Political regimes and the family: how sex-role attitudes continue to differ in reunified Germany

We exploit the German separation and later reunification to investigate whether political regimes can shape attitudes about appropriate roles for women in the family and the labor market. During the divided years, East German institutions encouraged female employment, while the West German system deterred women, in particular mothers, from full-time employment. Our results show that East Germans are significantly more likely to hold egalitarian sex-role attitudes than West Germans. Despite a scenario of partial policy convergence after reunification, we find no evidence for a convergence process in gender attitudes. Indeed, if anything, the gap in attitudes rather increased.     

Political regimes and the family: how sex-role attitudes continue to differ in reunified Germany

We exploit the German separation and later reunification to investigate whether political regimes can shape attitudes about appropriate roles for women in the family and the labor market. During the divided years, East German institutions encouraged female employment, while the West German system deterred women, in particular mothers, from full-time employment. Our results show that East Germans are significantly more likely to hold egalitarian sex-role attitudes than West Germans. Despite a scenario of partial policy convergence after reunification, we find no evidence for a convergence process in gender attitudes. Indeed, if anything, the gap in attitudes rather increased.     

Kertbeny and the nameless love

The word homosexuality, in its German form Homosexualit?t, was first used in an anonymous pamphlet published in Germany in 1869. Documentary evidence is given here confirming that the writer Karl Maria Kertbeny was its author. A sketch of Kertbeny's life is given, along with a discussion of the historical background and reasons for his introduction of the new terminology. The role that this and rival terminologies played in the changing attitudes toward homosexuality is traced through the following century in Germany, concluding with the reclaiming of the derogatory word schwul by the modern gay movement.     

Implicit and explicit attitudes towards lesbians and gay men

Attitudes towards lesbians and gay men, as assessed with questionnaires, have become more and more positive in the last decades. An open question is, however, whether that trend reflects true change or rather a growing reluctance to admit negative attitudes (to others and self). New procedures measuring implicit attitudes may help find an answer. In three studies with 208 students at a German university, attitudes towards lesbians and gay men were measured with explicit scales and with an Implicit Association Test (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) adapted for that purpose. Explicit attitudes were very positive. However, implicit attitudes were relatively negative instead, except for female participants' implicit attitudes towards lesbians which were repeatedly as positive as were their attitudes towards heterosexuals. The internal consistencies of the implicit tests were exemplary. Correlations with sexual orientation as well as with explicit homosexuality-related and gender-related attitudes attested to their validity. However, context effects were found for different implicit attitudes measured in close succession, and correlations of implicit homosexuality-related and gender-related attitudes could not be detected.     

Marriage and separation risks among German cohabiters: Differences between types of cohabiter

We propose a typology of different meanings of cohabitation that combines cohabiters’ intentions to marry with a general attitude toward marriage, using competing risk analyses to examine whether some cohabiters are more prone than others to marry or to separate. Using data (N = 1,258) from four waves of the German Family Panel (PAIRFAM) and a supplementary study (DEMODIFF), we compared eastern and western German cohabiters of the birth cohorts 1971–73 and 1981–83. Western Germans more frequently view cohabitation as a step in the marriage process, whereas eastern Germans more often cohabit as an alternative to marriage. Taking into account marital attitudes reveals that cohabiters without marriage plans differ from those with plans in their relationship careers, and also shows that cohabiters who plan to marry despite holding a less favourable view of marriage are less likely to realize their plans than cohabiters whose intentions and attitudes are more congruent.     

Using Mokken methods to develop robust cross-national scales: American and West German attitudes toward abortion

A fundamental methodological issue in cross-national research on attitudes is the comparability of the attitude measures across populations. We address this issue by presenting the Mokken method and accompanying Mokken test as a means for developing equivalent attitude scales. We apply these methods to an analysis of the responses to seven abortion items in the 1982 NORC GSS and West German ALLBUS combined files. We find that the seven items form a unidimensional scale in both countries and that four of these items constitute a scale that is robust across the two populations. We conclude by describing how such results can be used to guide the development of Rasch and LISREL models.     

