scholarly journals Institutional trust, political participation, and corruption: A European comparative perspective

Sociologija ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 336-354
Author(s):  
Jovana Zafirovic ◽  
Branka Matijevic ◽  
Bozidar Filipovic
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Institutional Trust ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Post Industrial ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Cross National

Despite the theoretical and political importance of the relationship between institutional trust and different forms of political participation in Europe, theoretical and empirical focus on post-industrial economies leave the literature wanting of explanations of cross-national variation in political participation. In this article, we test whether levels of corruption influence the relationship between institutional trust and participation. We rely on the 9th wave of the European Social Survey results for an in-depth analysis of the relationship between institutional trust, political participation, and perceived corruption in 27 countries. The multilevel regression analysis results show that the effect of institutional trust on institutionalised political participation (including voting) is moderated by corruption. However, corruption does not moderate the relationship between institutional trust and non-institutionalised forms of participation.

scholarly journals Institutions, Incorporation, and Inequality: The Case of Minority Health Inequalities in Europe

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elyas Bakhtiari ◽  
Sigrun Olafsdottir ◽  
Jason Beckfield
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Minority Health ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Immigrant Incorporation ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
The Relationship

Scholars interested in the relationship between social context and health have recently turned attention further “upstream” to understand how political, social, and economic institutions shape the distribution of life chances across contexts. We compare minority health inequalities across 22 European countries ( N = 199,981) to investigate how two such arrangements—welfare state effort and immigrant incorporation policies—influence the distribution of health and health inequalities. We examine two measures of health from seven waves of the European Social Survey. Results from a series of multilevel mixed-effects models show that minority health inequalities vary across contexts and persist after accounting for socioeconomic differences. Cross-level interaction results show that welfare state effort is associated with better health for all groups but is unrelated to levels of inequality between groups. In contrast, policies aimed at protecting minorities from discrimination correlate with smaller relative health inequalities.

scholarly journals Does Education Matter for the Relationship between Healthcare Use for Serious Health Problems and Well-being? A Study in 24 Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1136-1150
Author(s):  
Rania F. Valeeva
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Healthcare Use ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Multiple Regression Models ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Cross National

Previous research has shown that the well-being of people in Western societies varies consistently. To understand these differences, we focus on the relationship between healthcare use and well-being, since previous research has shown that poor health and lack of social support reduce well-being. Based on the findings of the previous research, we hypothesize that there is a positive relationship between healthcare use and well-being, and that the strength of this relationship increases with the years of schooling. We tested these hypotheses in 24 countries using data (N = 40,249) from the European Social Survey. The data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression models. Our results indicate cross-national differences in the relationship between healthcare use for serious health problems and well-being. Moreover, they suggest that the extent of education matters for this relationship, however its influence differs across countries. Further research is needed to explain these cross-national differences.

Power Values and Power Distance Moderate the Relationship Between Workplace Supervisory Power and Job Satisfaction

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-141
Author(s):  
Kenneth D. Locke
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Power Distance ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Workplace Power ◽  
Over Time

Abstract. Person–job (or needs–supplies) discrepancy/fit theories posit that job satisfaction depends on work supplying what employees want and thus expect associations between having supervisory power and job satisfaction to be more positive in individuals who value power and in societies that endorse power values and power distance (e.g., respecting/obeying superiors). Using multilevel modeling on 30,683 European Social Survey respondents from 31 countries revealed that overseeing supervisees was positively associated with job satisfaction, and as hypothesized, this association was stronger among individuals with stronger power values and in nations with greater levels of power values or power distance. The results suggest that workplace power can have a meaningful impact on job satisfaction, especially over time in individuals or societies that esteem power.

scholarly journals Regional Variation in Inequality of Educational Opportunity across Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312110198
Author(s):  
Bastian A. Betthäuser ◽  
Caspar Kaiser ◽  
Nhat An Trinh
Keyword(s):  
Regional Variation ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
Large Body ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Inequality Of Educational Opportunity ◽  
Cross National

A large body of literature documents cross-national variation in the level of inequality of educational opportunity (IEO) among children from different social backgrounds. By contrast, relatively little attention has been given to the extent to which IEO varies within counties and across regions. On the basis of data from the European Social Survey, the authors map variation in IEO across regions in Europe and show that IEO varies substantially within counties. This visualization of the heterogeneity of IEO within European countries highlights the need for researchers and policy makers to extend the current focus on cross-national differences and to investigate and address IEO at the regional level. The visualization raises important questions with respect to the contours, causes, and consequences of cross-regional variation in IEO.

