Causal Relationship Model of Social Media Communications Influence Political Participation of New Generation Youths in Nonthaburi Province

Abstract

This research article aims to develop and test the congruence of a causal relationship model of social media communications influence political participation of new generation youths in Nonthaburi province through developed empirical data, and to studythe influence of social media communications to political participation of new generation youths in Nonthaburi province.The study was quantitative research. The data collected by questionnaires from 100 respondents who new generationyouthsaged 18 years old in Nonthaburi province. The research sampling was convenience sampling.The index of item-objective congruence (IOC) was 0.875and reliability value was0.913. The result of study reveals that (1) the structural equation modeling developed by the researcher was congruent with the empirical data c²= 55.96, df = 29, c²/df =1.929, P-value = 0.476, RMSEA = 0.000, GFI = 0.966,AGFI = 0.943; showed that all of the statistical value passed the criteria of the model congruenceindex of the structural equation modeling and the result of R² = 0.416 mean that all of variables been able to predicted the variance of political participation of new generationyouthsat 41.60 percentages. And (2) the latent variable which positive direct influence to political participation of new generation youths in Nonthaburi province was social media communications at significant level of 0.001 with the coefficient influence at 0.190 and found that the social media communications had a positive indirect influence passed the latent variable which was the online media openness of new generation youths at significant statistical of 0.001 level with at 0.474 of the influence coefficients. Meanwhile, the latent variable was the online media openness of new generation youths had significantly positive direct influence to the political participation of new generation youths in Nonthaburi province at 0.001 of statistical level with the coefficient influence at 0.360