Two-thirds of 16 and 17-year-olds in Scotland are likely to have voted in the general election if they had been allowed, a new survey has found.
Research by academics at Edinburgh University found that if voting in May's election had been opened up to those aged 16 and 17, 67% of Scots this age were "very likely" to have had have taken part, compared to 39% in the rest of the UK.
Giving the vote to all those aged over 16, together with more discussion about political issues, could help get more young people involved with politics, it suggested.
The paper, which is being presented at a conference in Edinburgh, comes after the Scottish Government allowed 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in last year's independence referendum.
Ministers have also put forward legislation that will allow the age group to vote in future Scottish Parliament elections as well as council elections north of the border.
But under-18s are barred from taking part in UK elections and the UK Government is opposed to giving them a say in the upcoming in/out referendum on membership of the European Union.
The study, by Jan Eichhorn, of the university's School of Social and Political Science, and his colleagues said cutting the voting age to 16 for the independence referendum had been "successful".
The paper said: "Many of the negative consequences some had expected did not materialise and we can confidently assess that there have been many positive effects.
"Our research here shows that those effects were not just referendum-specific but have also been observable in the context of the 2015 general election.
"Young Scots are more likely to display positive civic attitudes and political behaviour than their peers in other parts of the UK."
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