Consuming to Conserve: A Multilevel Investigation of Sustainable Consumption

As the world grapples with the ever-worsening specter of climate change, it becomes important for various nations/governments to develop mitigating measures. One of the ways to ebb the march of climate decline is to educate the population in respective countries about sustainable consumption that reduces carbon emissions. While prior research has explored the key factors of sustainable consumption in several industries, such as consumer knowledge and personal norm, it has played relatively little attention to them macro-level variables such as level of post-materialism and innovation. To this end, we study the interplay between individual-level factors and national-level variables using a hierarchical linear model on consumers’ perceived value for sustainable products and subsequent sustainable behavior. We used a dataset from the World Value Survey, which includes over 34 thousand respondents covering 40 different nations. The finding suggests that differences in individual-level sustainable consumption are explained by national-level factors. Post-materialist societies were willing to make financial sacrifices for sustainable consumption. Our findings also emphasize that the national-level factor Green Innovation modifies the relationship between Preserved Value and Sustainable Consumption at the individual-level. The findings not only sharpen our sustainability knowledge from a hierarchical view, but also provide useful guidelines for policymakers to promote sustainable consumption. Our study emphasizes that sustainable behavior is the consequence of the interplay between multilevel factors.

Mudanças no Cone Sul? Uma análise comparativa dos perfis materialista e pós-materialista

O objetivo desse estudo é apresentar um panorama da teoria pós-materialista de Inglehart em quatro países do Cone Sul (Argentina, Brasil, Chile e Uruguai) discutindo o perfil dos indivíduos materialistas e pós-materialistas e suas mudanças ao longo do tempo. Para tanto, lançou-se mão de uma análise descritiva do perfil de indivíduos materialistas e pós-materialistas segundo um conjunto de variáveis sociodemográficas, e, em seguida, estabeleceu-se um modelo logístico binomial para verificar a influência dessas variáveis na determinação de cada perfil. Utilizou-se dados da pesquisa World Value Survey em três momentos no tempo (décadas de 1990, 2000 e 2010). Os resultados mostram que as diferenças não são tão grandes entre os perfis, mas tendem a corroborar com a teoria de Inglehart. Os resultados contribuem, ainda, para compreender a relação entre o contexto em que o indivíduo se encontra e seus comportamentos e valores, principalmente em realidades desiguais como a América Latina.

Wielkość miejsca zamieszkania a wartości Polaków związane z rodziną – na podstawie danych European Value Study 2017

Celem artykułu jest ustalenie, czy wielkość miejscowości zamieszkania ma wpływ na deklaracje odnoszące się do wyróżnionych wartości związanych z rodziną, które w istotny sposób orientują działanie człowieka i tym samym tworzą zasady życia społecznego. Tekst napisano w oparciu o wtórną analizę danych statystycznych na podstawie zintegrowanego zbioru danych European Value Study/World Value Survey 2017–2021. Rezultaty badania wskazują, że różnice istotne statystycznie pomiędzy wielkością miejscowości pojawiły się w przypadku wszystkich zmiennych dotyczących rodzicielstwa. Mieszkańcy mniejszych miejscowości okazywali się bardziej konserwatywni. Zależność istotna statystycznie nie wystąpiła w przypadku deklaracji dotyczącej zaufania do rodziny. W przypadku niektórych odpowiedzi odnoszących się do postrzegania ról płciowych pojawiły się również istotne statystycznie różnice pomiędzy mieszkańcami mniejszych i większych miejscowości. Wartości i normy są inne w zależności od kultury, w której się wychowujemy. Kontrola społeczna jest silniejsza w mniejszych miejscowościach, tam bowiem trudniej pozostać anonimowym. Badanie potwierdziło, że wielkość miejscowości zamieszkania w wielu przypadkach istotnie statystycznie różnicuje wartości Polaków związane z rodziną i właśnie mieszkańcy mniejszych miejscowości częściej okazywali się przywiązani do koncepcji bardziej tradycyjnych, konserwatywnych.

Do Superordinate Identification and Temporal/Social Comparisons Independently Predict Citizens’ System Trust? Evidence From a 40-Nation Survey

Do superordinate in-group bias as well as temporal and social comparisons offer standalone explanations for system justification? We addressed this question using the latest World Value Survey (7th Wave), combining the responses of 55,721 participants from 40 different nations. Results from a random slope multilevel model showed that superordinate (national) identification, temporal comparison (i.e., the outcomes of an individual relative to those of his/her parents at different time points), and social comparison (based on income levels) were independent and positive predictors of system justification. Specifically, system justification increased when national identification was high, when income increased (i.e., the socioeconomic comparison was positive), and when the outcomes of citizens improved relative to the outcomes of their parents at relevant time points (i.e., the temporal comparison was positive). Incidentally, we also observed an interaction between national identification and temporal comparison (but not with social comparison), indicating that positive temporal comparison seemed to have a reduced effect (but still significant) for highly identified citizens. These results are supportive of the social identity approach to system justification and suggest that support for societal systems is a positive function of people’s personal and group interests.

