Final answer:
A person's opinions are formed through life experiences and are influenced by beliefs and attitudes shaped early in life. Agents of socialization like family, schools, media, and demographic factors mold these opinions, which collectively contribute to public opinion and individual political socialization.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that refers to a person's opinions formed through life experiences and conversations is often encapsulated by concepts like 'beliefs' and 'attitudes'. These are foundational elements that help shape one's perspective on various issues throughout life. Beginning in childhood, we accumulate beliefs; these are deeply held ideas that bolster our values and expectations about life and politics, such as the beliefs in equality, liberty, freedom, and privacy which are widely held in the United States. Our attitudes, on the other hand, reflect preferences formed from personal beliefs and life experiences that influence our reactions to different situations and entities.
These concepts are integral to the process of political socialization, whereby individuals develop their set of opinions on different issues. Influences like family, schools, friends, religious organizations, and the media serve as agents of socialization, imparting their knowledge and passing on cultural norms and values that shape our political ideologies and stances on policy issues. Moreover, demographic factors—such as age, race, ethnicity, and gender—can significantly influence our attitudes toward specific issues or political figures.
Thus, public opinion is a complex amalgam of personal judgments, which can include collective views that people are willing to express openly as well as opinions formed about one another. This weaving together of beliefs and attitudes forms the foundation upon which individuals assess and engage with political theories, policies, and the roles of government in society, often measured through various instruments of public opinion polling.