Consensual Versus Heterogeneous Conceptions of Nationhood: The Role of Citizenship Regimes and Integration Policies Across 21 European Countries

Conceptions of nationhood (i.e., who is accepted as a member of the national ingroup) are known to be more open in countries with inclusive citizenship and integration policies. Yet, surprisingly, up to now no research has investigated whether the sharedness of these conceptions is related to national policies. Therefore, relying on data from the 2013 International Social Survey Programme, the present study examined to which extent individuals living in 188 regions of 21 European countries share similar conceptions of who is a “true” member of the nation. Both ethnic (e.g., having national ancestry) and civic (e.g., respecting national laws and institutions) criteria were considered. Multilevel analyses revealed that in countries with more inclusive policies (with inclusive citizenship regimes, and where immigrants are granted more political rights) the average regional importance granted to ethnic criteria was lower, and conceptions were more heterogeneous (i.e., less shared). Civic criteria—that are achievable—were deemed more important. This can explain the lower heterogeneity of civic conceptions of nationhood and the lack of impact of national policies (though the average regional importance of these criteria was higher where immigrants had more rights). Overall, these results suggest that inclusive as opposed to exclusive settings leave more room for differing worldviews.

     

Public policy and the total fertility rate: cross-sectional evidence from the LDCs

A framework developed by Easterlin for the analysis of fertility in developing societies is modified and then tested using a sample of 65 less-developed countries. The focus is on assessing the impact of public policy on the national fertility rate. Public policy is reflected in the average levels of education and health in the population and in the condition of the national family planning program. To test for threshold effects with respect to socioeconomic development, the sample is divided on the basis of the infant mortality rate. Fertility rates in those nations characterized by high infant mortality are likely to be determined more by conditions of natural fertility. Those nations with lower infant mortality, and hence greater socioeconomic development, are more likely to exhibit deliberate fertility control. The results of the regression analysis do suggest that different factors influence the national fertility rate depending upon the stage of development. For the least-developed nations, the secondary school enrollment rate, an indicator of the extent of economic mobility, and the ratio of school age children to teachers, a proxy for the national commitment to human capital formation, are important. For the more advanced of the LDCs, adult literacy and the infant mortality rate seem to predominate. For all the developing nations, however, the results confirm the importance of strong family planning programs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the research.     

The social contents of place schemata: People are judged by the places where they live and work

Previous research in environmental cognition has focused primarily on physical attributes of environmental settings. The present studies were undertaken to explore the extent to which schemata for settings include their social attributes as well. Subjects were asked to make judgments about the occupants of a variety of examples of either residential or work settings, and to judge the settings themselves. Higher occupational status and more favorable traits were attributed to residents of higher-status neighborhoods. More favorable traits were attributed to people who work in settings associated with higher-status occupations. Higher-status neighborhoods, but not work settings, were judged more favorably. These findings support recent calls for a more inclusive view of environmental settings that considers both their physical and social attributes. They also suggest a new direction for social-psychological research in person perception.The authors would like to thank all those members of the research teams that conducted these studies who could not be listed as co-authors. The authors are indebted to two anonymous reviewers and the journal editor for constructive suggestions that improved this article greatly. Requests for reprints may be sent to the first author at the Psychology Department, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA 17870     

Changing educational inequalities in india in the context of affirmative action

Indian society suffers from substantial inequalities in education, employment, and income based on caste and ethnicity. Compensatory or positive discrimination policies reserve 15% of the seats in institutions of higher education and state and central government jobs for people of the lowest caste, the Scheduled Caste; 7.5% of the seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribe. These programs have been strengthened by improved enforcement and increased funding in the 1990s. This positive discrimination has also generated popular backlash and on-the-ground sabotage of the programs. This paper examines the changes in educational attainment between various social groups for a period of nearly 20 years to see whether educational inequalities have declined over time. We use data from a large national sample survey of over 100,000 households for each of the four survey years--1983, 1987-1988, 1993-1994, and 1999-2000--and focus on the educational attainment of children and young adults aged 6-29. Our results show a declining gap between dalits, adivasis, and others in the odds of completing primary school. Such improvement is not seen for Muslims, a minority group that does not benefit from affirmative action. We find little improvement in inequality at the college level. Further, we do not find evidence that upper-income groups, the so-called creamy layer of dalits and adivasis, disproportionately benefit from the affirmative action programs at the expense of their lower-income counterparts.     

