Taking social policy personally: How does neuroticism affect welfare state attitudes?

The role of the “Big Five” personality traits in driving welfare state attitudes has received scant attention in social policy research. Yet neuroticism in particular—a disposition to stress, worry, and get nervous easily—is theoretically likely to be an important driver of welfare attitudes precisely because welfare states deliver social “security” and “safety” nets. Using cross-sectional data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we study three distinct attitude types (dissatisfaction with the social security system, feelings of personal financial insecurity, and preferences for state provision) and multiple social need contexts (including unemployment, ill health, old age, and nursing care). Controlling for established explanations such as self-interest, partisanship, and socialization, neuroticism does not systematically affect support for state provision. But it robustly increases general dissatisfaction with social security, as well as financial insecurity across various need contexts. Neurotic people are thus less happy with welfare state programmes across the board, yet they also appear to need these programmes more. This trait may be an important deeper layer driving other social attitudes.     

How conservative are British attitudes to reproduction?

Current British attitudes concerning fertility are examined, and the probabilities that these will lead either to a further decline to below replacement-level fertility or to a level that will sustain population replacement are assessed. The author concludes that the optimistic, or replacement-level, alternative is the more likely. The evidence for this conclusion is examined, including evidence of conservative attitudes toward fertility and childbearing, and the relative stability of the family structure; comparisons are made with the situation elsewhere in Europe.     

How do journalists leverage Twitter? Expressive and consumptive use of Twitter

This study examined factors that affect journalists’ Twitter use behaviors based on the framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). A survey of Korean journalists supported that TPB is a useful theoretical framework for understanding journalists’ Twitter use behaviors. This study found that three TPB variables – positive attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control – are positively associated with journalists’ general Twitter use (i.e., time spent using Twitter). More importantly, beyond looking at journalists’ general Twitter use, this study expands the literature by distinguishing between expressive Twitter use (e.g., tweeting messages) and consumptive Twitter use (e.g., reading others’ tweets). Results showed that journalists’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls were associated differently depending on patterns of expressive and consumptive Twitter usage. Given the role of professional journalists in society, their ways of using Twitter may have a profound impact on the ecology of journalism. Contributing to the literature of the theory of planned behavior by extending its explanatory power to professional journalists’ Twitter usage, the results of this study suggest that future research on journalists’ Twitter use should pay more attention to how Twitter is employed within the journalistic context.     

How does immigration affect welfare support in Korea?

This study explored the association between the perceived presence of immigrants and support for social spending in a non-Western context, particularly Korea, so far relatively under-researched. Using the Korean General Social Survey data, specifically, it analysed whether and how native Koreans' attitudes toward government spending on (each area of) social security are influenced by the perceived presence of immigrant populations in Korean society, and furthermore, whether the degree and direction of the relationship may depend not only on the type of social benefits, but also on the type of immigration, that is, whether the share of certain groups of immigrants in the population is perceived to be high or low. The results suggest that the association between (perceived) immigration and support for social spending exists in Korea, and its degree and direction differs when the types of social benefits and immigration are considered.     

How do my parents react when I feel happy? Longitudinal associations with adolescent depressive symptoms,anhedonia, and positive affect regulation

Parental emotion socialization plays a role in the development of adolescents’ emotion regulation and is associated with adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Most research has focused on parental socialization of negative affect. The scarce research on parental socialization of positive affect (PA) shows that parental downgrading responses to adolescents’ PA are associated with concurrent adolescent depression. The aims of the present study were to examine longitudinal associations of both maternal and paternal responses to adolescents’ PA with how adolescents regulate their PA (i.e., dampening and enhancing) and with adolescents’ general depressive symptoms and anhedonia. We also considered associations in the opposite direction from adolescent regulatory responses and symptoms to parental responses. In a two‐wave study (1‐year interval), 635 adolescents from Grade seven completed questionnaires. Cross‐sectionally, maternal and paternal responses to adolescents’ PA were associated with concurrent adolescents’ PA regulation as well as adolescents’ depressive and anhedonic symptoms. Longitudinally, low maternal and paternal enhancing responses to adolescents’ PA predicted relative increases in anhedonic symptoms and relative decreases in adolescent enhancing over time. Low maternal enhancing was also predictive of relative increases in depressive symptoms. The present study points to bidirectionality of relations as adolescents’ level of depressive symptoms predicted maternal and paternal responses.     

How does BREXIT affect production patterns of multinational enterprises?

This paper explores how the British exit from the European Union (EU) potentially affects the United Kingdom (UK) economy and the production patterns of multinational enterprises that choose the UK as either a destination market or a gateway to the EU market. Utilizing an extended version of the knowledge-capital model, which includes six types of firms and four countries grouped into market and non-market, simulation analysis reveals that efforts to enhance attractiveness of the UK as a destination market to increase horizontal-type inward foreign direct investment would be a solution to cover losses from reduction in the number of export-platforms.     

