105396
26. Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge University Press.
27. Giddens, A., & Sutton, P. (2016). Sosyoloji (M. Şenol, Çev.). Kırmızı Yayınları.
28. Greene, S. (2004). Social identity theory and party identification. Social Science Quarterly, 85(1), 136–153. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42955932
29. Hafızoğlu, Y. (2021). Z kuşağı seçmen davranışları. Eğitim ve Yeni Yaklaşımlar Dergisi, 4(2), 141–164. https://doi.org/10.52974/jena.1035189
30. Harrop, M., & Miller, W. L. (1987). Elections and voters: A comparative introduction. Macmillan.
31. Hernández-Arriaza, M., Muñoz-San Roque, L., Blanc, G. A., & Shorey, S. (2023). Gen-Z university students’ attitudes toward current global trends: Environment, globalisation, immigration, feminism, and capitalism. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2023.2265840
32. Jasper, J. (2002). Ahlaki protesto sanatı. Ayrıntı Yayınları.
33. Jovanoski, A., & Ohridski, K. (2014). Models of voting. Researchers World, 5(1), 16–24.
34. Kurt, Ş. K. (2021). Enformasyonun duygu boyutu: Duygusal bulaşıcılık perspektifinden sosyal ağlarda duygu çalışmaları. İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 53, 109–136. https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.863473
35. Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. Oxford University Press.
36. Lazarus, R. S. (1982). Thoughts on the relations between emotion and cognition. American Psychologist, 37(9), 1019–1024. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.37.9.1019
37. Lazarus, R. S. (1966). Psychological stress and the coping process. McGraw-Hill.
38. Luo, Y., Choi, J. A., & Benton, B. (2024). Negative emotions on social media dominate Gen Z’s decisions for the 2024 Election. School of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works 47. https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/scom-facpubs/47
39. Mandić, A., Walia, S. K., & Rasoolimanesh, S. M. (2024). Gen Z and the flight shame movement: examining the intersection of emotions, biospheric values, and environmental travel behaviour in an Eastern society. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 32(8), 1621–1643. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2023.2254950
40. Marcus, G.E. (2000). Emotions of politics. Annual Review Political Science, 3(1), 221–250. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.3.1.221
41. Marcus, G. E. (2003). The psychology of emotions and politics. D. O. Sears, L. Huddy & R. Jervis (Ed.), Oxford handbook of political psychology içinde (ss. 182–221). Oxford University Press.
42. Marcus, G.E. (2019, 21 Mayıs). How fear and anger impact democracy. Items. https://items.ssrc.org/democracy-papers/how-fear-and-anger-impact-democracy/
43. Marcus, G. E., Neuman, W. R., & MacKuen, M. (2000). Affective intelligence and political judgment. University of Chicago Press.
44. Marcus, G., & Mackuen, M. (1993). Anxiety, enthusiasm, and the vote: The emotional underpinnings of learning and involvement during presidential campaigns. The American Political Science Review, 87(3), 672–685. https://doi.org/10.2307/2938743
45. Margalit, Y., Slough, T., & Ting, M. M. (2022). After defeat: how governing parties respond to electoral loss. Political Science Research and Methods, 10(4), 739-758. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2021.62
46. Miller, J., & Krosnick, J. (1998). The impact of candidate name order on election outcomes. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 62(3), 291–330. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2749662
47. Miller, P. (2011). The emotional citizen: Emotion as a function of political sophistication. Political Psychology, 32(4), 575–600. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2011.00824.x
48. Moors, A., Ellsworth, P. C., Scherer, K. R., & Frijda, N. H. (2013). Appraisal theories of emotion: State of the art and future development. Emotion Review, 5(2), 119–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073912468165