西部农村留守妇女的身心健康及其影响因素——来自四川农村的报告

本文采用西部地区24个行政村千余名农村妇女的调查数据，探讨了农村留守妇女的身心健康及影响因素。研究发现，留守确实影响了农村妇女的身心健康，留守妇女比非留守妇女更担心自己的身体健康状况，更倾向认为自己的身体健康状况不及同龄女性和比以前更差了，更容易出现一些生理和心理不健康的症状；留守妇女的家庭压力、社会支持网络、当地医疗卫生状况等因素对其身心健康有不同程度的影响。文章最后提出建立夫妻间良好的沟通机制、构建社会支持网络、改善农村医疗卫生状况三点建议。     

Equality and Diversity in the Classroom: A Comparison of Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes in Six European Countries

Globalisation and increased mobility of people within the EU have led to increased immigration and greater diversity within many EU countries, which have affected the composition of workplaces and classrooms. This includes diversity in terms of nationality, as well as ethnic, racial and religious diversity. This article expands awareness of diversity issues in the workplace to classrooms. It is based on a crosscultural comparative study of the attitudes of secondary school students and their teachers in six European countries: Ireland, the UK, France, Latvia, Italy and Spain. The sample included 320 students and 208 teachers for a total of 528 respondents. The article compares and contrasts attitudes towards non-national students, ethnic and religious minorities and disabled students, as well as gender issues, bullying and general perceptions of equality and diversity. The findings demonstrate generally positive attitudes among young people towards the increasing diversity in their classrooms. Moreover, the study revealed that in countries where there is greater diversity, the perception of difficulties is lower than in countries with less experience of diversity, suggesting that greater diversity and intergroup contact is resulting in more inclusive attitudes in schools. However, results comparing students with teachers identified consistent gaps in perceptions, with teachers having greater estimates of difficulties posed by diversity, together with smaller estimates of bullying behaviour. The study demonstrated that there is a need for teachers to have enhanced skills and competencies to deal effectively with this new environment in order to facilitate a more inclusive classroom.     

1990年以来中国各民族人口教育发展研究——来自人口普查和人口抽样调查数据的分析

运用人口普查和人口抽样调查数据,研究1990年以来各民族人口教育发展状况,考察7～16岁儿童在校率的影响因素。在实证分析的基础上,针对如何促进少数民族人口的教育发展提出政策建议。研究发现,在过去几十年中,少数民族与汉族人口的教育都取得了长足发展。少数民族人口中,未受过初中教育的人口比例高于汉族。不论对少数民族还是汉族,与城镇地区相比,乡村地区初中教育的缺失更加严重。在城镇地区,少数民族与汉族7～16岁儿童在校率相差很少,但在乡村地区仍然存在一些差距。在考虑了地区影响因素后,少数民族与汉族儿童的在校概率差异或者缩小,或者消失,只有满族除外。     

Shifting environmental concern in rural eastern Oregon: the role of demographic and place-based factors

Public opinion can impact the success of natural resource management policies and programs. In this case study, we assess the degree to which demographic and place-based factors are associated with changing public opinions on climate change, wolves, renewable energy, and land development regulations in rural northeast Oregon. Based on cross-sectional telephone survey data collected in 2011 and 2014, our observations suggest declining support for eliminating wolves, increased support for renewable energy, and increasingly favorable views of regulations that limit development in rural landscapes. We find that while demographic change and local events contribute to some of the observed shifts in opinion on wolves, exogenous factors acting at state and national levels likely contribute to shifting opinions on climate change, renewable energy, and land use regulations.     

Masculinities and sexualities in sport and physical cultures: three decades of evolving research

This article traces the foundation of the study between sport and physical cultures and masculinities and sexualities principally by examining the homophobic zeitgeist by which the academic discipline was formed. I show that the intense homophobia of the mid-1980s waned throughout the 1990s, and that during the new millennia, researchers found more inclusive forms of heterosexuality. Indeed, research on masculinities and homophobia today shows that, even in the traditionally conservative institution of sport, matters have shifted dramatically. This has resulted not only in improved conditions for sexual minorities, but it has also promoted a culture of softer, more tactile and emotional forms of heterosexual masculinities. These studies, alongside those within this special issue of the Journal of Homosexuality, highlight the necessity of developing new ways of theorizing the changing dynamics between masculinities, sexualities, and physical cultures in the next decade.     

