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The Centre for Social Sciences together with ESS ERIC is announcing a Call for Papers for the ESS Budapest Conference entitled ‘European societies through the prism of the European Social Survey’. The purpose of the conference is to bring together researchers, analysts, policy makers and state representatives to share and discuss scholarly research and analyses based on data of the European Social Survey.
The conference aims to provide forum for papers that analyse the state of societies in Europe in a comparative and/or time-series perspective using data from the 9th Round of the ESS. The organizers especially welcome abstracts that address topics covered by the R9 rotating modules (Timing of Life, and Social Justice and Fairness) of ESS comparatively across Europe. The conference is envisaged as a step towards better dissemination and impact of ESS findings. For this end, we plan to invite the best presentations to be submitted to a special issue of the journal Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics [IEEJSP] |
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Program
9:00 - 9:20 Introduction
Welcome speech by Rory Fitzerald (Director of the ESS ERIC) and Zsolt Boda (Director of the Center for Social Sciences, Budapest)
9:20-11:00 Session 1 - Methodological proceedings and experiments
Chair/Discussant: Zoltán Kmetty (CSS, ELTE TáTK, Budapest)
Chair/Discussant: Zoltán Kmetty (CSS, ELTE TáTK, Budapest)
Blanka Szeitl, István György Tóth (TÁRKI Social Research Institute)
Revisiting the ESS R8 sample a year after - Lessons from a re-contact survey to test patterns of unit non-response in Hungary
Revisiting the ESS R8 sample a year after - Lessons from a re-contact survey to test patterns of unit non-response in Hungary
Decline of response rate is a major challenge for empirical social research. Should the loss of response units be non-random, population estimates may become biased. A rising share of the „unreachable” may prompt an increased probability of non-randomness of the loss. Exploring the process is therefore a key to understanding of what can be expected from our achieved samples. In a recent study we investigated patterns of response unit losses by conducting a one and a half year lagged re-contact survey based on the ESS 8 round.
We find that before a premature verdict on unreachability, one must make another try: a combined reach of the original and of the recontact surveys have risen to above 63.6% percent from the initial 41.1%. The proportion of totally ineligibles was 6.5%, and the rate of stable non-responders was 11.3% only. The joint profile of the original and of the recontact sample may be more balanced for the representativity of what we believe to be the „reality”. Our presentation at the conference details out how individual attributes of potential respondents, territorial characteristics of the neighbourhoods of targeted addresses and the quality of the interviewer network factors in survey success in the experiences of ESS fieldwork in Hungary.
We find that before a premature verdict on unreachability, one must make another try: a combined reach of the original and of the recontact surveys have risen to above 63.6% percent from the initial 41.1%. The proportion of totally ineligibles was 6.5%, and the rate of stable non-responders was 11.3% only. The joint profile of the original and of the recontact sample may be more balanced for the representativity of what we believe to be the „reality”. Our presentation at the conference details out how individual attributes of potential respondents, territorial characteristics of the neighbourhoods of targeted addresses and the quality of the interviewer network factors in survey success in the experiences of ESS fieldwork in Hungary.
Ádam Stefkovics (Eötvös Lóránd University), Viktor Wurm (Corvinus University)
Is interview duration related to data quality? Evidence from the 9th wave of the European Social Survey
Is interview duration related to data quality? Evidence from the 9th wave of the European Social Survey
The length of a questionnaire is a key factor in designing surveys. Costs, response rates and other characteristics of a survey might be affected by questionnaire length. Nevertheless, the effect of questionnaire length on data quality is a rarely discussed problem. Previous research using the data of ESS has shown that interview duration depends not only on the age, educational level or cognitive skills of the respondents, but also on the interviewers (Loosveldt & Beullens, 2013; Vandenplas et al., 2018). These studies also highlighted that interview duration can affect data quality. A too fast interview speed results in higher rate of non-differentiation (straightlining), but slow answering might as well have negative affects (Vandenplas et al., 2019). Additionally, researchers have found that the effect of interview duration on data quality varies between countries. The presentation focuses on the relationship of interview duration and data quality in the 9th module of ESS. Contrary to previous studies, we use several indicators of data quality, such as item-nonresponse rates, social desirability bias, non-differentiation and acquiescence. We build on multilevel regression models in order to separate respondent-, interview- and country-level variance. Therefore, we will be able to explore which respondent and interviewer characteristics interact with interview duration effects and underline country-level differences as well. The results will serve as a valuable feedback for ESS and help any social scientist in designing effective questionnaires or training better interviewers. The practical implications of our findings will be discussed at the conference.
