Political Engagement Research Group (POENG) focuses on studying political attitudes and behavior. Our group examines electoral participation and candidates, political efficacy and political trust, and intergenerational transmission of political values. Our goal is to understand the similarities, differences, and trends in political engagement, with a particular focus on inequalities in participation.
Members
Discontinuities in Intergenerational Transmission of Political Values in Finland (DISCO)
Discontinuities in Intergenerational Transmission of Political Values in Finland (DISCO) examines the extent to which political values are shared between Finns under the age of 40 and their parents, both in the population at large and among families with an immigrant background. The project challenges classical theories of intergenerational value transmission by taking into account the changes that have occurred in Finland over recent decades in political cleavages, parenting practices, family structures, gender roles, and the ethnic and cultural diversity of the population. Understanding how values are transmitted across generations helps anticipate the kinds of values that will shape the future development of Finnish society.
Principal Investigator: Elina Kestilä-Kekkonen
Funder(s): Koneen Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation
Regional Differentiation of Political Engagement
The project examines the regional differentiation of political engagement and, in particular, the position of Eastern Finland in a divided Finland. The project produces knowledge on whether regional differences in political engagement have widened during the 2000s and how Eastern Finland as a region relates to this development. For a long time, Eastern Finland has lagged behind Southern and Western Finland on many indicators (economy, employment, migration, etc.), and voter turnout rates have also diverged. The position of Eastern Finland has become even more challenging during the 2020s. Therefore, the project investigates whether these developments are also reflected in political engagement over time during the 2000s. Special attention is paid to external political efficacy, which measures citizens’ perceptions of whether the political system is responsive to their wishes. The study is linked to the concept of left-behind areas: some regions lag behind others not only in structural indicators, but also experience concerns that the political elite has left them to their own devices.
Principal Investigator: Jussi Westinen
Funder(s): South Karelia Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation
Regional Differentiation of Trust in Public Authorities in Finland in the 2010s and 2020s
This project examines the regional differentiation of trust in public authorities in Finland during the 2010s and 2020s. It investigates the extent to which people's residential environments influence their trust in public institutions and their performance. Particular attention is paid to whether Eastern Finland has developed into a peripheral area of lower trust. The study focuses on trust in decision-making bodies, public administration, and education and healthcare systems at the national, regional, and municipal levels. It examines representative political institutions that exercise decision-making authority, as well as the institutions responsible for implementing their decisions. The focus is on institutions whose operating conditions are significantly shaped by public policy and that play a central role for municipalities and regions due to their societal importance. The project contributes to a broad understanding of how trust in public authorities, a key component of the Finnish welfare state and regional resilience, is structured across different population groups.
Principal Investigator: Jussi Westinen
Funder(s): Eevi and Eemil Tanninen Foundation
Media as a Barrier to and Enabler of Political Participation among Linguistic Minorities (MINMEDIA)
This project examines the role of media as either a barrier to or an enabler of political engagement and equal participation among young people belonging to linguistic minorities in Finland. It explores the significance of media for young people's political socialization, engagement, and participation both in general and specifically among the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland and young foreign-language-speaking immigrants. The project focuses on comparisons between Swedish-speaking and Finnish-speaking youth, while also including foreign-language-speaking young people in the analyses whenever possible. Based on the findings, conclusions can be drawn about the potential of media to support young people's development into democratic citizens, as well as the particular importance of media in one's native language for Swedish-speaking youth in Finland.
Principal Investigator: Venla Hannuksela
Funder(s): Brita Maria Renlund's Memorial Foundation
Doctoral dissertations
Citizens' Trust Profiles as Predictors of Crisis Behavior
This study examines how citizens' trust in political institutions and in other people influences their behavior in crisis situations. It also investigates how citizens' civic knowledge and skills shape this relationship. The aim of the study is to understand what kinds of trust contribute to outcomes such as compliance with official guidelines and acting for the common good during crises. The findings will provide a deeper understanding of citizens' behavior in crisis situations and help build an increasingly resilient Finland.