49. Nussbaum, M. C. (2013). Political emotions: Why love matters for justice. Harvard University Press.
50. Ortiz Barquero, P., Ruiz Jiménez, A., & González-Fernández, M. (2022). Ideological voting for radical right parties in Europe. Acta Polit, 57, 644–661. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-021-00213-8
51. Parker, M., & Isbell, L. (2010). How I vote depends on how I feel: The differential impact of anger and fear on political information processing. Psychological Science, 21(4), 548–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610364006
52. Parmelee, J., Perkins, S., & Beasley, B. (2022). Personalization of politicians on Instagram: what Generation Z wants to see in political posts. Information, Communication & Society, 26, 1773 – 1788. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2027500
53. Patton, R., Beaver, J., & Potok, T. (2011, 4-7 Ocak). Classification of distributed data using topic modeling and maximum variation sampling [Konferans sunumu]. 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Hawaii, USA. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2011.101
54. Prysby, C., & Scavo, C. (2008). Voting Behavior: The 2008 Election. https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/SETUPS2008/brochure-web.pdf
55. Redlawsk, D. P., & Mattes, K. (2022). Emotions and politics. C. G. Sibley & D. Osborne (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of political psychology içinde (ss. 139–158). Cambridge University Press.
56. Ridout, T., & Searles, K. (2011). It’s my campaign, I’ll cry if I want to: How and when campaigns use emotional appeals. Political Psychology, 32(3), 439–458. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41262871
57. Riera, P., & Cantú, F. (2022). Electoral systems and ideological voting. European Political Science Review, 14(4), 463–481. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773922000248
58. Rosema, M. (2004). The sincere vote: A psychological study of voting [Doktora Tezi, Leiden University].
59. Rubin, J., Chen, K., & Tung, A. (2024). Generation Z’s challenges to financial independence: Adolescents’ and early emerging adults’ perspectives on their financial futures. Journal of Adolescent Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584241256572
60. Saiegh, S. (2015). Using joint scaling methods to study ideology and representation: Evidence from Latin America. Political Analysis, 23(3), 363–384. https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpv008
61. Scherer, K. R. (2001). Feelings integrate the central representation of appraisal-driven response organization in emotion. A. S. Manstead, N. H. Frijda, & A. Fischer (Ed.), Feelings and Emotions içinde (ss. 136–157). Cambridge University Press.
62. Somer-Topcu, Z. (2009). Timely decisions: The effects of past national elections on party policy change. The Journal of Politics, 71(1), 238-248. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381608090154
63. Teyyare, E., & Avcı, M. (2016). Yerel seçimlerde seçmen davranışları: 2014 yerel seçimleri ve Zonguldak ili örneği. Siyaset, Ekonomi ve Yönetim Araştırmaları Dergisi, 4(1), 51–76.
64. Tokdoğan, N. (2020). Reading politics through emotions: Ontological ressentiment as the emotional basis of current politics in Turkey. Nations and Nationalism, 26(2), 388–406. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12546
65. Vaisilopoulos, P., Marcus, G., Valentino, N., & Foucault, M. (2019). Anger mediates the effects of fear on support for the far right—a rejoinder. Political Psychology, 40(4), 713–717. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12598
66. Valentino, N., Brader, T., Groenendyk, E., Gregorowicz, K., & Hutchings, V. (2011). Election night’s alright for fighting: The role of emotions in political participation. The Journal of Politics, 73(1), 156–170. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381610000939
67. Van der Brug, W., Fennema, M., & Tillie, J. (2000). Anti-immigrant parties in Europe: Ideological or protest vote? European Journal of Political Research (37), 77–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00505
68. Zagórski, P., Roch, J., Tudó-Cisquella, J., López-Yagüe, A., & Cordero, G. (2024). Generation Z: Pessimistic and populist? A conjoint experiment on the determinants of populist voting in Spain. European Political Science Review, 17(2), 202–220. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773924000237
69. Zeynel, Ş. Ş., & Savut, E. (2024). Politik duyguların kültür ve parti eğilimleri ile ilişkisi: 2023 genel seçim kampanyası üzerinden nitel bir analiz. Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Sosyal ve Ekonomik Araştırmalar Dergisi, 26(46), 502–522.