Judit Takács (Institute for Sociology, Centre for Social Sciences, HAS CE) and Swart Gregory (University of Glasgow)
More variables, more rejection
More variables, more rejection
Our study examines social attitudes towards lesbians and gays, using data from the 9th round of the European Social Survey (ESS), focussing primarily on the following three variables: Gay men and lesbians should be free to live their own life as they wish – (where freedom of lifestyle is meant as being free and/or entitled to live as gays and lesbians) (B34); If a close family member was a gay man or a lesbian, I would feel ashamed. (B35); Gay male and lesbian couples should have the same rights to adopt children as straight couples (B36).
Since 2002 for the first seven ESS rounds, the core module of the main questionnaires included only one general acceptance question (B34). However, it was increasingly difficult to measure manifestations of 'modern homonegativity' – especially in European societies characterized by relatively high levels of social inclusion – with only one variable. Introducing two additional variables (B35, 36) to the ESS core module in the 8th round made it possible to construct a more complex and reliable picture on different dimensions of social attitudes towards gays and lesbians in Europe.
Our aim is to contribute to the European literature on the social acceptance of lesbian women and gay men by comparing the functioning of all three variables (B34-35-36) not only on the basis of the usual socio-demographic variables (such as age, gender, education, religiosity etc.) used in previous empirical analyses but also the institutionalized possibilities for family formation by same-sex couples in the 27 examined societies. Due to examining additional variables we expect that B35 and B36 focussing on specific aspects of social attitudes towards lesbians and gays will reflect lower levels of acceptance.
Our empirical analyses are based on descriptive statistics and linear regression models. In addition to attitudes towards gays and lesbians, our findings can indicate broader value orientation characteristics of respondents, including views on the gender role system or social minorities.
Since 2002 for the first seven ESS rounds, the core module of the main questionnaires included only one general acceptance question (B34). However, it was increasingly difficult to measure manifestations of 'modern homonegativity' – especially in European societies characterized by relatively high levels of social inclusion – with only one variable. Introducing two additional variables (B35, 36) to the ESS core module in the 8th round made it possible to construct a more complex and reliable picture on different dimensions of social attitudes towards gays and lesbians in Europe.
Our aim is to contribute to the European literature on the social acceptance of lesbian women and gay men by comparing the functioning of all three variables (B34-35-36) not only on the basis of the usual socio-demographic variables (such as age, gender, education, religiosity etc.) used in previous empirical analyses but also the institutionalized possibilities for family formation by same-sex couples in the 27 examined societies. Due to examining additional variables we expect that B35 and B36 focussing on specific aspects of social attitudes towards lesbians and gays will reflect lower levels of acceptance.
Our empirical analyses are based on descriptive statistics and linear regression models. In addition to attitudes towards gays and lesbians, our findings can indicate broader value orientation characteristics of respondents, including views on the gender role system or social minorities.
Radka Hanzlova (Faculty of Arts, Charles University)
Measurement of subjective well-being in European Social Survey
Measurement of subjective well-being in European Social Survey
The measurement of subjective well-being is an important topic in society, since the support of good life, happiness, satisfaction, or attainment of well-being should be the goal of any democratic government. The main problem is how to measure subjective well-being – whether through a single question or as part of multi-item battery, as a multidimensional concept – in order to be valid, reliable and primarily comparable? Both methods are used in the European Social Survey (ESS). The measurement with one question has been repeated in each round since 2002, the measurement from a multidimensional perspective was included in the third and sixth rounds. Specifically, in the sixth round was firstly introduced a new theoretical model for measuring subjective well-being. In order to be able to reliably compare countries with each other, the model must achieved a certain level of equivalence. In my paper, I will focus on comparison of both methods, I will show their advantages and disadvantages and especially I will present the results of my analysis in which I tested this theoretical model from the sixth round ESS.
11:15-13:15 Session 2 - Families, gender
Chair/Discussant: Judit Takács (CSS, Budapest)
Chair/Discussant: Judit Takács (CSS, Budapest)
Ivett Szalma (Institute for Sociology, Centre for Social Sciences, HAS CE)
Voluntary childlessness in Europe - how is it accepted?
Voluntary childlessness in Europe - how is it accepted?
