Social capital and self-rated health among older adults: a comparative analysis of Finland, Poland and Spain

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 653-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELENI KOUTSOGEORGOU ◽  
FREDRICA NYQVIST ◽  
MIKAEL NYGÅRD ◽  
MILDA CERNIAUSKAITE ◽  
RUI QUINTAS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Good Health ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
General Trust ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Eu

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to investigate the association between structural and cognitive aspects of social capital and self-rated health among adults aged 50 or more, living in three countries: Finland, Poland and Spain. The study, which was based on data from the European Social Survey (2008/09), was a part of the EU research project COURAGE in Europe. More specifically the paper assesses the association between social capital indicators – informal social network and general trust – and good self-rated health through single-level and joint effects analyses. The results showed that Finland was a country of high social capital, in terms of both social networks and general trust, while Spain showed low levels of general trust and Poland low levels of informal social networks. As to the association between social capital and self-rated health, high levels of general trust and high networks were found to be associated with good health among all countries' respondents. Older persons living in partnerships, with higher education, higher levels of engagement in informal networks and general trust, were found to be more likely to show good self-rated health. Our comparative analyses revealed different associations between social capital and health according to country.

Right-wing populism and self-rated health in Europe: a multilevel analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 1116-1121
Author(s):  
Insa Backhaus ◽  
Shiho Kino ◽  
Giuseppe La Torre ◽  
Ichiro Kawachi
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Fair Poor

BackgroundIndividuals who identify as politically conservative have been previously shown to report better self-rated health compared with liberals. We tested whether this association still holds for right-wing populists, which are gaining strength as a political force in Europe in recent decades.MethodsWe analysed data from 24 617 respondents nested within 18 European countries included in the 2016 European Social Survey. Multilevel analyses were conducted to assess the association between political ideology and self-rated health, adjusting for other individual covariates (happiness and social capital).ResultsIndividuals who voted for right-wing populist parties were 43% more likely to report fair/poor health compared with traditional conservatives (OR=1.43, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.67). The association was attenuated (OR=1.21, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.42) after controlling for additional individual-level variables, including happiness and access to social capital. Higher levels of social capital (informal networks, OR=0.40, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.56; trust, OR=0.82, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.92) and happiness (OR=0.18, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.22) were protectively correlated with fair/poor self-rated health.ConclusionsIndividuals voting for right-wing populist parties report worse health compared with 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 lead to worse health.

Social Capital and the Development of Political Support in Europe

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Hooghe ◽  
Anna Kern
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Voluntary Associations ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The One ◽  
Democratic Norms

This chapter evaluates the claim that the decline of legitimacy is due to a decline of social capital. The idea that voluntary associations play an important role in establishing social cohesion and political support is a traditional insight in the field of political sociology. The basic assumption is that voluntary associations function as a training ground for democracy, where citizens involved acquire democratic norms and skills that they subsequently apply in their relation with the political system. If this argument is correct, political support should be at least partly influenced by citizens’ participation in civil society organizations. Using European Social Survey data from 2006 and 2012 the authors demonstrate that there is a clear and significant correlation between social involvement on the one hand and satisfaction with the working of democracy and political trust on the other, which largely survives the introduction of a range of control variables.

scholarly journals Democracy belief systems in Europe: cognitive availability and attitudinal constraint

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-502
Author(s):  
Enrique Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Belief Systems ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Complex Concept ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Mass Publics ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
Constitutive Principles