The organization of the one percent National Sample Survey of Fertility and its findings]

In September of 1982, a national sample survey of fertility was conducted. A total of 70,000 professional personnel in family planning and manpower in related fields were engaged in this survey. They conducted a comprehensive survey at 815 sample points in 28 different provinces, cities, and autonomous regions all over the country. Their findings can be summarized as follows: (1) A more advanced understanding of the rules of China's population reproduction, (2) supplemental information on births and marital status which was not collected fully in the national census, (3) scientific analysis of the results in family planning during the past 10 or more years, and indication of a correct way for scientific management in family planning work from now on, and (4) a large number of professsional cadres were trained and developed in this sample survey to function effectively in the field of family planning in the future.     

Health Needs and Experiences of a LGBT Population in Georgia and South Carolina

ABSTRACT

The 2016 Municipal Equality Index rated Augusta, the largest city in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), as one of the least lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) friendly cities in America. To understand the context of our region in relation to LGBT wellness, we conducted the first LGBT health needs assessment of the CSRA, assessing physical and mental health status and health care needs and experiences in the community. Participants (N = 436) were recruited using venue and snowball sampling and completed an anonymous online survey. Overall, the health problems experienced (i.e., obesity, depression) were not uniformly experienced across sexual orientation and gender identity; some groups experienced significantly higher rates of these conditions than others. Similarly, transgender individuals in particular reported higher rates of negative experiences with health care providers. Regional and national dissemination of these findings is critical to reducing health disparities and improving wellness of our local LGBT community.     

The quality of life in Australia

This paper outlines a long term project on the quality of life in Australia and presents some initial survey data. The long term project is intended (1) to find which domains of life most affect the perceived well-being of Australians and the values/satisfactions people wish to achieve in these domains (2) to propose policy programs designed to enhance satisfaction with particular domains and (3) to assess the political feasibility of proposed programs. Policy programs intended to enhance satisfaction are termed positive welfare programs to distinguish them from conventional compensatory welfare programs. The survey data analysed here (national sample, N=679) deal with the satisfactions and dissatisfactions of Australians, the correlates of perceived well-being and the links between domains and values. Perceived well-being is measured by Andrews and Withey's Life-as-a-whole index and Bradburn's Affect Balance scale. Satisfactions are measured on a 9 point modified version of Andrews and Withey's delighted-terrible scale. Readers familiar with American, British and Canadian findings will find the results reported here broadly similar. However, the linkage between people's sociological characteristics and their satisfaction levels appears to be exceptionally weak in Australia, which tends to confirm the view that Australia is a comparatively unstratified society.     

Strength of attachment: Survey coverage of people with tenuous ties to residences

This article draws on evidence from an exploratory survey of living situations to assess the validity of assumptions about residence and to offer methodological innovations to improve coverage of people with tenuous attachment to households. These innovations include more inclusive probes and questions used to compile the roster of household residents; a review of the places a person stayed the previous few months; and a Residential Attachment scale that measures strength of attachment to households. This scale shows that it takes more probing to list tenuously attached people than most surveys do, suggesting that tenuously attached people are likely to be omitted from the typical survey roster. The Residential Attachment scale is correlated with social and economic participation in households, suggesting that participation is fairly high even among those with tenuous or no residential attachment.     

Performativity Double Standards and the Sexual Orientation Climate at a Southern Liberal Arts University

This study employs quantitative and qualitative methods to examine how heterosexual, bisexual, and gay students rate and describe a Southern, religiously affiliated university’s sexual orientation climate. Using qualitative data, queer theory, and the concept tyranny of sexualized spaces, we explain why non-heterosexual students have more negative perceptions of the university climate than heterosexual male students, in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. Although heterosexual students see few problems with the campus sexual orientation climate, bisexual men and women describe being challenged on the authenticity of their orientation, and lesbian and, to a greater extent, gay male students report harassment and exclusion in a number of settings. These distinct processes are influenced by broader heteronormative standards. We also shed much-needed light on how gendered sexual performativity double standards within an important campus microclimate (fraternity parties) contribute to creating a tyrannical sexualized space and negatively affect overall campus climate perceptions.     