During the socialist era the childlessness rate was very low in the Eastern European countries, well below 10% of women remained childless in this region (cf. Sobotka 2017). However, after the political transition profound changes occurred in cohort reproductive patterns, especially among the cohorts born in the 1970s. The initially extreme low childlessness levels have started rising, approaching or surpassing 10% in the post-socialist region (cf. Sobotka 2017). At the same time, the voluntary childlessness rate was still much lower in this region than in the Western European region (Miettinen et al. 2015). Moreover, previous research (Merz and Liefbroer 2012) - using European Social Survey data from round 3 - found that even the attitudes towards voluntary childlessness varied strongly across individuals and countries in Europe and that is related to the advancement in the Second Demographic Transition (SDT). In this study we also examine whether the effect of SDT is still relevant. Furthermore, we would like to analyse whether the so-called Third Demographic Transition, which refers the ongoing process of Western Europe and Northern America where dominant pattern is the low fertility combined with high immigration (Coleman 2006), has any effect toward the acceptance of voluntary childlessness. To answer these questions, I conduct a multilevel analysis using the data from the 9th round of the European Social Survey.
Jana Klímová Chaloupková (Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences)
Solo living in the process of transition to adulthood: Evidence from European Social Survey
Solo living in the process of transition to adulthood: Evidence from European Social Survey
The sequences of transitions in pathways into adulthood have undergone substantial changes. Once a relatively single event - leaving the parental home and union formation, have been decoupled and diversified and the proportion of young adults living alone has increased. Yet, despite these changes, significant differences in the timing and sequencing of family events persist across European countries. Even though the large scholarly attention has been given to changes in patterns of transition to adulthood, no attempts have been made to give detailed, holistic descriptions of the patterns of life-course trajectories that emerge from the increase of solo-living after leaving the parental home. Using data from the European Social Survey Round 9 (2018), that contains comprehensive retrospective data on events in transition to adulthood such as first employment, leaving home, first union formation, first marriage, and childbearing, this paper aims to describe cross-national variation in the prevalence of solo-living experience in the process of transition to adulthood and to provide an insight into the patterns of life-course trajectories that involve the experience with solo-living after leaving parental home across Europe. Compared to previous studies, that have identified different pathways to adulthood using sequence analysis, this study wants to specifically shed light on heterogeneity in pathways into adulthood that includes the experience of solo living and to identify to what extent solo-living forms a new stage in the pathways to adulthood in Europe.
Bence Ságvári (Institute for Sociology, CSS-Recens, Centre for Social Sciences, HAS CE)
Never too old? Changing perceptions in the timing of life in Europe. co-author: Vera Messing
Never too old? Changing perceptions in the timing of life in Europe. co-author: Vera Messing
We tend to think about human age as an objective, conclusive fact that is registered in official documents. However, it has a subjective reading as well: the age (in terms of years) we link to specific stages of our life, such as the beginning of adulthood, entering old age, are all dependent on the social milieu we live in. Leaving the parental home, getting married, having the first and the last child, or retiring are determined by expectations that are shaped by deeply-rooted social norms.
Changes in life expectancy and fertility, public policy measures in education and the labour market, and all these factors amplified by media narratives can transform the attitudes on the life course. Nevertheless, we might also define it as a circular process where public perceptions can define the limits of interventions in public policy.
The presentation compares ESS data of the Timing of Life module from Round 3 (2006) and Round 9 (2018). The focus of our interest is the change in the age-perception of having children and retirement. We show evidence for the slow process of convergence between the Eastern and the Western part of Europe. In countries of the post-socialist Europe the change is mostly attributed to the younger age cohorts. Data shows that in many countries childbirth after 40 is getting destigmatized and the ideal age for retirement is also on the rise reflecting the long term challenges of the labour market.
Changes in life expectancy and fertility, public policy measures in education and the labour market, and all these factors amplified by media narratives can transform the attitudes on the life course. Nevertheless, we might also define it as a circular process where public perceptions can define the limits of interventions in public policy.
The presentation compares ESS data of the Timing of Life module from Round 3 (2006) and Round 9 (2018). The focus of our interest is the change in the age-perception of having children and retirement. We show evidence for the slow process of convergence between the Eastern and the Western part of Europe. In countries of the post-socialist Europe the change is mostly attributed to the younger age cohorts. Data shows that in many countries childbirth after 40 is getting destigmatized and the ideal age for retirement is also on the rise reflecting the long term challenges of the labour market.
