Structural stability,quantitative change: A latent class analysis approach towards gender role attitudes in Germany

Since the 1960s, social science surveys have aimed to assess respondents' attitudes towards gender roles. In this paper, a model-based clustering approach towards gender role attitudes is proposed in contrast to commonly used dimensional methods. Working from a role theory perspective, we expect different profiles in the population when it comes to role expectations. Using data from the German General Social Survey in 1991 and 2012, we identify attitude patterns via multi-group latent class analysis, taking differences between Eastern and Western Germany into account. Five latent classes representing different combinations of role expectations towards couples and parents and varying levels of intensity are distinguished. Attitude change is assessed by comparing latent class prevalence over time, while statistically testing for measurement equivalence. The analysis reveals a regionally variable decrease in traditional role models: Eastern Germany exhibits a faster pace of ‘de-traditionalization’ and less potential for role conflicts regarding working mothers.     

Growing pains or appreciable gains? Latent classes of neighborhood change,and consequences for crime in Southern California neighborhoods

This study explored the dynamic nature of neighborhoods using a relatively novel approach and data source. By using a nonparametric holistic approach of neighborhood change based on latent class analysis (LCA), we have explored how changes in the socio-demographic characteristics of residents, as well as home improvement and refinance activity by residents, are related to changes in neighborhood crime over a decade. Utilizing annual home mortgage loan data in the city of Los Angeles from the years 2000–2010, we 1) conducted principle components factor analyses using measures of residential in-migration and home investment activities; 2) estimated LCA models to identify classes of neighborhoods that shared common patterns of change over the decade; 3) described these 11 classes; 4) estimated change-score regression models to assess the relationship of these classes with changing crime rates. The analyses detected six broad types of neighborhood change: 1) stability; 2) urban investors; 3) higher-income home buyers; 4) in-mover oscillating; 5) oscillating refinance; 6) mixed-trait. The study describes the characteristics of each of these classes, and how they are related to changes in crime rates over the decade.     

The impact of attitudes and behavioral costs on environmental behavior: A natural experiment on household waste recycling

Numerous studies have shown the importance of incentives as well as of attitudes in explaining pro-environmental behavior. Reported attitude effects, however, are generally rather small and exhibit considerable variation among studies. Different theoretical perspectives can account for this finding: whereas theories of rational action suggest additive effects of costs and attitudes, the low-cost hypothesis and dual-process theories imply interaction effects - in different directions, resulting from different mechanisms. The present study tries to overcome the shortcomings of past research by using advanced statistical methods to test competitive hypotheses in the context of post-consumer waste recycling. We utilize data from a natural experiment on recycling participation in Cologne/Germany (n = 1882) in which the incentive structure for recycling changed due to the conversion of the recycling scheme from a drop-off system to curbside collection. In order to avoid self-selection bias, we conducted pre- and post-treatment surveys and applied conditional fixed-effects regression models. We found that curbside collection had a strong impact on recycling participation and attitudes had a moderate effect. The interaction is negative but statistically insignificant. Our findings contradict the low-cost hypothesis and provide some evidence that environmental concerns moderate the effect of the recycling scheme. We cannot, however, reject the rational choice proposition of mere additive effects.     

‘It's The Sun Wot Won It’: Evidence of media influence on political attitudes and voting from a UK quasi-natural experiment

Do print media significantly impact political attitudes and party identification? To examine this question, we draw on a rare quasi-natural experiment that occurred when The Sun, a right-leaning UK tabloid, shifted its support to the Labour party in 1997 and back to the Conservative party in 2010. We compared changes in party identification and political attitudes among Sun readers with non-readers and other newspaper readerships. We find that The Sun's endorsements were associated with a significant increase in readers' support for Labour in 1997, approximately 525,000 votes, and its switch back was associated with about 550,000 extra votes for the Conservatives in 2010. Although we observed changes in readers' party preference, there was no effect on underlying political preferences. The magnitude of these changes, about 2% of the popular vote, would have been unable to alter the outcome of the 1997 General Election, but may have affected the 2010 Election.     