Does exposure to unawareness affect risk preferences? A preliminary result

One fundamental assumption often made in the literature on unawareness is that risk preferences are invariant to changes of awareness. We study how exposure to unawareness affects choices under risk. Participants in our experiment choose repeatedly between varying sure outcomes and a lottery in three phases. All treatments are exactly identical in phase 1 and phase 3, but differ in phase 2. There are five different treatments pertaining to the lottery faced in phase 2: The control treatment (i.e., a standard lottery), the treatment with awareness of unawareness of lottery outcomes but known number of outcomes, the treatment with awareness of unawareness of outcomes but with unknown number of outcomes, the treatment with unawareness of unawareness of some outcomes, and the treatment with an ambiguous lottery. We study both whether behavior differs in phase 3 across treatments (between subjects effect) and whether differences of subjects’ behavior between phases 1 and phase 3 differ across treatments (within subject effects). We observe no significant treatment effects.     

How do countries choose their monetary policy frameworks?

This paper investigates the determinants of countries’ choices of monetary policy framework. A brief narrative focused on groupings of countries motivates an econometric analysis which draws on previous work on the determinants of exchange rate regimes, bringing in standard factors as well as the trade networks of potential anchor currency blocs and the financial market depth that are emphasised in the narrative. The model turns out to be able to predict three quarters of countries’ choices, and there is no obvious systematic pattern in the errors. The results have important implications for how countries should choose their monetary policy frameworks.     

How do we capture 15 years of complex and meaningful data about young people's lives?

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a method of data collection, which captures the complexity of living situations, family dynamics and key life events of teenagers. This ‘Life History Calendar’ was adapted from earlier life history calendar methods for a multidisciplinary intergenerational study. The new calendar is able to record details of 15 years of teenage participants’ lives and can be administered to teenagers and their parents to show changes over individual lives and difference between individuals in a cohort. Referring to some preliminary data, we show that the calendar is a practical and effective method of data collection, which will be useful to researchers and practitioners working with young people and their families.     

How do researchers perceive research misbehaviors? A transcultural case study of Chinese and Flemish researchers

China has achieved a dramatic development in scientific research over the last few decades. However, just like many other countries, it has also seen a surge of scientific misconducts. With its expansion of international publications, retractions due to suspected research misconduct are also on the rise. A transcultural case study was conducted by investigating the perception of research misbehaviors by Chinese researchers compared to their Belgian Flemish colleagues. The study was designed to find out variation in research practices in different countries and to see how research was shaped and influenced by cultural contexts. An online questionnaire was sent to 3,236 researchers by e-mails and it received a response rate of 13.09%. They were asked to score 32 research misbehaviors on a 5-point scale. The findings suggested that compared to Flemish respondents, the Chinese had a significantly higher acceptance toward most research misbehaviors. To be more specific, the Chinese respondents felt less unacceptable toward behaviors violating such values as honesty, fairness, and verifiability than the Flemish, while their perceptions of behaviors that violated such values as responsibility, objectivity, and truth were not different compared to the Flemish. This case study implies that the Chinese research community is in an urgent need of training in responsible conduct of research and strong as well as sound guidelines for responsible research practices in place.     

Why do unemployed people avoid participation in training? An experiment for policy making

Despite active labour market policies being implemented to increase the skills and job opportunities of the unemployed, the number of people who do not participate in training and other services of job orientation remains high. By providing a model that studies the decision-making process of a potential participant, we hypothesise there is a behavioural motive behind it. An experiment is carried out to account for both the individual's preference and the social expectations of agents such as the government and her peers with respect to active occupational measures. Findings show that young unemployed individuals are significantly influenced by their peers when deciding whether to participate or not in a training programme. Particularly, negative expectations from the peers cause unemployed potential participants in a within- and between-subjects experiment to be, respectively, 33 and 42 percentage points less likely to take part in job training.     

Connecting Anti-racist and Anti-oppressive Theory and Practice: Retrenchment or Reappraisal?

Correspondence to Charlotte Williams, Centre for Applied Community Studies, University of Wales, Bangor, Bangor LL57 2UW, UK. Summary In this paper the author offers a review of some of the majorcritiques of anti-racist theory and practice within social workand critically examines the trend towards anti-oppressive theoryand practice as the ‘way forward’. She argues thatthe uncritical acceptance of the move away from specificallyanti-racist perspectives towards the broader approach of anti-oppressivepractice may lead towards the retrenchment of all such criticalperspectives within social work rather than their regeneration.The author concludes that such a rigorous review will more fullyground the moves towards anti-oppressive practice as a paradigmfor social work.     

