Social capital and health at the country level

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanghoon Lee
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2199416
Author(s):  
Sara Trujillo-Alemán ◽  
Åsa Tjulin ◽  
Glòria Pérez ◽  
Emma Hagqvist

This study aimed to explore the distribution of social capital and its relation to self-perceived health in lone mothers across Europe. Data were drawn from the European Social Survey Round 5. The sample was restricted to women (15–64 years), not cohabiting with a partner, and with children (≤ 18 years) living in the household. Social capital was measured using variables, representing both structural (political engagement, social support, and social activity) and cognitive (generalized trust, institutionalized trust, reciprocity, and a feeling of safety) components. Individual-level measurements: age, educational attainment, employment status, income level, and household economy. Country-level measurements: family policy model and collective social capital. A multilevel analysis was conducted. The results revealed cross-country variance in the level of lone mothers’ social capital. After adjustment for individual-level and country-level measurements, only reciprocity and a feeling of safety were related to good self-perceived health among lone mothers in Europe.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Zasuwa

Product boycotts represent an important form of sustainable consumption, as withholding purchasing can restrain firms from damaging the natural environment or breaking social rules. However, our understanding of consumer participation in these protests is limited. Most previous studies have focused on the psychological and economic determinants of product boycotting. Drawing on social capital literature, this study builds a framework that explains how individual- and contextual-level social capital affects consumer participation in boycotts of products. A multilevel logistic regression analysis of 29 country representative samples derived from the European Social Survey (N = 54221) shows that at the individual level product boycotting is associated with a person’s social ties, whereas at the country level, generalized trust and social networks positively affect consumer decisions to take part in these protests. These results suggest that to better understand differences among countries in consumer activism, it is necessary to consider the role of social capital as an important predictor of product boycotting.


2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Detlef Fetchenhauer ◽  
Gerben van der Vegt

Summary: This article investigates cross-country differences in economic growth rates from a psychological perspective. Based on social capital theory it is argued that 1) financial honesty and trust are positively correlated with each other when they are aggregated on a country level and that 2) a high level of financial honesty and trust in a given country reduces transaction costs and thus stimulates economic growth. Using data from the World-Value-Surveys in 1981 and 1990 these hypotheses are empirically confirmed. The influence of social capital (i.e., financial honesty and trust) on economic growth was robust and substantial even if a number of relevant variables like gross national product (GNP), urbanization, economic inequality or the proportion of agriculture in gross domestic product were controlled. Thus, it seems worthwhile for economic psychology to further explore the influence of psychological determinants (like trust and honesty) on macroeconomic variables like economic growth or wealth.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-390
Author(s):  
Elize BA Vis ◽  
Tessa M van de Rozenberg ◽  
Peer LH Scheepers

This study investigates whether there are differences in informal social capital between people with a chronic illness and healthy individuals. We also test to what extent this relationship is mediated by individual characteristics and moderated by country-level characteristics. In contrast to previous research, we use representative recent and high-quality data from the European Social Survey of 2012 as well as multilevel analysis. Our results demonstrate that chronically ill people have less informal social capital, all across Europe. Individual characteristics, including depression, subjective health, and perceived income, mediate this relationship almost fully. Welfare regimes and the amount of money countries spend on health care moderate the relationship between chronic illness and informal social capital.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
I Backhaus ◽  
S Kino ◽  
G La Torre ◽  
I Kawachi

Abstract Background Individuals who hew to a conservative political ideology have been previously reported to have better self-rated health compared to liberals. No studies have examined whether the correlation between right-wing ideology and health also holds for populism, a brand of politics that is gaining momentum throughout the world. We tested whether the association still holds for right-wing populists. Methods We analysed data from 24617 respondents nested within 18 European countries included in the 2016 European Social Survey. Multilevel analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between political ideology and self-rated health, adjusting for other individual covariates (happiness and social capital) and country-level characteristics (democracy type). Results Individuals who voted for right-wing populist parties were 43% more likely to report fair/poor health compared to traditional conservatives (OR = 1.43, 95% confidence interval 1.23 to 1.67). The association was attenuated after controlling for individual-level variables, including happiness and access to social capital (OR = 1.21, confidence interval 1.03 to 1.42). Higher levels of social capital (informal networks, OR = 0.40, 95% confidence interval 0.29 to 0.56; trust, OR = 0.82, 95% confidence interval 0.74 to 0.92) and happiness (OR = 0.18, 95% confidence interval 0.15 to 0.22) were protectively correlated with fair/poor self-rated health. Conclusions Individuals voting for right-wing populist parties report worse health compared to conservatives. It remains unclear whether ideology is just a marker for health-related practices, or whether the values and beliefs associated with a particular brand of ideology leads to worse health. Key messages There is a significant association between voting for right-wing populist parties and self-rated poor health. Social capital was protectively correlated with self-rated health calling for renewed attention on the effects of social capital on political ideology and health.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 29-40
Author(s):  
Antti Kouvo

Besides the exponential growth of written pages on social capital and trust, we have seen a considerable increase in empirical comparative studies on the topic. Despite that, it is not always clear how differences between individual and aggregate level factors are taken into account when exploring the sources of trust. The purpose of the article is to find out a) what the explanatory power of individual and country level factors is when explaining generalized and institutional trust among the Europeans and b) what the most essential differences are in the determinants of social capital between different types of European welfare states. The data come from the European Social Survey (ESS 2004). Multilevel analyses are accomplished in order to combine different levels of data and explanations. The results reveal many similarities but also remarkable differences in the generation of horizontal and vertical trust between different types of welfare states and support hypotheses emphasizing institutional characteristics of the states in the generation of trust.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yucheng Zhang ◽  
Yenchun Jim Wu ◽  
Mark Goh ◽  
Xinhong Liu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to draw on social capital theory to develop a model to explain the determinants of a supply chain management scholar’s academic research impact. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from a database of 450 supply chain management scholars in different countries collected from ResearchGate and the World Bank, the bootstrapping method was applied on the moderated mediation analysis. Findings Analysis of the mediating role of a scholar’s social capital suggests that social capital theory has a strong explanatory power on the relationship between a scholar’s research skill and academic impact. To account for the boundary effect at the country-level, the authors further examine if this mechanism differs by country in the supply chain management research context. Research limitations/implications The findings from this study are from a single research area, which limits the generalizability of the study. Although the data are collected from different sources, including ResearchGate and the World Bank, it is cross-sectional in nature. The variables in this model do not have strong causal relationships. Practical implications The results suggest that supply chain management scholars can reap the benefits of their social capital. Specifically, scholars can enhance their academic impact by increasing their social capital. Originality/value The results provide a reference for supply chain management scholars keen on enhancing their academic research impact. It also provides a reference to explain why country-level differences can influence these scholars.


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