Patterns of intergenerational mobility of the old and new middle classes in a post-industrial society: Netherlands 1970-2006

It has often been proposed that new cleavages have emerged within the middle class. In this paper, we examine the distinction between social and cultural specialists and technocrats, and investigate whether these new and old middle class fractions are differentiated by their patterns of intergenerational mobility. To what extent do these newly distinguished middle class fractions have specific external and internal intergenerational mobility patterns? And to what extent have mobility boundaries between them been rising over time? To answer these questions, we use 47 Dutch national population sample surveys with detailed occupation codes collected between 1970 and 2006 (N = 60,978). Our analyses of internal and external homogeneity show that the middle class fractions each have characteristic mobility and immobility patterns and therefore a necessary condition is satisfied to declare them as separate classes. Furthermore, in the early periods, the social and cultural specialists were differentiated by a high level of immobility but in the later periods, the distance between the old and new middle classes has decreased significantly.     

Pathways of children’s long-term living arrangements: A latent class analysis

This study employed latent class analysis to create children’s family structure trajectories from birth through adolescence using merged mother and child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 1870). Input variables distinguished between biological fathers and stepfathers as well as mother’s marriages and cohabitations. The best-fitting model revealed five latent trajectories of children’s long-term family structure: continuously married biological parents (55%), long-term single mothers (18%), married biological parents who divorce (12%), a highly unstable trajectory distinguished by gaining at least one stepfather (11%), and cohabiting biological parents who either marry or break up (4%). Multinomial logistic regression indicated that mother’s education, race, teen birth status, and family of origin characteristics were important predictors of the long-term family trajectories in which their children grew up. These findings suggest that latent class analysis is a valuable statistical tool for understanding children’s complete family structure experiences.     

Acculturation among Mexican-heritage preadolescents: A latent class analysis

This study applies advanced conceptualization and measurement to an analysis of acculturation among 1632 Mexican-heritage preadolescents. We assessed whether - and how - multiple measures combine to form a latent acculturation construct that groups individuals into classes; and determine how many and what classes (or types) of acculturation are experienced by this sample of 5th graders. Measures included attitudinal, behavioral, and linguistic acculturation, generation status, time in the US, ethnic identification, and contact with the culture of origin. The analysis identified five classes of acculturation, differing in size and characterized by specific measures of acculturation: less acculturated, moderately bicultural, strongly bicultural, highly acculturated, and marginalized. Although most youths fell into the first four classes, consonant with their exposure to American society, a small minority of youths fell into the last class. Despite substantial exposure to US culture and recent exposure to Mexican culture, these youth showed little affinity for either culture.     

培养大学生非智力因素的认识和体会

非智力因素在一个人的成长成才过程中发挥着重要的作用。它对人的学习、活动、行为起着动力和导向作用 ,影响着人的行为的各个方面 ,影响着人对一切事物的态度 ,也影响着人的认识、记忆、思维、想象的敏感性和对新的环境的适应性。对大学生非智力因素的培养的注意力不仅应放在课外 ,更应结合教学过程进行。     

Conflicting views on elder care responsibility in Japan

I examine the attitudinal ambivalence created by conflicting social expectations regarding parent-child devotion, filial obligation and family membership, and gender norms in a national population of Japanese adults. I ask: in a context of rapidly changing family and elder care norms, how do different beliefs and attitudes overlap and conflict and how are they related to elder care preferences? I analyze data from the 2006 Japanese General Social Survey and use Latent Class Analysis to identify latent groups in the population defined by their beliefs and examine the relationship between class membership and elder care preferences. I found variation in the population with respect to the measured beliefs as well as a relationship between patterns of beliefs and choice of elder caregiver. I found conflicting expectations regarding elder care responsibility in one latent class and this class also expressed elder care preferences that conflict with at least some of their strongly held beliefs.     

