Cross‐National Gender Variation in Environmental Behaviors*

Objective. This article presents a cross‐national examination of gender variations in environmental behaviors. Research on environmental concern reveals modest distinctions between men and women, with women typically displaying higher levels of environmental concern and behavioral adjustments relative to men. Additionally, some prior research suggests that women appear more engaged in household‐oriented (private) pro‐environment behaviors (e.g., recycling), and men in community/society‐oriented (public) pro‐environment behaviors (e.g., protests). The analysis provided here offers an important extension to existing research through its cross‐cultural, comparative perspective. Method. We make use of the 1993 International Social Survey to explore gender differences in “private” and “public” environmentally‐oriented behaviors across 22 nations. Results. It is shown that women tend to engage in more environmental behaviors than men in many nations, particularly private behaviors. In addition, both women and men tend to engage in relatively more private environmental behaviors as opposed to public ones. Conclusion. The cross‐national analysis provides support for gender distinctions with regard to some environmental behaviors within most of the incorporated 22 national contexts. Gender differences in level of private environmental behaviors tend to be more consistent within nations at the upper end of the wealth distribution.     

The Context for Political Corruption: A Cross‐National Analysis*

Objective. How do we explain variations across nations in the incidence of political corruption? Recent theoretical work locates the causes for corruption in a combination of institutional conditions: monopoly power, little accountability, and wide discretion. This focus on the form of political institutions clarifies the micro‐scale causes of political corruption, but it leaves unanswered questions about the macro‐scale causes of corruption. Methods. This article addresses these questions about the macro scale through an analysis of perceived levels of corruption across nations. Results. Our work identifies poverty, large populations, and small public sectors as contextual causes of corruption. Historically‐based differences in political cultures across broad geographical regions also affect the perceived incidence of corruption in nations. Conclusion. Further research should attempt to link micro‐ and macro‐scale causes together in a single, multi‐scalar model of corruption.     

Religious Values and Environmental Concern: Harmony and Detachment*

Objective. The thought that environmental concern is rooted in religious beliefs and values has been raised by many writers. Different claims have been made about whether the nature of this relationship is positive or negative, and empirical evidence is mixed. In line with research on attitudes and values, this study examines the hypothesis that unless religious values are mentally accessible, they will not affect judgments of environmental issues. Method. Two environmental issues, genetically modified crops and more traditional environmental issues, for example, air pollution from traffic, are chosen to represent accessibility and nonaccessibility, respectively. A two‐wave data set from a national survey is analyzed. Results. The findings support the suggestion that religious values will affect the judgment of environmental threats of the first, but not the second, issue. Conclusion. These findings suggest that situational cues partly determine which values embodied in religion will influence environmental attitudes.     

Validating a Comprehensive Model of Environmental Concern Cross‐Nationally: A U.S.‐Canadian Comparison*

Objective. The dimensionality of “environmental concern” remains ambiguous despite decades of research on environmental attitudes and beliefs. We attempt to provide insight into this issue by using the belief systems perspective and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test a comprehensive conceptualization of environmental concern. Methods. The study employs a comparative design by using national probability samples of citizens from Canada and the United States, and a comprehensive conceptualization model to maximize content validity. We utilize CFA and structural equation modeling techniques to avoid well‐known measurement error problems in survey research. Results. Eight key facets of environmental concern have moderate to high factor loadings on one underlying construct, and all but perception of community problems and national problems have high loadings. Further analyses provide construct validation for our measurement model. Conclusion. Our results suggest that even among the general public, attitudes toward environmental issues are relatively well organized into a broad and coherent sense of “concern for the environment.” The similarity in the U.S. and Canadian results increases our faith in the validity of our comprehensive conceptualization of environmental concern, as well as the utility of the belief systems perspective and CFA modeling for future studies of environmental attitudes and beliefs.     

The Association of Suicide Rates with Individual‐Level Suicide Attitudes: A Cross‐National Analysis*

Objective. Research on the predictors of individual‐level attitudes toward suicide has neglected the possible role of contextual‐level predictors. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by assessing the association between suicide rates and the attitudes of individuals. Based on social learning theory, it is argued that persons socialized in nations with relatively high rates of suicide are more likely to be exposed to suicidal role models, which provide positive definitions of suicide. Methods. Data refer to 40,873 adults in 31 nations, and are taken from the World Health Organization and World Values Surveys. Given the bi‐level nature of the data, hierarchical linear modeling techniques (HLM) are utilized. Additional predictor variables are incorporated from previous research and include religious participation and political orientation from social learning theory, marital status and life satisfaction from control theory, and basic demographics such as age and gender. Results. The results of the HLM indicate that controlling for individual‐level predictors, as well as other Level 2 variables, persons residing in nations with relatively high suicide rates are more approving of suicide than their counterparts. The model was replicated for the prediction of support for euthanasia. A social learning perspective was further supported by results linking 1970 suicide rates with suicide acceptability among older adults in 1990. Conclusion. National suicide rates are predictive of individual‐level suicide acceptability. However, the main predictors of suicide acceptability included a measure from social learning theory, religiosity, and a neglected measure of control theory, life satisfaction.     

Knowledge Variables in Cross‐National Social Inquiry*

Objectives. This article examines the impact of “don't know” responses on cross‐national measures of knowledge regarding science and the environment. Specifically, we explore cross‐national variance in aggregate knowledge levels and the gender gap in knowledge in each of 20 nations to determine whether response‐set effects contribute to observed variance. Methods. Analyses focus on a 12‐item true‐false knowledge battery asked as part of a 1993 International Social Survey Program environmental survey. Whereas most research on knowledge codes incorrect and “don't know” responses identically, we differentiate these response forms and develop procedures to identify and account for systematic differences in the tendency to guess. Results. Substantial cross‐national variance in guessing rates is identified, variance that contributes markedly to variance in observed “knowledge” levels. Also, men are found to guess at higher rates than women, a tendency that exaggerates the magnitude of the observed gender gap in knowledge. Conclusions. Recent research has suggested that “don't know” responses pose threats to the validity of inferences derived from measures of political knowledge in the United States. Our results indicate that a similar risk exists with cross‐national measures of knowledge of science and the environment. It follows that considerable caution must be exercised when comparing data drawn from different nations and cultures.     