Judit Kálmán (Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, HAS CE)
Where are working women happier? Gender Differences in Effects of Labor Market Status on Subjective Well-Being Across European Welfare Regimes
Where are working women happier? Gender Differences in Effects of Labor Market Status on Subjective Well-Being Across European Welfare Regimes
This research investigates what gender differences exist in the relationship of work and subjective well-being across different European welfare regimes (expanded Esping-Andersen typology). Besides estimating individual-specific socio-demographic effects, especially that of labor market status it emphasizes the institutional context of different welfare regimes, tries to measure effects of the generosity of welfare policy schemes (unemployment, parental leave, childcare) and some macroeconomic factors (GDP, social and ALMP expenditures) on aspects of individual life satisfaction. Using micro-data on individual happiness from several waves of the European Social Survey, adding context variables from various sources (e.g. Scruggs CWED2 welfare generosity scores, EIGE gender equality index etc.) it applies a pooled cross-section analysis with relevant multivariate methods (ordered logit, OLS, multi-level analysis). Apart from individual factors, it confirms welfare and gender regime typology, as well as the finer measure of generosity of welfare provisions to matter. SWB is lowest in the post-socialist Eastern and Southern European countries, even among those with paid employment, but especially among the unemployed. After introduction of gender equality index, the effect of the Post-socialist and Southern welfare regimes become strongly significant and negative – i.e. it is the traditional gender norms still prevailing in these countries and their hybrid family-based policies, still hard reconciliation of work and family that makes the situation of women harder, and thus their life satisfaction somewhat lower – while the other three regimes are closer, more leveling, with less difference along groups by activity or gender. Apart from a new insight on gender-specific determinants of the work-happiness puzzle, the cross-welfare regimes comparison is a contribution to the happiness, labor market and welfare state literatures. Moreover it provides valuable input for highly prioritized public policy themes on female labor market participation, welfare provisions etc.
Dávid Erát (Department of Sociology, University of Pécs)
Educational assortative mating and the decline of hypergamy in 27 European countries. An examination of trends through cohorts.
Educational assortative mating and the decline of hypergamy in 27 European countries. An examination of trends through cohorts.
For a long time, social scientists noted that there is a tendency for people to select partners with a particular characteristic, such as educational attainment, occupation, wage, race, religion and attitudes. This propensity for non-random partnering poses the age-old question: who chooses whom?
In this study, we contribute to the answer to this question by studying partnership formation by educational attainment, and more precisely, how the composition of the pool of available partners forms educational assortative mating in 27 European countries. We propose that the reversal of the gender gap in education seen in Europe restructured the relationship market, which resulted in the decline of traditional unions where men have an educational advantage over women.
For the analysis, we pooled data from the European Social Survey’s nine waves (1-9) and examined trends throughout eleven cohorts for 27 nations of Europe. Apart from simple percentage differences in education, we constructed the indices of female educational advantage and of the of the prevalence of hypergamy, with provided correlation statistics and fitted linear trend lines.
Our results corroborated the findings of previous multi-country analyses. In nearly all selected countries women were more present in higher education than men, which resulted in a uniform increase in the female education advantage. Parallel to this, hypergamy (men > women) declined through the cohorts, which was correlated with women’s emerging educational lead. Taking into account the current work and previous studies, it can be concluded that hypergamy is becoming more and more infrequent in Europe. On the contrary, educational hypogamy (men < women) is rapidly advancing into the second position behind homogamy (men = women), which hints at what the future holds for educational assortative mating patterns in Europe: homogamy paired with hypogamy, with a relatively low number of traditional hypergamous unions.
In this study, we contribute to the answer to this question by studying partnership formation by educational attainment, and more precisely, how the composition of the pool of available partners forms educational assortative mating in 27 European countries. We propose that the reversal of the gender gap in education seen in Europe restructured the relationship market, which resulted in the decline of traditional unions where men have an educational advantage over women.
For the analysis, we pooled data from the European Social Survey’s nine waves (1-9) and examined trends throughout eleven cohorts for 27 nations of Europe. Apart from simple percentage differences in education, we constructed the indices of female educational advantage and of the of the prevalence of hypergamy, with provided correlation statistics and fitted linear trend lines.