Public attitudes toward fetal diagnosis and the termination of life

As measured in two recent national surveys, public attitudes toward prenatal genetic testing are overwhelmingly favorable, and attitudes toward genetic testing in general are also predominantly favorable on both surveys. Unlike genetic testing, however, abortion in case of fetal defect is endorsed by only a minority of both samples. The unreliability of the scales used to measure these attitudes in both surveys suggests that attitudes toward fetal diagnosis and genetic testing have not yet crystallized. In part, this unreliability undoubtedly reflects the nature and number of the questions asked; but in part the low reliability of the scale seems to reflect the novel subject matter and the public's lack of familiarity with it. At present, attitudes toward prenatal diagnosis and testing appear to be distinct from attitudes toward abortion and the termination of life. But attitudes toward prenatal testing predict attitudes toward the termination of life, and vice versa. Thus, as the public becomes more knowledgeable about the new technology and its implications, there is at least the potential for these two attitudes to become more closely linked in the future.     

Core American values and the structure of antigay prejudice

This work presents a new scale to measure conflicting attitudes toward sexual minorities. This scale parallels existing measures of conflicting racial attitudes (anti-Black and pro-Black attitudes; Katz & Hass, 1988). After constructing and validating measures of antigay and progay attitudes, we tested relationships among core American values with racial and sexual minority attitudes. We examined relations among the Protestant Work Ethic (PWE), Traditional Family Ideology (TFI), and egalitarian values with attitudes toward racial outgroups and sexual minorities. The results revealed that both PWE values and egalitarian values predicted anti-Black attitudes. By contrast, endorsement of egalitarian values, but not PWE values, predicted pro-Black attitudes. Results also revealed a similar but distinct pattern among values and heterosexuals' attitudes toward sexual minorities. TFI, but not egalitarian value endorsement, predicted antigay attitudes, whereas both TFI and egalitarian value endorsement predicted progay attitudes. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

人口与货币需求论

从宏观角度去考察人口因素包括人口数量及其变化、人口再生产、人口就业、人口移动、人口年龄结构等 ,是如何作用宏观货币需求的 ,是一个值得探讨的课题。西方侧重微观货币需求方面的研究 ,国内注重货币供给方面的探讨 ,很少有人联系国内人口实际进行研究。本文运用大量数据和事实 ,具体研究了人口因素对货币需求的影响     

Pronatalist population policies in some Western European countries

This article is restricted to a comparison of four Western European countries: France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. As the crude birthrates and total period fertility rates of these countries indicate, a stabilization of fertility has set in in France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Official government attitudes towards these developments differ greatly, with France having clear pronatalist policy measures, the German Federal Government having only family policy measures, but some member states going further with a policy of family foundation loans. In the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, no official population policy exists, apart from a certain reluctance to accept more foreign immigrants. It must be concluded that the only common characteristic of population policies in the four countries is that they try to enable women to work and care for a family at the same time. The future effect of pronatalist population policy measures is still highly in doubt.This article was originally presented as a paper to the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Washington DC, March 28, 1981.     

Militär und Krieg in einer Medienkultur

The banal and the mundane are focussed by Cultural Studies as are attitudes and perceptions in Political Culture research; investigations that focus on war as a particular exceptional situation tends to neglect far reaching changes in the media and the cultural sector that have taken place over the last fifteen to twenty years. Following Michael Billig who has used the term ‘banal nationalism’ in 1995 with regard to the non-spectacular, but nevertheless effective ways of reproducing the ‘nation’ we argue to make use of the term ‘banal militarism’ in order to seize analogous mechanism by which military and/or war-like behaviour, attitudes and views are evoked, socialised or (re)produced. We suggest an analytical framing of media politics, media representations of war and the military, and corresponding media practices through an approach that refers to Cultural Studies as well as contributions by political and social sciences to the investigation of political cultures. Its productivity is demonstrated with examples of the representation of the German Federal Armed Forces in various TV formats in which dimensions of the military and its ‘embedding’ into society are contextualized in a specific way.     

