Economic anxieties, fear of crime, and punitive attitudes in Latin America

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexa J Singer ◽  
Cecilia Chouhy ◽  
Peter S Lehmann ◽  
Jessica N Stevens ◽  
Marc Gertz

Using data from the 2012 AmericasBarometer survey collected in nine Latin American countries ( n =  14,705), this study examines two theoretically relevant potential sources of punitiveness: economic anxiety and fear of crime. Focusing on these two sources, we explore whether the public opinion dynamics often highlighted by punitiveness scholars also apply to the Latin American context and can thus be of value to explain recent movements towards punitive policies in that region. Generalized Structural Equation Modeling (GSEM) and bootstrapping are used to assess the direct effects of perceived national and personal economic insecurity on punitive sentiments as well as the indirect effects of these attitudes on punitiveness through fear of crime during a time of reduced economic growth, increased economic inequality, and harsh criminal justice policies. Results show that economic anxieties are positively associated with fear of crime, though their effects on support for increased punishments are mixed. Additionally, the effects of economic insecurity on punitiveness are partially mediated by fear of crime, supporting theoretical notions that insecurity produces fear of crime and subsequently influences punitiveness.

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian K. Collins ◽  
Hyun Joon Kim ◽  
Jie Tao

Citizen satisfaction is a popular means of performance management. It underscores a common conception that citizens are customers who are concerned about the quality of public goods and services. We offer a theory that suggests the quantity of public goods and services is also important. We develop our theory based on democratic models of the public where citizens are concerned about equity and accessibility to public goods and services. Using data from two municipal surveys and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), we test three hypotheses and find that both quality and quantity of public service provision are significant antecedents to citizen satisfaction. In our conclusion, we explain how these results call for a more complex conceptualization of the performance associated with managing for citizen satisfaction, and we recommend public managers develop and employ skills that recognize the complex consumptive and democratic attributes of citizens in a public economy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 009385482110084
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Hamm ◽  
Rosalind Searle ◽  
James D. Carr ◽  
Louie Rivers

The recent protests regarding the state of policing in the United States clearly demonstrate that how the police do their job creates a salient potential for harm to the public. This study applies a multidimensional paradigm of risk perception to quantify evaluations of police-caused harm. Using data from a national (U.S.) convenience sample ( n = 1,890) that oversampled individuals who self-identified as black or Muslim, we tested whether these evaluations vary systematically (using confidence intervals), whether they covary with police legitimacy (using structural equation modeling), and the extent to which that covariance differs by demographic status (using multiple groups structural equation modeling). Our results suggest that black and Muslim individuals evaluate police-caused harm differently than do majority group members (white and Christian) on most, but not all, of the measured dimensions. We also find that those evaluations are predictive of trust and provide evidence of some level of consistency across communities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 408-415
Author(s):  
Maria Rubio Juan ◽  
Melanie Revilla

The presence of satisficers among survey respondents threatens survey data quality. To identify such respondents, Oppenheimer et al. developed the Instructional Manipulation Check (IMC), which has been used as a tool to exclude observations from the analyses. However, this practice has raised concerns regarding its effects on the external validity and the substantive conclusions of studies excluding respondents who fail an IMC. Thus, more research on the differences between respondents who pass versus fail an IMC regarding sociodemographic and attitudinal variables is needed. This study compares respondents who passed versus failed an IMC both for descriptive and causal analyses based on structural equation modeling (SEM) using data from an online survey implemented in Spain in 2019. These data were analyzed by Rubio Juan and Revilla without taking into account the results of the IMC. We find that those who passed the IMC do differ significantly from those who failed for two sociodemographic and five attitudinal variables, out of 18 variables compared. Moreover, in terms of substantive conclusions, differences between those who passed and failed the IMC vary depending on the specific variables under study.


Author(s):  
Guangchao Charles Feng ◽  
Zhiliang Lin ◽  
Wanhua Ou ◽  
Xianglin Su ◽  
Qing Yan

Although early screening tests are beneficial for the detection and treatment of cancers, many people have failed to participate in screening tests. The present study aims to explore the theoretical underpinning of low participation in screening programs using the method of meta-analytic structural equation modeling. It was found that the health belief model is the most adopted theoretical framework. Moreover, the intended uptake of screening was positively predicted only by cues to action, health literacy, and perceived susceptibility. As a result, a health intention model, including the three significant variables, is proposed. The practical implications of the findings are that health communication campaigns should focus on enlightening and engaging the public through all necessary means to raise awareness and transfer knowledge in relation to screening procedures as well as cancers per se.


