<![CDATA[Massive exposure to corruption information through social media has the potential to shape the political orientation of the younger generation. This study aims to analyze the level of perception of public officials' corruption and its influence on students' motivation to become political actors among high school students in South Tangerang City. Using a quantitative method with a correlational design, this study involved 150 12th grade students selected through a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through a Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using a simple linear regression test with JASP software. The results of the analysis indicate that the perception of public officials' corruption has a positive and significant effect on students' motivation to become political actors (β = 0.396; t = 3.820; p = 0.000). The coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.198) indicates that the perception of corruption contributes 19.8% to the variation in students' motivation. This finding rejects the main hypothesis (H1) and supports the alternative hypothesis (H2), proving that high perceptions of corruption actually trigger students' reactive motivation to enter politics to improve the system, not because of apathy. In conclusion, the higher the perception of public officials' corruption, the higher the students' motivation to become political actors. Educational institutions are advised to improve their anti-corruption education curriculum to direct this critical motivation constructively.]]>