Does Religion Make You Healthier and Longer Lived? Evidence for Germany

Researchers in the US have consistently reported substantial—not just statistically significant—links between religious belief and practice, and improved health and longevity. In this paper we report evidence for Germany, using data from the long-running, nationally representative German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP 1984). The SOEP dataset includes multiple measures of health, plus many ‘controls’ which it is appropriate to use in assessing links between religious practice, health and longevity. These controls include personality traits known to be associated with better health (notably conscientiousness), and also the age of death of parents of the survey respondents. Initial results suggested that religious practice (church attendance) may be linked only to subjective (self-rated) measures of health, not to more objective measures. It seemed possible that results in some previous research could be due to what may be termed satisfaction bias or positivity bias; the known tendency of religious people to report higher than average satisfaction with almost all aspects of life. Further investigation indicated that relationships between church attendance and subjective measures of health were weaker, when a control for satisfaction bias was in place. However, there was countervailing evidence that the subjective measures in SOEP may actually be more not less valid than the objective measures; they are better not worse predictors of mortality. It was also clear that religious belief and church attendance are associated with health-protective behaviors and attitudes, including taking more exercise, not smoking and higher life satisfaction. At the end of the paper we estimate a structural equation model which maps links between religious practice, these protective behaviors and attitudes, and improved health outcomes.     

Why does class matter? Policy attitudes,mechanisms, and the case of the Nordic countries

In most democracies, classes tend to vary with respect to an array of attitudes and behaviours, and differences are large within a number of European polities. What mechanisms lie behind these differences? Do they relate primarily to individuals’ material interests, as assumed by traditional class theories, or instead, to socialization and self-selection factors? This paper seeks to extend theory and research through an analysis of mechanisms behind class differences in policy attitudes. Our focus is on the Nordic countries, where class differences are extensive and well-documented in past scholarship. We take advantage of high-quality European Social Survey data for Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Analyzing three policy arenas and the 9-category European Socio-economic Classification scheme (ESeC), we find evidence that class-related factors help to explain cleavages in attitudes. Comparisons with the more detailed, 103-category International Standard Classification of Occupation scheme (ISCO) suggest that these factors explain less “micro-class” occupational variation. Results shed new light on mechanisms behind class differences, and the empirical foundations of established class theories. These and other implications are discussed in the conclusion.     

Portuguese Adolescents' Attitudes Toward Sexual Minorities: Transphobia,Homophobia, and Gender Role Beliefs

Research has shown that negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men are common and widespread in Western societies. However, few studies have addressed attitudes toward transgender individuals. In addition, although research has shown that homophobic harassment and bullying is highly common among adolescents, little is known about adolescent's attitudes toward sexual minorities. This study aimed to fill these gaps in knowledge, by investigating adolescents' attitudes toward transgender individuals and possible attitudinal correlates of those attitudes. Participants (N?=?188; 62 males and 126 females) were recruited in high schools in Lisbon, Portugal. Age ranged from 15 to 19 years (M?=?17; SD = .96). Participants completed a questionnaire booklet measuring attitudes toward transgender individuals, lesbians, and gay men, and gender role beliefs. Results revealed that attitudes toward transgender individuals were significantly correlated with all attitude measures. Specifically, it was revealed that those participants who endorsed negative attitudes toward transgender individuals were also endorsing of negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and tended to adhere to traditional gender roles. A significant gender effect was found with males being more negative toward sexual minorities than females, but these negative attitudes were more extreme toward gay men than toward lesbian women. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Impact of Social Expenditure on Attitudes Towards Immigration in Europe