Our results corroborated the findings of previous multi-country analyses. In nearly all selected countries women were more present in higher education than men, which resulted in a uniform increase in the female education advantage. Parallel to this, hypergamy (men > women) declined through the cohorts, which was correlated with women’s emerging educational lead. Taking into account the current work and previous studies, it can be concluded that hypergamy is becoming more and more infrequent in Europe. On the contrary, educational hypogamy (men < women) is rapidly advancing into the second position behind homogamy (men = women), which hints at what the future holds for educational assortative mating patterns in Europe: homogamy paired with hypogamy, with a relatively low number of traditional hypergamous unions.
14:00-16:00 Session 3 - Political and public attitudes
Chair/Discussant: Gábor Tóka (CEU)
Chair/Discussant: Gábor Tóka (CEU)
Zsófia Tomka (TÁRKI Social Research Institute)
Socioeconomic Determinants of Anti-Immigration Sentiments in Europe: Temporal and Regional Dynamics, 2002-2018
Socioeconomic Determinants of Anti-Immigration Sentiments in Europe: Temporal and Regional Dynamics, 2002-2018
Previous studies on social status and anti-immigration attitudes have neglected Southern and Eastern Europe and did not focus on comparative research or longitudinal analysis. Therefore, in this paper I examine the differing effect of socioeconomic status on anti-immigrant attitudes in Europe and how these effects have changed over time. I hypothesize that social status indicators have a higher effect on anti-immigrant prejudice in Northwestern than in Eastern and Southern Europe because in the former region, 1. the educational system is more successful in transmitting social norms of tolerance; 2. the level of social dominance orientation is lower in the overall population and comparatively higher among those of lower status; 3. due to the larger immigrant population, group threat among those in closest contact with them overrides the positive effect of group contact; and finally, because 4. those of lower social status have to compete with more immigrants economically. Furthermore, I argue that following the Great Recession, the effect of socioeconomic status increased in the whole of Europe due to perceived economic threat becoming more prevalent among those in vulnerable positions as economic framings of social problems gained importance. Finally, I refer to cultural threat theory in stating that after the migration crisis, cultural framings of the dangers of immigration became more widespread and therefore, anti-immigrant attitudes became less connected to socioeconomic position. Based on data from five rounds of the European Social Survey, between 2002 and 2018, I employ factor analyses as well as bivariate and multivariate linear regression models to test my hypotheses. I find that all tendencies can be observed, with the exception of the declining relevance of socioeconomic status following the migration crisis in CEE and SE. Further research on the topic could look at the ‘ideal types’ of the trends described or study the outliers.
Vera Messing (Institute for Sociology, Centre for Social Sciences, HAS CE)
From landing to arrival. The subtle integration of immigrants in Europe. Co-author: Bence Ságvári
From landing to arrival. The subtle integration of immigrants in Europe. Co-author: Bence Ságvári
The aim of the paper is to map the present state, as well as the process, of subjective integration among immigrants in Western Europe. Structural characteristics of socioeconomic integration – such as employment, education, housing and income – are widely discussed in research on migrant integration. But in this report, we focus on subtler features of immigrants’ adaptation to their host country’s society, and analyse a subjective side of integration: namely, how immigrants’ values, norms and attitudes adapt to those of the local population. The analysis is based on three aspects of subjective integration and related indicators: (1) institutional attitude convergence, which represents an assessment of major societal institutions, including the economy, education, health care, democracy and its institutions; (2) perceived inclusion, which reflects the extent to which immigrants feel integrated into, or excluded from and discriminated against by, wider society and (3) acculturation, which is assessed using three independent variables: language used in private (at home), emotional attachment to the host country. The analysis uses data on TCN immigrants from all ESS rounds in 13 countries of Western Europe. One of the main findings of the analysis is the very clear and remarkable adaptation of immigrants to the values, norms and attitudes of the mainstream societies in which they live. All of the indicators of subjective integration applied show that, although they possess attitudes and values that differ somewhat from those of the local population, nevertheless immigrants are closer in this respect to the host country’s population than to the population in their country of origin.