scholarly journals Are adult learners in Europe happier than non-learners? Statistical evidence from the European Social Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 147490412110146
Author(s):  
Ellen Boeren
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Relationship

This paper borrows insights from the literature on European welfare regimes to analyse the relationship between happiness and participation in adult education. The academic literature and policy discourses on adult education tend to claim that participation in learning is correlated with happiness despite the lack of strong European comparative empirical evidence on this topic. This paper uses data from the latest Wave of the European Social Survey to analyse the happiness perceptions of nearly 20,000 adults between the ages of 25 and 64 who live in 16 European countries (15 European Union countries and the United Kingdom). Results indicate that while adult learners on average tend to be happier than non-learners, this correlation weakens when controlling for determinants of participation and happiness and for the countries in which these adults live. Confirming the importance of welfare regimes, this study found that adults in Finland tend to be happier than those in other countries, regardless of their participation in adult education. Happiness scores were lowest in Bulgaria and Hungary, countries with low participation rates in adult education and with the biggest differences in happiness scores between learners and non-learners. It is argued that the presence of well-structured adult learning provision might be an important characteristic of welfare regimes but that happiness is determined by much more than being an adult learner.

scholarly journals Measuring the trust in the European values study and the European social survey

Sociologija ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 419-439
Author(s):  
Milos Besic
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Trust ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
European Values ◽  
European Values Study

In this paper, we compare the latent construct measurement of political and interpersonal trust in two researches: the European Values Study and the European Social Survey. The main goal was to estimate the validity of measuring the respective concepts. In order to achieve this goal, we conducted a number of Principal Component Analyses and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. Additionally, we used multilevel regression modelling to test and compare the effect of socio-demographic variables on political and interpersonal trust in both researches. We identified that socio-demographic predictors had a similar effect on both types of trust. The paper is complemented with descriptive data that portray the differences among countries when it comes to interpersonal and political trust.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Age and Happiness Varies by Income

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimiter Toshkov
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Old Age ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe link between age and happiness has been the subject of numerous studies. It is still a matter of controversy whether the relationship is U-shaped, with happiness declining after youth before bouncing back in old age, or not. While the effect of age has been examined conditional on income and other socio-demographic variables, so far, the interactions between age and income have remained insufficiently explored. Using data from the European Social Survey, this article shows that the nature of the relationship between age and happiness varies strongly with different levels of relative income. People in the lowest decile of the income distribution experience a ‘hockey stick’: a deep decline in self-reported happiness until around age 50–55 and a small bounce back in old age. The classic U-curve is found mostly in the middle-income ranks. For people at the top of the income distribution, average happiness does not vary much with age. These results demonstrate the important role of income in moderating the relationship between age and happiness.

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 Patterns of Trust and Subjective Well-Being Across Europe: New Insights from Repeated Cross-Sectional Analyses Based on the European Social Survey 2002–2016

2019 ◽  
Vol 148 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Glatz ◽  
Anja Eder
Keyword(s):  
Social Trust ◽  
Well Being ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Institutional Trust ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract This paper offers elaborate analyses regarding the effects of social- as well as institutional trust as parts of social capital on subjective well-being (SWB) by using data from the European Social Survey, including 36 countries and eight time-points between 2002 and 2016. We analyze (1) The development of trust and SWB on the aggregate level; (2) The effect of trust on SWB on the individual cross-sectional level; and (3) The longitudinal and cross-sectional effect of trust on SWB on the aggregate level while considering control variables based on previous research. We observe a weak positive trend regarding social trust as well as SWB over time, but no significant change in institutional trust. However, trends are far from homogeneous across countries. In accordance to previous studies, we find a positive effect of social trust on SWB. This effect holds on the individual cross-sectional level for every participating country, but also on the longitudinal level. In view of institutional trust, we see a positive effect on SWB on the individual and aggregate cross-sectional level, but not over time. Thus, this study particularly sheds new light on this relation, indicating that it´s cross-sectional relation is due to confounding variables. Moreover, we observe no relation between economic growth and SWB after controlling for unemployment, but a positive effect of decreasing unemployment and inflation on SWB. Our data suggests that establishing an environment with high social trust across Europe would be rewarded with a happy society.

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