There is a growing body of literature dealing with the causes behind anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobia. Based on the literature on the fiscal burden model, this paper contends that the differences in attitudes toward immigration, between low and high statuses, can be explained by the size of the welfare state. We argue that the impact of socio-economic status on attitudes toward immigration is larger in countries where social expenditure is high. Since a potential increase in the number of welfare recipients due to new immigrants might lead to a reduction in per capita transfers, low-income individuals in these countries are expected to be more concerned about the effect of immigration on social benefits. Using multilevel models and data from the European Social Survey we have found that while the effect of socio-economic status on attitudes toward immigration is positive there is a great deal of variation between countries. The difference in attitudes between high and low socio-economic statuses increases as social expenditure increases. Moreover, increases of social expenditure in the short run increases anti-immigrant sentiment as it raises concerns about the impact of immigration on welfare services.     

Attitudes towards demographic trends and population policy: Italy and the Netherlands in a comparative perspective

A comparative analysis was carried out using survey data on attitudes regarding population trends and policy in Italy and in the Netherlands. The results show that current trends and the determinants of those trends are perceived similarly in both countries. With regard to policy, the Italians exhibit much more positive attitudes toward suggested new family policy measures than the Dutch. In the Netherlands, family policy generally is given a much lower priority than other areas of social policy. It appears that having children reflects different values in the two countries. Those who attach greater value to having children are also more in favour of new family policy measures than others. However, the results suggest that introduction of these measures would not raise the reproduction rate to anywhere near a stationary level.     

Exploring heterosexual women's anti-lesbian attitudes

Previous research on attitudes toward gays has mostly focused on heterosexuals' attitudes toward gay men, with little research specifically directed at anti-lesbian attitudes. Using a sample of 269 undergraduate heterosexual women, the present study tested two feminist propositions: Anti-lesbian attitudes would be associated with (1) conservative beliefs regarding the female gender-role and (2) attitudes toward men that support the differential status of women and men in the patriarchy. Findings based on a series of multiple regression analyses support these propositions across three components of anti-lesbian attitudes (contact apprehension, morality beliefs, and stereotypic beliefs). Directions for future research on anti-lesbian attitudes are discussed.     

Pakistan: innovative population planning

In Pakistan the population planning program has been "federalized." As part of the new plan, the Population Planning Division will be responsible for policy formation, preparation of plans, and program implementation. With this new organization, the program will promote close coordination with provincial governments. An effective information program has been planned to promote pro-family planning attitudes. In order to develop these attitudes among the young, population education is being integrated into the curricula of the schools and colleges. At the policy making level, development projects of the Ministries of Education, Local Government, Rural Development, Health, Labor and Manpower Production, and Agriculture will in future be prepared so as to contain a component of the population planning program. The operational structure of the program was strengthened during 1976-1977 in order to reduce the crude birthrate from an estimated level of 45 per 1000 in mid-1976 to 43.6 per 1000 in mid-1977.     

Perceptions of lesbian and gay (LG) individuals as desecrators of Christianity as predictors of anti-LG attitudes

This study applied religious coping theory to examine the relationship between participants' perceptions that lesbian and gay (LG) individuals desecrate Christian values (the stressor) and anti-LG attitudes (the response) and whether religious coping influences the relationship between these variables. Greater agreement with desecration messages was associated with higher levels of anti-LG attitudes. Positive religious coping was associated with lower levels of anti-LG attitudes while negative religious coping was associated with higher levels. Greater exposure to messages that LG individuals desecrate Christian values was associated with greater agreement with those messages. Longitudinal studies with more diverse samples are needed to examine causality and the generalizability of the findings. However, these results have implications for preventing and mitigating anti-LG attitudes.     

How Accurate are German Work-time Data? A Comparison of Time-diary Reports and Stylized Estimates

This study compares work time data collected by the German Time Use Survey (GTUS) using the diary method with stylized work time estimates from the GTUS, the German Socio-Economic Panel, and the German Microcensus. Although on average the differences between the time-diary data and the interview data is not large, our results show that significant deviations exist between these two techniques for certain types of individuals, especially those with long working hours and flexible work schedules. We also show that stylized work time estimates have insufficient variation to reproduce a true picture of working hours.