AbstractThere is a growing interest in analyzing what citizens think about democracy. However, gauging citizens’ opinions about a complex concept such as democracy might be hindered by the apparent low levels of political sophistication of mass publics. This paper contributes to the emerging literature on citizens’ views and evaluations of democracy by analyzing to what extent ordinary citizens are capable of developing structured opinions about democracy and its constitutive principles. For this purpose, the paper adapts Converse’s notion of political belief systems to analyze the articulation of individuals’ democracy belief systems (DBS). The first goal of this paper is to conceptualize and operationalize the main components of individuals’ DBS: cognitive availability, horizontal constraint, and vertical constraint. Drawing on data from the sixth round of the European Social Survey, the second goal is to describe the articulation of DBS in Europe. The third and final aim of this paper is to trace the most relevant individual- and country-level correlates of the articulation of the three components of DBS. In line with recent findings about political belief systems in other policy domains, the results indicate that most Europeans have coherently structured attitudes about democracy. However, even if the results imply that Europeans have a relatively articulated DBS, the empirical analysis also reveals some individual- and country-level variation in the articulation of specific components of DBS.

scholarly journals Health and political efficacy in context: What is the role of the welfare state?

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 435-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Shore ◽  
Carolin Rapp ◽  
Daniel Stockemer
Keyword(s):  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Health Differences ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

Health affects nearly all facets of our lives, including the likelihood of getting involved in politics. Focusing on political efficacy, we zoom in on one potential mechanism as to why people in poor health might, for example, stay at home on Election Day. We first look at the ways in which health is related to both people’s perceptions of their abilities to take part in politics (internal political efficacy) as well as the extent to which they believe policymakers are responsive to citizen needs (external political efficacy). Second, we examine how the social policy context intervenes in the relationship between health and political efficacy. Multilevel models using 2014 and 2016 European Social Survey data on roughly 57,000 respondents nested in 21 European countries reveal complex results: while good health, rather unsurprisingly, fosters internal and external political efficacy, more generous welfare states, though associated with higher levels of political efficacy, are not a panacea for remedying political inequalities stemming from individual health differences.

scholarly journals Does Participation in Social Networks Foster Trust and Respect for Other People—Evidence from Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beata Łopaciuk-Gonczaryk
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
Generalized Trust ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family

A shortage of social capital may hinder sustainable development. According to the “social capital dream” there is a virtuous circle between participation in social networks, trust, and cooperation. It is a promising idea for proponents of sustainability, as it is easier to promote participation than affect social norms. Participation may, however, lead to particularized and not generalized trust, which hinders social inclusion and undermines the idea of a sustainable society. The aim of this paper is to validate the role of participation in informal and formal social networks in enhancing social trust and respect towards others. The relevance of both strong and weak ties is considered. Fixed-effects modeling on three-wave data from a Polish social survey is utilized. An increase in generalized trust corresponds with an increase in the acquaintances network, a decrease in the family and friends network, and an increase in volunteering. A rise in expectations about the cooperativeness of others is enhanced by an increase in the family and friends network, and by volunteering. The lack of respect for some groups of people is not affected by participation in organizations and informal networks. Overall within-person heterogeneity is small, suggesting that possibilities for fostering moral trust by participation are limited.

The “Refugee Crisis,” Immigration Attitudes, and Euroscepticism

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 883-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Stockemer ◽  
Arne Niemann ◽  
Doris Unger ◽  
Johanna Speyer
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Eu

Between 2015 and 2017, the European Union (EU) was confronted with a major crisis in its history, the so-called “European refugee crisis.” Since the multifaceted crisis has provoked many different responses, it is also likely to have influenced individuals’ assessments of immigrants and European integration. Using data from three waves of the European Social Survey (ESS) — the wave before the crisis in 2012, the wave at the beginning of the crisis in 2014, and the wave right after the (perceived) height of the crisis in 2016 — we test the degree to which the European refugee crisis increased Europeans’ anti-immigrant sentiment and Euroscepticism, as well as the influence of Europeans’ anti-immigrant attitudes on their level of Euroscepticism. As suggested by prior research, our results indicate that there is indeed a consistent and solid relationship between more critical attitudes toward immigrants and increased Euroscepticism. Surprisingly, however, we find that the crisis increased neither anti-immigrant sentiments nor critical attitudes toward the EU and did not reinforce the link between rejection of immigrants and rejection of the EU. These findings imply that even under a strong external shock, fundamental political attitudes remain constant.

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