2021 ◽  
pp. 027507402110033
Author(s):  
Hongseok Lee ◽  
Minsung Michael Kang ◽  
Sun Young Kim

Whistleblowing is a psychological process that involves the calculation of risks and benefits. While there exists a broad range of research on whistleblowing in the public sector, previous studies have not examined its entire process due to the limited focus on either whistleblowing intention or whistleblowing behavior. This study aims to fill this gap by applying the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to the whistleblowing context. Specifically, we examine how individual beliefs about the likely consequences of whistleblowing (attitude toward whistleblowing), others’ expectations about whistleblowing (subjective norm), and the capability of blowing the whistle (perceived behavioral control) influence public employees’ actual whistleblowing by way of their intention to report wrongdoings. A series of structural equation models are tested using data from the 2010 Merit Principles Survey. The findings show that the more the employees perceive that the consequences of whistleblowing are important, the more the key referents support whistleblowing, and the more the protections for whistleblowers are available, the more likely are their intentions to disclose wrongdoings and then actually engage in whistleblowing behavior. We conduct additional analyses for internal and external whistleblowers separately and find that there are both meaningful similarities and differences between the two groups. This study provides support for the validity of TPB as a theoretical framework for better understanding and explicating the psychological process of bureaucratic whistleblowing.


Author(s):  
Pablo A. González ◽  
Laura L. Gutiérrez ◽  
Juan Carlos Oyanedel ◽  
Héctor Sánchez-Rodríguez

This article presents an exploratory model to classify public attitudes towards health systems financing and organization. It comprises 5 factors (pay-as-you-use, solidarity, willingness to contribute, mixed financing, and public provision) measured by 17 indicators, selected through Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) applied to a sample of Chilean adults. Based on this model, cluster analysis proposed 2 groups: “Taxes-public” and “Insurance-choice,” representing 47% and 53% of interviewees, respectively. The results show differences between groups concerning the evaluation of both health care providers and insurers. The second cluster tends to evaluate them more harshly, showing less willingness to contribute further, less solidarity, more agreement with the current financing arrangement in terms of the mixture and its insurance (as opposed to purchasing of service based on health problems), and more support for choice of provider. These results highlight the need to consider people’s attitudes in the public discussion of health systems financing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niyi Israel Akeke ◽  
◽  
Adenike Rita Akeke ◽  
Ayodeji Muyideen Awolaj ◽  
Mathew Olufemi Oyebanji

The study explores the potential influences of strategic orientation constructs of entrepreneurial, market and technology orientations on telecommunication firms’ performance using data obtained through structured questionnaires from 57 line managers and 300 customers of these firms. The data collected were subjected to the structural equation modeling technique. The results revealed that strategic orientation has a positive significant relationship with firm performance. Specifically, it showed that only technology orientation has a significant influence on telecommunication firms’ performance. The study contributes to the understanding of the rationale behind which set of strategic orientations should be implemented for improved level of performance in the telecommunication sector.


Author(s):  
Albertus Fenanlampir

The purpose of this research is to examine the influence of consumer sentiments on purchase intention toward foreign products and to determine which personality traits are responsible for the formation of consumer sentiments. In this study, we employed Structural Equation Modeling to test the research model using data collected from a survey of 400 young Vietnamese consumers in Ho Chi Minh City. The results provide empirical evidence of the positive impact of consumer cosmopolitanism and xenocentrism on consumers’ purchase intention toward foreign products. Furthermore, through this study, we indicated that certain personality traits shape consumer sentiments. Generally speaking, in the context of foreign consumption, there is an enhanced link between personality traits and purchase intention via the mediating role of consumer sentiments. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed.


Journalism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1107-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni G.L.A. van der Meer ◽  
Piet Verhoeven ◽  
Johannes W.J. Beentjes ◽  
Rens Vliegenthart

As gatekeepers, journalists have the power to select the sources that get a voice in crisis coverage. The aim of this study is to find out how journalists select sources during a crisis. In a survey, journalists were asked how they assess the following sources during an organizational crisis: news agencies, an organization undergoing a crisis, and the general public. The sample consisted of 214 Dutch experienced journalists who at least once covered a crisis. Using structural equation modeling, sources’ likelihood of being included in the news was predicted using five source characteristics: credibility, knowledge, willingness, timeliness, and the relationship with the journalist. Findings indicated that during a crisis, news agencies are most likely to be included in the news, followed by the public, and finally the organization. The significance of the five source characteristics is dependent on source type. For example, to be used in the news, news agencies and organizations should be mainly evaluated as knowledgeable, whereas information from the public should be both credible and timely. In addition, organizations should not be seen as too willing or too eager to communicate. The findings imply that, during a crisis, journalists remain critical gatekeepers; however, they rely mainly on familiar sources.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1936-1954 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Kelsay ◽  
Jordan Papp ◽  
Jennifer Wareham ◽  
Brad W. Smith

This study reexamines the collective security hypothesis of gun ownership using data collected from residents of the city of Detroit, Michigan. In addition, we seek to determine whether the effects of perceptions of police, fear of crime, and victimization on individual-level gun ownership are attenuated by neighborhood levels of informal social control. Our findings indicate that police satisfaction remains a robust predictor of gun ownership, in that those who are less satisfied with police are more likely to own a firearm for defensive purposes. Moreover, the effects of this variable remain unaffected by the inclusion of informal social control. These results confirm a number of previously identified correlates of gun ownership remain influential and suggest that improving perceptions of police among the public may lead to fewer firearms in circulation among the public.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document