Should mothers work? Age and attitudes in Germany,Italy and Sweden

Welfare states are constructed around values and political and economic preferences, creating social relationships between the genders. As women increase their labour market participation, new patterns of conflict within families and around policies arise. In this article, attitudes towards family and gender relations among men and women in different age groups in Germany, Italy and Sweden are analysed. The findings show that national policies seem to influence the level of attitudes among men and women. Despite the differences between the countries, an overall pattern emerges in which both age and gender influence people's understanding of women's paid work within and between the three countries. Finally, some implications of changing attitudes on welfare state policies for gender equality are discussed.     

How do people value extended warranties? Evidence from two field surveys

Extended warranties are popular but expensive. This paper examines how consumers value these warranties, and asks whether economic considerations alone can account for their popularity. Results from two field surveys show that consumers greatly overestimate both the likelihood and the cost of product breakdown. However, these biases alone do not explain their willingness to buy warranties. In fact, we find evidence of probability neglect, in which warranty purchase decision depends on the magnitude of the possible consequences of not having insurance and not on the probability of having to suffer these consequences. The expected emotional benefits from having a warranty was the best predictor of purchase decision and willingness to pay. We also found that people with higher cognitive skills are less likely to overestimate the economic determinants of warranty value, yet are still highly influenced by emotional considerations when deciding whether to purchase a warranty.     

Infinity in the lab. How do people play repeated games?

We introduce a novel mechanism to eliminate endgame effects in repeated prisoner’s dilemma experiments. In the main phase of a supergame our mechanism generates more persistent cooperation than finite horizon or random continuation rules. Moreover, we find evidence for cooperation-enhancing “active/reactive” strategies which concentrate in the initial phase of a supergame as subjects gain experience.     

Learning from mistakes: What do inconsistent choices over risk tell us?

We implement a risk experiment that allows for judgment errors to investigate who makes mistakes and whether it matters. The experiments are conducted with a random sample of the adult population in Rwanda, and data on financial decisions are collected. We find a high proportion of inconsistent choices, with over 50% of the participants making at least one mistake. Importantly, errors are informative. While risk aversion alone does not explain financial decisions, risk aversion and inconsistent choices interact in significant and sensible ways. As we would expect, risk-averse individuals are more likely to belong to a savings group and less likely to take out an informal loan. For those more likely to make mistakes, however, as they become more risk averse, they are less likely to belong to a savings group and more likely to take up informal credit, suggesting that mistakes correlate with less than optimal behavior.

Self-determination and elder abuse do we know enough?

This article explores the principle of self-determination as it relates to victims of elder abuse and neglect. Using newspaper accounts and cases from the author's practice and consulting files, various factors influencing the professional's interpretation of this principle are explored. The notion that self-determination allows victims of abuse and neglect to refuse intervention is challenged. The author concludes that the principle of self-determination and the notion of competency are overly simplified in the social work and elder abuse literature and may be misused by allowing abused older victims to choose to remain in often life-threatening situations. Special focus is given to Adult Protection Service worker, but the author asserts that protecting older people, assisting in creative interventions and developing needed services is a shared professional responsibility.     

How much do OECD countries spend on social protection and how redistributive are their tax/benefit systems?

The global economic crisis has reignited interest in social policy and public spending on different types of social benefits. Public social spending‐to‐GDP ratios are often used to consider the magnitude of welfare systems in international perspective, but such comparisons alone give an incomplete picture of social effort across countries. This article looks at these different factors, before briefly considering the redistributive nature of tax/benefit systems in different member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD). The article also considers trends in social spending and compares spending in the late 2000s with the early 1990s when the previous economic crisis played out. The article ends by illustrating the profound effect the recent global economic crisis had on social spending trends across OECD countries.     

How do policy levers shape the quality of a national health system?

Poor quality of care may have a detrimental effect on access and take-up and can become a serious barrier to the universality of health services. This consideration is of particular interest in view of the fact that health systems in many countries must address a growing public-sector deficit and respond to increasing pressures due to COVID-19 and aging population, among other factors. In line with a rapidly emerging literature, we focus on patient satisfaction as a proxy for quality of health care. Drawing on rich longitudinal and cross-sectional data for Spain and multilevel estimation techniques, we show that in addition to individual level differences, policy levers (such as public health spending and the patient-doctor ratio, in particular) exert a considerable influence on the quality of a health care system. Our results suggest that policymakers seeking to enhance the quality of care should be cautious when compromising the level of health resources, and in particular, health personnel, as a response to economic downturns in a sector that traditionally had insufficient human resources in many countries, which have become even more evident in the light of the current health crisis. Additionally, we provide evidence that the increasing reliance on the private health sector may be indicative of inefficiencies in the public system and/or the existence of features of private insurance which are deemed important by patients.