Dániel Oross, Andrea Szabó and Pál Susánszky (Institute for Political Sciences ,Centre for Social Sciences, HAS CE)
Factors Influencing Satisfaction with Democracy in Europe
Factors Influencing Satisfaction with Democracy in Europe
Measuring citizens’ satisfaction with democracy and examining the factors influencing it is one of the key research topics of social sciences. Although the winner–loser gap in political support is present in most democracies, earlier studies are inconclusive whether the electoral system’s proportionality has a significant role in citizens’ satisfaction with democracy. Therefore our presentation aims to explain the link between satisfaction with democracy and the majoritarian-consensual dimension of democratic systems in Europe. We assume that increasing polarization has more impact on citizens’ satisfaction with democracy in majoritarian than on consensual democratic systems. Drawing on data from 9 Rounds of the European Social Survey with 30 countries we explore significant differences in winner-loser gap across the European regions. We use multilevel regression models with cross level interactions to find out how features of electoral system and polarization shape citizens’ satisfaction with democracy and political support of democracy. The results offer an insight to the role of institutional contexts and cultural differences on satisfaction with democracy.
Sergiu Gherghina (University of Glasgow) and Paul Tap (Babes-Bolyai University)
Political Apathy and Multiculturalism: Why East Europeans Would Leave the EU?
Political Apathy and Multiculturalism: Why East Europeans Would Leave the EU?
The result of the 2016 Brexit referendum inspired political discourses in several countries about the possibility to leave the European Union (EU). So far, little is known about the willingness of citizens to follow such a path should they have the opportunity. This paper seeks to address this research gap and analyzes what drives the East European citizens to choose exit in a potential referendum about leaving the EU. It focuses on the citizens from the New Member States because these are arguably the least likely cases to prefer such an option. These countries have made relatively recent efforts to join, i.e. meeting the conditionality criteria, and their citizens enjoy extensively the right of free movement in the EU. The figures place these countries quite high on the ranking of intra-EU migration. Our key arguments are that two categories of people are likely to favor leaving the EU. On the one hand, those who are disinterested in politics, apathic and dissatisfied with the political system may believe that a change can have positive consequences. On the other hand, the people who feel strongly against multiculturalism and develop emotional attachment to their country are more inclined to leave the EU. The quantitative analysis (binary logistic regression) tests empirically the extent to which variables associated with these two arguments have an effect on the likelihood to vote exit. It controls for several socio-economic characteristics and voting for anti-EU parties in the most recent legislative elections. The study uses individual-level data from the 9th wave of the European Social Survey (2018). The study includes all East European countries included in the survey: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
16:15-18:00 Session 4 - Fairness and inequality
Chair/Discussant: Péter Róbert (CSS, TÁRKI, Budapest)
Chair/Discussant: Péter Róbert (CSS, TÁRKI, Budapest)
Ákos Huszár (Institute for Sociology, Centre for Social Sciences, HAS CE), Katalin Füzér (Department of Sociology, University of Pécs)
Improving Life Conditions, Deepening Class Divisions: Hungarian Class Society in ESS Comparison, 2002-2018
Improving Life Conditions, Deepening Class Divisions: Hungarian Class Society in ESS Comparison, 2002-2018
The paper offers evidence for an increasing relevance of class in explaining material life conditions in Hungarian society and asks how significant this explanatory power of class is in ESS context. We find that already during 2002-2012 class had a relatively strong explanatory power in Hungary in ESS comparison but in the 2014-2018 period Hungarian class society exceptionally strongly defined class positions in two fields of material inequalities (experience of unemployment and income difficulties) against the background of an overall improvement in life conditions. The paper uses all nine ESS rounds and via identical regression models looks at the changing explanatory power of class in all ESS countries. Our study measures class position in the tradition of occupational class analysis, i.e. on the basis of an individual’s occupation and other labour market characteristics. As the sample size of ESS allows for the analysis only of rough distinctions, we grasp social structure in terms of a relatively simple scheme of five occupational categories based on the European Socio-Economic Classification (ESeC) (Rose and Harrison 2010). Since we find that even this rough class model, which is suitable for identifying the hierarchical structuration of society, proves capable of explaining material life conditions in a convincing manner, we can arguably expect that a more detailed class scheme would produce even more conclusive results.
The comparative framework of our study allows not only for a more comprehensive evaluation of the Hungarian case but also lets us delineate a group of European countries which arguably share similar political economic structural positions. We find that class indeed has a consistently strong explanatory power in all the Visegrád countries of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, beyond the Hungarian case. Both the similarities as well as the differences in these Visegrád class societies invite explanations and further research using ESS data.