Parental and adolescent health behaviors and pathways to adulthood

This paper examines associations among parental and adolescent health behaviors and pathways to adulthood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we identify a set of latent classes describing pathways into adulthood and examine health-related predictors of these pathways. The identified pathways are consistent with prior research using other sources of data. Results also show that both adolescent and parental health behaviors differentiate pathways. Parental and adolescent smoking are associated with lowered probability of the higher education pathway and higher likelihood of the work and the work & family pathways (entry into the workforce soon after high school completion). Adolescent drinking is positively associated with the work pathway and the higher education pathway, but decreases the likelihood of the work & family pathway. Neither parental nor adolescent obesity are associated with any of the pathways to adulthood. When combined, parental/adolescent smoking and adolescent drinking are associated with displacement from the basic institutions of school, work, and family.     

A multivariate analysis of response structure: Race attitudes, 1972–1977

A particular kind of latent class model is used to characterize the unobservable variable measured by six discrete indicators of racial stance in 1972 and 1977. Methods recently introduced by Clogg and Goodman, 1982, Clogg and Goodman, 1983) for the simultaneous latent structure analysis of two multidimensional contingency tables are employed in across-year homogeneity tests on the latent class proportions. Trends in multivariate response patterns over the 5-year interval are then examined by cross-classifying the predicted latent variable with selected demographic characteristics of respondents in each year. The results indicate that (1) no significant changes in the distribution of the latent variable occurred over the 5-year time period, and (2) the status of certain demographic variables as predictors of racial stance fluctuated between the two survey years.     

Explaining voting in the UK's 2016 EU referendum: Values,attitudes to immigration,European identity and political trust

We consider the role of values as determinants of voting in the UK's 2016 EU referendum. First, we consider and clarify ‘values’ conceptually, before proceeding to utilise Schwartz's basic human values as the most appropriate. Second, we theorise how these basic human values determine both voting in the referendum as well as three of the most consistently demonstrated determinants of voting in that referendum: attitudes to immigration, identifying as European and trust in politicians. Finally, we demonstrate that this psychological theoretical framework effectively predicts voting behaviour in the referendum using multigroup structural equation modelling. Overall, we show that voting dynamics in the referendum are likely to reflect deeper, more personal psychological predispositions than those captured by existing explanations. In doing so, we make an original contribution to the literature on political psychology related to Brexit, Euroscepticism, political attitudes and electoral behaviour.     

Are environmental attitudes influenced by survey context? An investigation of the context dependency of the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale

General environmental attitudes are often measured with questions added to surveys about specific environmental or non-environmental issues. Using results from a large-scale national survey on the protection of threatened and endangered marine species, we examine whether the context of the survey in which New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale items are asked influence measured environmental concern. In this application the role that specific threatened or endangered species play in affecting responses to NEP Scale items is explored using a combination of non-parametric and parametric approaches. The results in this case suggest that context does influence stated general environmental attitudes, though the effects of context differ across NEP items.     

Looking for homogeneous groups of respondents and nonrespondents using latent class analysis

Concerns about decreasing response rates have led to many nonresponse studies. Unfortunately, usually only a limited amount of data is available on nonrespondents. Linking administrative data makes information available on all the sampled units including nonrespondents. Statistics Netherlands has constructed a database in which several administrative records and several surveys are connected. In this explorative study we use this dataset to look for homogenous groups of respondents and nonrespondents in survey research using latent class cluster analysis. Latent class techniques can provide insight into the problem of selective nonresponse and currently under-represented societal groups. We identify four different latent classes in a recent Dutch survey and replicate the findings for the same survey conducted 4 years later. Two of the types of sampled units have above-average response rates and the other two have below-average response rates. We also evaluate various latent class models with other response outcomes to gain insight into the contact and cooperation process.     

国际贸易对 OECD 国家环境影响的实证研究

随着经济的快速发展,面对日益严峻的环境现状,人们在物质繁荣的经济背景下,逐步展开关于“贸易全球化”与“环境污染”二者关系的探讨.基于经济发展的现状,以OECD国家作为研究对象,通过收集从1990年到2010年贸易与环境的相关数据,运用统计与计量模型实证分析国际贸易对环境的影响.在此基础上,从思想理念,贸易结构,科技工艺和人口政策四个方面,提出了实现我国贸易与环境健康良性发展的可供参考的对策.     