Principal Investigator: Maria Kekkonen
Funder(s): Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation; Otto A. Malm Donation Fund
News from the tuni.fi
Recent publications
2026
Koivula, A., & Kestilä-Kekkonen, E. (2026). Internal efficacy and political trust: Evaluating political institutions through pandemic crisis policy. International Political Science Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/01925121251406732
Hannuksela, V. R. K. (2026). A compensatory boost: how does an open classroom climate moderate a weak political socialisation background? Acta Politica. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-026-00441-w
Hannuksela, V., Sipinen, J., & Korventausta, M. (2026). Does political value diversity in class facilitate an open classroom climate? Evidence from linguistic minority schools and majority schools in Finland. Citizenship Social and Economics Education, 25(1), 25-43. https://doi.org/10.1177/14788047251348561
Herne, K., Sipinen, J., Söderlund, P., & Kestilä-Kekkonen, E. (2026). The Influence of Justification Content and Argument Source on Perceived Argument Quality. Argumentation. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10503-026-09694-3
Sipinen, J., Söderlund, P., & von Schoultz, Å. (2026). The best of two worlds? How residence-country contexts affect migrants’ origin-country political engagement. Acta Politica. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-026-00425-w
2025
Ahonen, S., Leino, M., & Tiihonen, A. (2025). Framing climate policy around energy independence enhances acceptance and perceived effectiveness: evidence from a Finnish survey experiment. Climatic Change, 178(2), Article 22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-025-03859-x
Hannuksela, V. (2025). Koulun avoin keskustelukulttuuri ja sosiaalinen pääoma vahvistavat ruotsinkielisten nuorten luottamusta poliittisiin kykyihinsä: Lectio praecursoria. Politiikka, 67(3/4), 266-273. https://doi.org/10.37452/politiikka.163542
Hannuksela, V. (2025). Miksi ruotsinkieliset äänestävät enemmän kuin suomenkieliset? Politiikka, 67(3/4), 235-259. https://doi.org/10.37452/politiikka.163866
Hannuksela, V. (2025). Pathways to Voting Intentions Among Swedish-Speaking Adolescents in Finland. Journal of race, ethnicity, and politics, 10(2), 481-502. https://doi.org/10.1017/rep.2025.15
Hannuksela, V. (2025). Political Self-Efficacy Development within a Minority: The Causes and Consequences of Political Self-Efficacy among Swedish-Speaking Finnish Adolescents. omakustanne. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-3986-9
Jakobson, M.-L., Sipinen, J., & Taimla, K. (2025). Are Estonians the true Finns? Homeland and residence country perspectives on support for the populist radical right. International Migration, 63(3), Article e13356. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13356
Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., Sipinen, J., & Söderlund, P. (2025). Family Beats School? Adolescents' Turnout Intention on Different Educational Tracks. Scandinavian Political Studies, 48(1), Article 12300. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12300
Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., Sipinen, J., & Söderlund, P. (2025). Mummy’s girls, daddy’s boys: the gendered transmission of political engagement in families. West European Politics, 48(2), 297-322. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2023.2275447
Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., Sipinen, J., Rapeli, L., & Vadén, S. (2025). The role of political engagement of parents in reducing the gender gap in political self-efficacy. European Journal of Politics and Gender, 8(3), 622-644. https://doi.org/10.1332/25151088Y2023D000000005
Sipinen, J., Laine, L., & Kestilä-Kekkonen, E. (2025). Taktinen äänestäminen presidentinvaaleissa. In M. Kujanen, & T. Raunio (eds.), Presidentinvaalit 2024: Ehdokasvalinta, media ja kansansuosio (pp. 104-123). Tampere University Press. https://doi.org/10.61201/tup.1045.c2450
Tiihonen, A., Borg, S., & Isotalo, V. (2025). Äänestäjien sosiodemografinen profiili sekä arvot ehdokasvalintojen taustalla. In M. Kujanen, & T. Raunio (eds.), Presidentinvaalit 2024: Ehdokasvalinta, media ja kansansuosio (pp. 48-79). Tampere University Press. https://doi.org/10.61201/tup.1045.c2448
Vadén, S., Sipinen, J., & Söderlund, P. (2025). School track and adolescents’ climate change attitudes. Environmental Education Research, 31(12), 2573-2592. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2025.246168
Westinen, J., & Sipinen, J. (2025). Oikeutettu odotus ja petetty lupaus? Politiikka, 67(1), 3-6. https://doi.org/10.37452/politiikka.164088
Datasets
Rapeli, L., Sipinen, J. (2025). Gen2 Survey, March 2023. Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD). 10.60686/t-fsd3865
Rapeli, L., Sipinen, J. (2025). Civic Engagement of Foreign-language Speakers and People with Foreign Backgrounds in Finland 2023. Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD). 10.60686/t-fsd3867
Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., Sipinen, J., Tiihonen, A., Borg, S., Hannuksela, V., Kestilä, L., Kekkonen, M., Korventausta, M., Porkkala, S., Söderlund, P., Vadén, S. (2024). Finnish Adolescents' Political Engagement 2021-2023. Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD). 10.60686/t-fsd3882
Tiihonen, A., Hannuksela, V., Korventausta, M., Kestilä-Kekkonen, E, Sipinen, J., Vadén, S., Kekkonen, M., Jaakkola, J. (2024). Lower Secondary School Teachers as Civic Educators 2023. Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD). 10.60686/t-fsd3881
Sipinen, J., Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., Borg, S., von Schoulz, Å. (2023). Finnish Municipal Election Candidates 2021. Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD). 10.60686/t-fsd3622
Sipinen, J., Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., Tiihonen, A., Borg, S., Aarnio, A. (2020). Finnish Municipal Election Candidates 2017: Finnish and Swedish Speakers. Finnish Social Science Data Archive. 10.60686/t-fsd3280
Sipinen, J., Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., Tiihonen, A., Borg, S., Aarnio, A. (2019). Finnish Municipal Election Candidates 2017: Foreign Language Speakers. Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD). 10.60686/t-fsd3281
Herne, K., Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., Mattinen, L., Sipinen, J. (2022). Argument Quality Evaluation Study 2018. Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD). 10.60686/t-fsd3587