The comparative framework of our study allows not only for a more comprehensive evaluation of the Hungarian case but also lets us delineate a group of European countries which arguably share similar political economic structural positions. We find that class indeed has a consistently strong explanatory power in all the Visegrád countries of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, beyond the Hungarian case. Both the similarities as well as the differences in these Visegrád class societies invite explanations and further research using ESS data.
Luka Jurković, Jelena Ostojić and Dragan Bagić (Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb)
Assessing Socioeconomic Inequality in Self-Rated Health in Four Post-Yugoslav Countries: Do Social Relations Play a Role? Findings from the European Social Survey (2018)
Assessing Socioeconomic Inequality in Self-Rated Health in Four Post-Yugoslav Countries: Do Social Relations Play a Role? Findings from the European Social Survey (2018)
A substantial body of literature has examined the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and self-rated health, leading to the conclusion that people’s socioeconomic background (measured in terms of educational attainment, income or occupational social class) is related to their health status. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in exploring different psychosocial pathways to ascertain socioeconomic gradients in health and functioning. Among these, social relations, such as frequency of social contacts, social support and social participation, have been recognized as an important determinant of health outcomes. However, there is a lack of studies examining the associations between self-rated health, socioeconomic inequality and social relations in post-socialist countries of former Yugoslavia. During the last few decades, these countries have experienced extensive economic, political and social change. In this study, we focus on three research questions: RQ1 – to what extent is there a socioeconomic gradient in self-rated health in four countries of former Yugoslavia (Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Montenegro); RQ2 – is there an association between structural and functional aspects of social relations and self-rated health; and RQ3 – to what extent do these countries differ regarding this association? The analyses presented in this study are based on the 9th round of the European Social Survey (2018).
Ivan Petrusek (Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences)
Support for Income Redistribution in Europe: What is the Role of Unemployment?
Support for Income Redistribution in Europe: What is the Role of Unemployment?
This working paper aims to conduct detailed analyses of the impact of unemployment on attitudes towards income redistribution in twentyone European countries. At the individual level, the analysis assesses whether being currently unemployed or having experienced a longer spell of unemployment (longer than three months) has a more substantial effect on support for income redistribution. In line with material self-interest theories, previous research confirmed that unemployment status is associated with higher support for redistribution. Nevertheless, previous research on the effect of past personal experience with unemployment is less common, while studies on their simultaneous effects are scarce. At higher levels, this working paper studies longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships between several labor-market related contextual variables and support for redistribution. In particular, the paper aims to assess whether it is the short-term unemployment rates, long-term unemployment rates or labor force participation rates that influence pro-redistributive attitudes.
Three-level hierarchical models (proposed by Fairbrother 2014) estimated on the first eight rounds of European Social Survey suggest that past personal experience with longer unemployment spell has a much stronger effect on pro-redistributive attitudes than being currently unemployed. Furthermore, the respective individual-level unemployment variables are not interacted (i.e. only their constitutive terms are statistically significant). Model results thus suggest that past personal experience with unemployment has a strong, lasting impact on Europeans´ support for redistribution. These key results hold while controlling for several other individual-level predictors.
At higher levels, all contextual variables were decomposed into between (cross-sectional) and within (longitudinal) components. Results suggest that country-level labor force participation rates are negatively associated with overall support for redistribution (i.e. negative cross-sectional relationship). Within-country deviations from average labor force participation rates and average unemployment rates have a negligible impact (i.e. there are no overall longitudinal relationships). Public social spending as a proxy measure of the overall redistribution in a country is not significantly associated with pro-redistributive attitudes (when controlling for other contextual variables). Finally, hierarchical models display positive within-country effect of income inequality which is in agreement with previous research (Schmidt-Catran 2016).
Varying reactions of European publics to changing economic conditions explain the absence of the overall longitudinal relationship between unemployment rates and support for income redistribution. While the Great Recession and the European sovereign debt crisis were in general associated with increased support for redistribution (and also higher unemployment rates), taking a longer-term perspective implemented in this article (2002-2017) suggests positive longitudinal association in some European countries, no generalisable pattern in most studied countries and even negative relationship in a few European countries. Significant negative cross-sectional relationship, on the other hand, signifies that European countries with higher labor force participation rates have lower long term support for income redistribution than countries with relatively low labor force participation rates.