Familial relations and labor market outcomes: the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

We analyze intra-family support among Palestinians living in Lebanon, using detailed household survey data from the refugee camps and Palestinian communities in Lebanon and latent class analysis technique. The study uncovers five latent classes of familial exchange. Two different theoretical models—the solidarity and reciprocal exchange—are used to examine the link between patterns of assistance and labor market conditions. Contrary to the solidarity account, we find no evidence of high familial assistance among the unemployed, or those excluded from the labor market, and this is true regardless of type of exchange. However, the camp population is more likely to engage in exchange relations than their non-camp counterparts. The married, loners, educated, employed, and those with stronger ties to relatives are more likely to be money exchangers. The findings are similar for care receivers, but age and gender figure prominently here. Some policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Domestic outsourcing and multitasking: How much do they really contribute?

The bulk of responsibility for domestic work and childcare in heterosexual couples falls on women. But the means they find to cope with this load, and how these means relate to the factors underpinning the division of labor are not often studied. Two much-cited ways of reducing overall work time are purchasing domestic assistance (outsourcing) and the multitasking of domestic/caring tasks. Using UK 2000/2001 time-use data (N = 4196 couples), we find domestic outsourcing is related to having dependent children and to partners’ resources, but has little impact on the total domestic/caring workload of either partner. Nor can outsourcing account for the reduction in women’s unpaid labor with increasing economic resources. Wives spend more time multitasking than husbands, but their proportion of multitasked domestic time is similar, and is not affected by resources or dependent children. Domestic multitasking seems to be more related to opportunity (time at home) than to time pressure.     

Investigating a typology of trust orientations towards national and European institutions: A person-centered approach

There is a growing recognition that trust attitudes towards national and European institutions are systematically related. Despite substantial research interest, the exact nature of this relationship remains unclear. We argue that a person-centered approach with its focus on identifying groups of individuals with similar attitudinal profiles provides a valuable complement to the currently standard variable-oriented approach in addressing this challenge. To illustrate, we examine the extent to which a prior typology of diffuse support for the European Union (EU) would emerge from a multilevel latent class analysis of the Eurobarometer data (2014). Our results provide support for the investigated typology by identifying four distinct trust profiles at the individual level that coalesce into separate latent clusters at the country level. Our findings underscore the value of a person-centered approach for the study of EU support.     

Not making the transition to college: School, work, and opportunities in the lives of American youth

Unlike traditional research on educational stratification that focuses on the pursuit of higher education, our study examines why young adults do not make the transition to college, using a nationally representative sample of college non-enrollees (N = 2640). In applying latent class analysis techniques, we identified multiple types of students who do not pursue college. One group of non-enrollees (27.6%) reports forgoing college because the economic barriers are too high - either because of college affordability or family financial responsibility. These youth had both low math test scores and low family income, and thus closely align with regression-based analyses on college enrollment that emphasize academic and economic constraints as the central barriers to educational progress. However, we also identified a second, often overlooked group of youth who had the academic preparation and family income support to enroll in higher education, but decided to forgo college because they preferred to work and to make money (18.3%). The heterogeneous motives of these youth suggest that postsecondary decisions are not always guided by academic and economic barriers, but sometimes driven by previous work experience and perceptions of local opportunities for school and work.     

Urban density and the metabolic reach of metropolitan areas: A panel analysis of per capita transportation emissions at the county-level

We engage a tension in the urban environment literature that positions cities as both drivers of environmental destruction and loci of environmental protection. We argue that the traditional binary view of cities as either harmful or beneficial is too simplistic; we advance a more nuanced understanding of cities to study their internal and external metabolic effects in terms of carbon emissions from on-road transportation at the county-level across the continental United States between 2002 and 2007. First, utilizing satellite imagery from the National Land Cover Database, we create a novel measure of population density by quantifying the number of people per square mile of impervious surface area. Second, we develop a measure of metropolitan adjacency from the rural classifications datasets published by the USDA. In spatial regression models, we find that while higher density reduces emissions, counties that are geographically isolated from metropolitan areas actually have lower per capita emissions, all else equal. We elaborate on the conceptual, methodological, and practical implications of our study in the conclusion.