The MOS Alienation Scale: An alternative to Srole's Anomia Scale

A growing number of sociologists believe that Srole's Anomia Scale, whether modified or not, is too inclusive to measure anomie in any meaningful way when using survey research techniques among subcultures. Evidence from the National Opinion Research Center's annual General Social Survey, which is a cross-sectional sample of adults in the United States, tends to give credence to this criticism — that is, although Srole's Anomia Scale displays a modest degree of internal reliability, it nevertheless lacks external validity in surveys on national subpopulations. This study illustrates the relative superiority of the Margins of Society (MOS) Alienation Scale, which comprises operations from theories on anomie and social isolation. A subculture of homeless Alaska Natives were personally interviewed to document the attributes of this new alienation scale and the results from this exploratory study suggest that further analysis should prove useful for studying alienation within other ethnic groups.     

South Africa's `Rainbow People', National Pride and Optimism: A Trend Study

Since the first democratic elections of1994, South Africans are popularly known as the`rainbow people'. The paper reports theacceptance of the rainbow as political symbolof unity among the diverse people of SouthAfrica at three times: Immediately after the1994 elections, two years later in 1996, andfive years later in 1999 after the secondgeneral elections. The database for the studyare responses to items placed with a syndicatednational survey conducted countrywide. Thepublic discourse on the rainbow is reviewedthrough personal interviews with a panel of 25elites contacted in the run-up to the secondgeneral elections. The researchers revisitconclusions based on the earlier results(Møller, Dickow and Harris, 1999). The thirdround of research finds that the appeal of therainbow as political symbol has waned but isstill inclusive of all groups in society.Projections of national pride have shifted fromthe rainbow as symbol of unity andreconciliation to other icons of achievementsuch as the Reconstruction and DevelopmentProgramme and prowess in sport. Support for thepolitical symbolism of the rainbow ispositively associated with happiness, lifesatisfaction and optimism. Lack of a focus ofnational pride is associated with pessimism.Results support the conclusion reached earlierthat belief in the `rainbow nation' idealboosts optimism and promotes happiness duringSouth Africa's transition to a stabledemocracy, thereby preventing alienation amongthe losers under the new politicaldispensation. Linkages between acceptance ofthe rainbow symbol, subjective well-being andoptimism are discussed in the light of thesocio-political changes which have taken placein South Africa since democracy.     

Will boys’ mental health fare worse under a hotter climate in Australia?

A hotter climate is increasingly found to have negative effects on human health, yet the possible impact on children’s mental health is less understood. Our study explored this potential relationship using a national survey of children aged 6–11 across Australia, during the period 2008–2014 (n?=?14,096). It was hypothesised that the negative effects of hotter weather on children’s mental health can occur both directly (e.g. through heat impacts influencing hyperactivity and restlessness) and indirectly (e.g. through reduced participation in organised physical activities). Mediation analysis controlled for a range of other locational, gender, socio-economic and demographic influences. Results indicate that an increase in annual average daily maximum temperature worsened childhood mental health due to a direct and indirect effect through reduced participation in organised physical activities, as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) total score, but the result is only significant for boys (albeit the magnitude of the effect was small). More specifically, temperature differences are driven through the SDQ mental health sub-scales of hyperactivity and peer problems. Gender disparities are also observed in terms of other environmental or locational influences having a significant impact on boys’ mental health, with no significant impact found for girls. Girls’ mental health is more likely influenced by family and individual socio-economic characteristics. There is also evidence of an increased impact of higher temperature on children’s mental health in poorer households, suggesting the need for more targeted children’s mental health policies.     

“It Is What It Is”: Masculinity,Homosexuality, and Inclusive Discourse in Mixed Martial Arts

In this article we make use of inclusive masculinity theory to explore online media representations of male homosexuality and masculinity within the increasingly popular combat sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). Adopting a case-study approach, we discuss narratives constructed around one aspirational male MMA fighter, Dakota Cochrane, whose history of having participated in gay pornography became a major talking point on a number of MMA discussion/community Web sites during early 2012. While these narratives attempted to discursively rescue Cochrane’s supposedly threatened masculinity, highlighting both his “true” heterosexuality and his prodigious fighting abilities, they also simultaneously celebrated the acceptance of homosexual men within the sport that Cochrane’s case implied. Thus, we suggest that these media representations of homosexuality and masculinity within MMA are indicative of declining cultural homophobia and homohysteria and an inclusive vision of masculinity, as previously described by proponents of inclusive masculinity theory.