Life satisfaction and political participation in Türkiye: a moderated mediation model of political interest and ideological orientation

The aim of this cross-sectional study is to examine the mediating role of political interest in the association between life satisfaction and political participation and the moderating role of individuals' political orientation within a moderated mediation framework. The study uses data from the 7th Wave of the World Values Survey (WVS) conducted in Türkiye. As part of the study, a moderated mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes’ PROCESS Macro Model 7 with 2,415 participants (age range: 18–95 years; M = 38.74, SD = 12.53). The findings indicated that political interest plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between life satisfaction and political participation, and this indirect association is contingent upon individuals' political orientations. Among right-wing and centrist individuals, life satisfaction was found to be a positively associated with political interest. However, this relationship was not statistically significant among left-wing individuals. The results highlight the importance of understanding political participation not simply as a civic duty but as a complex psychological and social phenomenon that is significantly associated with life satisfaction and shaped by individuals’ ideological orientations in Türkiye.