Predictors of Deviant Behavior Justification among Muslims: Sociodemographic Factors, Subjective Well-Being, and Perceived Religiousness

Current evidence supports how deviant behavior can be predicted by sociodemographic factors, subjective well-being, and perceived religiousness. However, there is limited research when it concerns specificity such as Muslims justifying deviant behavior, and their subjective well-being and perceived religiousness within a single study. Most studies used Christian population or using a non-denominational approach. Therefore, in this study, data from World Value Survey Wave 6 was used to examine the Muslim population (N = 20,559) and deviant behavior justification. Sociodemographic factors, subjective well-being (life satisfaction, happiness, and state of health), and perceived religiousness (prayer frequency and importance of God in life) were hypothesized as predictors. Results revealed that these hypotheses are supported. However, many of these predictors are weak, having minimal effect. This is with the exception of having the worldview of God being important in one’s life, being both a strong and statistically significant predictor of deviant behavior justification. The more a person views God being important in life, the more it predicts a decrease in deviant behavior justification. This research provides a novel finding on the belief-behavior nexus, specifically concerning Muslims justifying deviant behavior when two forms of perceived religiousness—ritualistic and worldview—are being compared.

Of Precarity and Conspiracy: Introducing A Socio-Functional Model of Conspiracy Beliefs

Conspiracy Beliefs (CB) are a key vector of violent extremism, radicalism and unconventional political events (e.g. Brexit). So far, social-psychological research has extensively documented how cognitive, emotional and intergroup factors can promote CB. Evidence also suggests that adherence to CB moves along social class lines: low-income and low-education are among the most robust predictors of CB (Uscinski, 2020; van Prooijen, 2017). Yet, the potential role of precarity – the subjective experience of permanent insecurity stemming from objective material strain – in shaping CB remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we propose for the first time a socio-functional model of CB. We test the hypothesis that precarity could foster increased CB because it undermines trust in government and the broader political “elites”. Data from the World Value Survey (n = 21,650; Study 1, electoral CB) and from representative samples from polls conducted in France (n = 1760, Study 2a, conspiracy mentality) and Italy (n = 2196, Study 2b, COVID-19 CB), corroborate a mediation model whereby precarity is directly and indirectly associated with lower trust in authorities and higher CB. In addition, these links are robust to adjustment on income, self-reported SES and education. Considering precarity allows for a truly social psychological understanding of CB as the by-product of structural issues (e.g. growing inequalities). Results from our socio-functional model suggest that implementing solutions at the socio-economic level could prove efficient in fighting CB.

Gender, Education, and Attitudes toward Women’s Leadership in Three East Asian Countries: An Intersectional and Multilevel Approach

Despite their achievements in the past few decades, women remain largely excluded from impactful leadership positions in many countries and fields. In this research, we focus on how gender and education shape public opinions that favor men over women for political and economic leadership in three East Asian countries. Utilizing an intersectional theoretical framework and multilevel methodological approach to analyze the World Value Survey data, we investigate the heterogeneous effects of education on gender attitudes between men and women and how such heterogeneity is conditioned by national contexts. We found that the negative association between higher levels of education and traditional gender attitudes is much stronger among women than among men, especially in Japan. National contexts not only directly shape gender attitudes but also modify the main and interactive effects of gender and education on attitudes toward women leadership. This research contributes to the emergent literature on the contingency of intersectionality and highlights the utility of multilevel analysis in intersectional and/or comparative studies.

Digital and competing information sources: Impact on environmental concern and prospects for international policy cooperation

The environmental concern of people in industrialized and developing countries is analyzed. Using the 2010–2014 wave of the World Value Survey (WVS), the main purpose of our analysis is to investigate the effect of different information sources on the affective, conative and behavioral components of the environmental concern of people in the developed and developing countries. As independent variables, we use a set of economic data as well as information-related variables, including the internet, mobile phones, TV, radio and newspapers. The digital variables of the internet and mobile phones turn out to have a highly significant impact on environmental concern so that digital modernization of countries should have pro-environmental impacts as a side effect of internet and mobile phone services expansion. With the developing countries catching-up vis-à-vis the OECD countries in the field of mobile phone density and internet density, respectively, one may expect better prospects for cooperation between developed and developing countries since attitudes/the environmental concern of people in developed and developing countries will become more similar. For international green cooperation and climate change policy progress, the new findings presented herein are crucial.

Is Ethnonationalism Growing in Ethiopia and Will it Lead to the Dissolution of the Country? Evidence from the World Value Survey 2007–2020

In this paper, I examine whether ethnopolitical identities have grown in Ethiopia since the introduction of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s reforms in 2018, using the most recent Ethiopian survey data from the World Values Survey (wave 5, from 2007 and wave 7, from 2020). I find that although there remains a general popular commitment to a national (Ethiopian) identity, among younger people (especially males) there is a growing sense of an “ethnic” identity and a growing intolerance of other ethnic groups. Further, I find that those who express ethnonational identities are significantly more likely to engage in protest and demonstrations. In conclusion, I suggest that this may not portend well for the future of Ethiopian unity. I also suggest that whether this happens also depends on the institutional transformation of the Prosperity Party (the successor the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)) and the level of external support the regime receives from its foreign benefactors.

Emigration and Tolerance: Does Preserving Connections Help Enhance Social Tolerance in Romania?

By using World Value Survey data, I investigated whether emigration contributed to raising the level of social tolerance in Romania. In investigating this hypothesis, I used two waves of survey data for building a social tolerance index and analyzing it in relation to country specific questions on migration (having or not friends or relatives who live abroad and the frequency of communicating with them).