English‐ and Spanish‐Language Media Coverage of Immigration: A Comparative Analysis*

Objective. We apply economic theories of news to explain differences between English‐ and Spanish‐language newspaper coverage of immigration. Methods. Using content analysis and contextual data, we examine newspaper coverage of immigration as a function of economic incentives of news organizations and the language of the newspaper outlet. Results. The results indicate that Spanish‐language news outlets generate a larger volume of coverage and more positive coverage of immigration when compared to English‐language news outlets. Conclusions. This specific topic is important and politically relevant because of the potential implications variability in media coverage of this issue hold for public opinion on immigration.     

The Transnational Organization of Production and Environmental Degradation: A Cross‐National Study of the Effects of Foreign Capital Penetration on Water Pollution Intensity, 1980–1995*

Objective. This study attempts to increase our understanding of the environmental impacts of the transnational organization of production in the context of foreign capital penetration. Methods. With a sample of 53 countries, panel analyses using OLS and robust regression are conducted to assess the effects of foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector on growth in organic water pollution intensity, 1980–1995. Slope‐dummy interaction variables are used to compare the effects in developed countries and less‐developed countries. The tested models include a variety of relevant controls, such as domestic investment, state environmentalism, size of the manufacturing sector, and level of economic development. Results. Findings for the analyses indicate that foreign direct investment in manufacturing positively affects growth in organic water pollution intensity in less‐developed countries, while the effect in developed countries is nonsignificant. Conclusions. This research illustrates the need for social scientists to investigate the environmental impacts of both the transnational organization of production and the overall scale of production in different sectors.     

A Mile‐Wide Gap: The Evolution of Hispanic Political Emergence in the Deep South*

Objective. Prior to the 1990s, the size of the Hispanic population in the Deep South was negligible. Since that time, states in this region have experienced an explosive growth in members of this ethnic group. Methods. Georgia and the Carolinas are among five states that maintain registration and turnout files by ethnicity. We make use of these political data in conjunction with demographic information from the Census to create a snapshot of Hispanic political emergence in the southeast. Results. A sizable gap exists between the size of the Hispanic population in the southeast and levels of political participation on the part of Latinos. Much of the explanation for this observation centers on the fact that the bulk of recent migration to the region has been by Hispanics who are not U.S. citizens. Participation rates among Hispanic citizens, however, were also found to lag behind those of other racial groups in the region. Conclusions. Although it is likely that Hispanics will become a sizable political force in the Deep South, it should be noted that the gulf between latent political influence and actual political power may take quite some time to close.     

Do We Trust the Data? On the Validity and Reliability of Cross‐National Environmental Surveys

Objective. This article provides evidence on the validity and reliability of cross-national environmental surveys, an aspect that has not found much attention so far. Methods. Validity can be checked in examining whether cross-national differences in environmental attitudes are in accordance with theoretical hypotheses. For example, a study can claim some validity if concern about inadequate sanitation is strongly negatively correlated with the actual extent of access to sanitation in a country. Results. Several validity checks were undertaken for the Gallup, Gallup, and Dunlap (1993) survey, all of which tend to support its validity. Next, the reliability of cross-national environmental surveys was checked. Both Pearson and Spearman rank correlations were run for similar questions from differing studies. Most correlations were low and statistically insignificant, however, thus putting some doubt on the reliability of cross-national environmental surveys, at least with respect to the questions examined. Conclusions. The findings support the validity of cross-national environmental surveys, but not their reliability. Future surveys should be designed such that validity and reliability checks become easier to undertake.     

The Politics of (Fractured) Solidarity: A Cross‐National Analysis of the Class Bases of the Welfare State

This article considers the politics of social solidarity from a cross‐national perspective. In the analysis, we rely on four waves of international social survey data for our sample of Western nations, representative of different welfare state traditions. The time span is a 20‐year period and the total country‐wave sample comprises over 40,000 records. While there is popular support for governmental actions to protect citizens in old‐age and sickness, views about the social rights of unemployed citizens are shifting. High‐profile activating labour‐market reforms are reapportioning the burden of risk in society. With the rise of right‐wing populism in Europe and the USA, this article examines how interests change as citizens lose their stake in the means of security – revealing an ever more fragile and fractured social solidarity.     

Improving Service Delivery in Education Through Collaboration: An Exploratory Study of the Role of Cross‐Sectoral Alliances in the Development and Support of Charter Schools*

Objective. This article explores cross‐sectoral alliances as mechanisms for enhancing service delivery in public education. We assess the extent to which the three economic sectors—nonprofit, for‐profit, and public—are involved in partnerships with charter schools and identify the benefits that charter schools receive from partnering with other organizations. Methods. The study utilized a qualitative approach: data collection involved interviews with charter school experts in 37 states. Results. We found that organizations from each of the three economic sectors were involved in alliances with charter schools and that these alliances offered a range of financial (e.g., facilities, salaries), political (e.g., legitimacy, credibility), and organizational (e.g., curriculum, management) benefits. Conclusions. Our findings from this exploratory study suggest that cross‐sectoral alliances have the potential to enhance the capacity of charter schools to deliver high‐quality educational services. Three hypotheses generated from the findings are also offered to guide future research on charter school alliances.