Income Inequality and Subjective Well-being: A Cross-National Study on the Conditional Effects of Individual and National Characteristics

In this study we raise the question how a nation’s income inequality affects subjective well-being. Using information on 195,091 individuals from 85 different countries from the World Value Surveys and the European Value Surveys, we established that in general, people living in more unequal countries report higher well-being than people from more equal countries. This association however does not apply to all people similarly. First, the positive effect of a nation’s income inequality is weaker when individuals express more social and institutional trust, and underscore egalitarian norms to a larger extent. Second, the positive association between national income inequality and subjective well-being is less strong for people from countries with high levels of social and institutional trust. So, our research predominantly indicates that there are far-reaching effects of an individual’s and a nation’s trust on people’s well-being.     

Similarity and Complementarity of Behavioral Profiles of Friendship Types and Types of Friends: Friendships and Psychosocial Adjustment

This study investigated different types of friendships and the behavioral profiles of different types of friends in relation to individual adjustment. In 102 classes with preadolescents (mean age 11), 737 independent friendship dyads, and in 149 classes with adolescents (mean age 14), 1,102 friendship dyads were identified. At each age group, cluster analyses on the behavioral profiles of the dyads yielded three friendship types, with two types of friends within each friendship type: Socially Withdrawn friendship (Victimized Withdrawn and Prosocial Withdrawn friends), Prosocial friendship (High Prosocial and Less Prosocial friends), and Antisocial friendship (Bullying Antisocial and Antisocial friends). The behavioral profiles of the two friends in Prosocial friendships were marked by similarity and in the other two types by complementarity. Both Victimized Withdrawn and Bullying Antisocial friends were less adjusted than participants without friends while Prosocial friends were more adjusted.     

Parental media socialization and educational attainment: Resource or disadvantage?

This article analyzes the long-term effects of parental media socialization on children's educational attainment. Data on 8316 individuals from 3257 families in the Netherlands is used to estimate hierarchical models that distinguish between family-specific (socialization) and individual-level effects. The study reveals that parental reading and television socialization plays a meaningful role in predicting children's success in education. Whereas parental time spent viewing television is disadvantageous for a child's educational career, parental reading intensity enhances educational success. Moreover, not only does media exposure play a relevant role, the content of parental media consumption also matters. Parents who prefer highbrow literature benefit their children's educational career, whereas a preference for watching popular TV programs is disadvantageous for a child's educational success. Next to the parental example of media consumption, media guidance provided by parents is scrutinized. Results indicate that parent-child interactions on reading positively affect children's educational attainment.     

Informal Volunteering and Socialization Effects: Examining Modelling and Encouragement by Parents and Partner

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Informal volunteering is seen as an important indicator of social relations and community life. We therefore investigate...     

Subjective Well-being in Rural India: The Curse of Conspicuous Consumption

Using data on 697 individuals from 375 rural low income households in India, we test expectations on the effects of relative income and conspicuous consumption on subjective well-being. The results of the multi-level regression analyses show that individuals who spent more on conspicuous consumption report lower levels of subjective well-being. Surprisingly an individual’s relative income position does not affect feelings of well-being. Motivated by positional concerns, people do not passively accept their relative rank but instead consume conspicuous goods to keep up with the Joneses. Conspicuous consumption always comes at the account of the consumption of basic needs. Our analyses point at a positional treadmill effect of the consumption of status goods.     

Do Female Colleagues and Supervisors Influence Family Role Attitudes? A Three‐Level Test of Exposure Explanations Among Employed Men and Women in 27 European Countries

This study examines the relationship between various aspects of female labor participation and people's family role attitudes. Following exposure theory, we expect that individuals may adopt more egalitarian family roles as they are more often exposed to employed women because it dispels negative ideas about women's capabilities and brings them into contact with nontraditional networks. This study provides an elaborate test by examining the role of exposure to female colleagues and supervisors in three contexts: workplaces, occupational sectors, and countries. We found that the number of female colleagues at work and in occupational sectors was positively related to egalitarian family roles of employed men. Our study further showed that this positive relationship between exposure to female colleagues at work and men's egalitarian family roles was weaker in female‐dominated sectors. Remarkably, exposure to national female labor participation was not significantly related to the family roles of employed women.