In different theoretical traditions, negative social conditions, attachments, and interactions shape the way individuals view the law and its agents. Although most researchers acknowledge the conceptual distinction between different legal attitudes such as legal cynicism and police legitimacy, it remains unclear to what extent these attitudes stem from the same social sources. In the current study, therefore, we evaluate the social and individual factors that influence trajectories of legal cynicism and police legitimacy using a diverse community sample of youths in Zurich, Switzerland. Latent growth curve models were employed to examine patterns of change in legal cynicism and police legitimacy between 13 and 20 years of age. The findings show that legal cynicism and police legitimacy both decline into early adulthood and exhibit high rank‐stability over time. Furthermore, we find that legal cynicism is closely related to individual characteristics that reflect one's inability to recognize or abide by their internal rules. By contrast, police legitimacy is shaped by socialization influences, particularly teacher bonds and police contacts. These results indicate a need to assess the measurement and interpretation of legal cynicism critically in relation to broader legitimacy beliefs and to investigate the shared and distinct sources of these different constructs.

中文翻译：

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评估从青春期到成年早期的法律犬儒主义和警察合法性的共同和独特的预测因素

在不同的理论传统中，消极的社会条件、依恋和互动塑造了个人看待法律及其代理人的方式。尽管大多数研究人员承认不同法律态度（如法律犬儒主义和警察合法性）在概念上的区别，但尚不清楚这些态度在多大程度上源于相同的社会来源。因此，在目前的研究中，我们使用瑞士苏黎世青年的多元化社区样本来评估影响法律犬儒主义和警察合法性轨迹的社会和个人因素。潜在增长曲线模型被用来检查 13 至 20 岁之间法律犬儒主义和警察合法性的变化模式。研究结果表明，法律愤世嫉俗和警察合法性都下降到成年早期，并随着时间的推移表现出高度的稳定性。此外，我们发现法律犬儒主义与反映个人无法承认或遵守其内部规则的个人特征密切相关。相比之下，警察合法性受到社会化影响的影响，尤其是教师纽带和警察联系。这些结果表明，需要批判性地评估与更广泛的合法性信念相关的法律犬儒主义的衡量和解释，并调查这些不同结构的共享和不同来源。警察合法性受到社会化影响的影响，尤其是教师关系和警察联系。这些结果表明，需要批判性地评估与更广泛的合法性信念相关的法律犬儒主义的衡量和解释，并调查这些不同结构的共享和不同来源。警察合法性受到社会化影响的影响，尤其是教师关系和警察联系。这些结果表明，需要批判性地评估与更广泛的合法性信念相关的法律犬儒主义的衡量和解释，并调查这些不同结构的共享和不同来源。