Three-level hierarchical models (proposed by Fairbrother 2014) estimated on the first eight rounds of European Social Survey suggest that past personal experience with longer unemployment spell has a much stronger effect on pro-redistributive attitudes than being currently unemployed. Furthermore, the respective individual-level unemployment variables are not interacted (i.e. only their constitutive terms are statistically significant). Model results thus suggest that past personal experience with unemployment has a strong, lasting impact on Europeans´ support for redistribution. These key results hold while controlling for several other individual-level predictors.
At higher levels, all contextual variables were decomposed into between (cross-sectional) and within (longitudinal) components. Results suggest that country-level labor force participation rates are negatively associated with overall support for redistribution (i.e. negative cross-sectional relationship). Within-country deviations from average labor force participation rates and average unemployment rates have a negligible impact (i.e. there are no overall longitudinal relationships). Public social spending as a proxy measure of the overall redistribution in a country is not significantly associated with pro-redistributive attitudes (when controlling for other contextual variables). Finally, hierarchical models display positive within-country effect of income inequality which is in agreement with previous research (Schmidt-Catran 2016).
Varying reactions of European publics to changing economic conditions explain the absence of the overall longitudinal relationship between unemployment rates and support for income redistribution. While the Great Recession and the European sovereign debt crisis were in general associated with increased support for redistribution (and also higher unemployment rates), taking a longer-term perspective implemented in this article (2002-2017) suggests positive longitudinal association in some European countries, no generalisable pattern in most studied countries and even negative relationship in a few European countries. Significant negative cross-sectional relationship, on the other hand, signifies that European countries with higher labor force participation rates have lower long term support for income redistribution than countries with relatively low labor force participation rates.
Aurelija Stelmokiene, Gabija Jarasiūnaitė-Fedosejeva (Vytautas Magnus University)
Leadership position and wellbeing: comparison among different cultures using ESS data
Leadership position and wellbeing: comparison among different cultures using ESS data
In mass media leadership position is presented as a dream job: most people aspire to it. First of all, leadership position is associated with influence, success and power, especially in cultures with high power distance where high inequality of power distribution among individuals in societies dominates (Zheng et al., 2018). Besides, leaders have a lot of followers and are engaged in different social relationships that also vary among cultures (Kossek et al., 2017). So, with reference to Self-determination theory, leadership position should fulfill leaders’ innate psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) and shape their wellbeing. However, these beliefs lack empirical evidence.
As leaders are central mechanisms in the organization, responsible for effective functioning of it, their wellbeing (both emotional and evaluative aspects of it) matters (Kaluza et al., 2020; Lord et al., 2017). Therefore, our purpose is to analyze if leadership position is related with higher wellbeing: less social exclusion and more happiness, satisfaction with life. Additionally, with reference to recommendations to include national culture into the leadership research as an important contextual factor, we are going to test if above mentioned relationship differ in countries that have different scores of cultural dimension - power distance. Power distance is among the most frequently discussed dimensions of national culture in the leadership literature (Schermerhorn, Bond, 1997).
European Social Survey (ESS) data from Round 9 was employed in order to test propositions presented above. Data of 23 308 currently working respondents (their main activity is paid work) with 7130 of them having leadership position were analyzed. Three countries that varied in power distance scores (with reference to results from Hofstede country comparison tool) were chosen for the further analysis: Serbia (with the highest score of 86), Lithuania (with the middle score of 42) and Austria (with the lowest score of 11).
The results of the study showed that people having leadership position were more satisfied with life, were happier and less socially excluded than people who did not have leadership position in their workplace. Moreover, a country variable that represented different power distance index had a significant role to relation between leadership position and wellbeing (people’s’ happiness, satisfaction with life and social exclusion).
With reference to the results, shared leadership perspective could be proposed for practice in order to have a bigger amount of satisfied with life, happy and socially active members in organization. Additionally, future research should evaluate the level of leadership position, not only the fact that you have subordinates.
As leaders are central mechanisms in the organization, responsible for effective functioning of it, their wellbeing (both emotional and evaluative aspects of it) matters (Kaluza et al., 2020; Lord et al., 2017). Therefore, our purpose is to analyze if leadership position is related with higher wellbeing: less social exclusion and more happiness, satisfaction with life. Additionally, with reference to recommendations to include national culture into the leadership research as an important contextual factor, we are going to test if above mentioned relationship differ in countries that have different scores of cultural dimension - power distance. Power distance is among the most frequently discussed dimensions of national culture in the leadership literature (Schermerhorn, Bond, 1997).
European Social Survey (ESS) data from Round 9 was employed in order to test propositions presented above. Data of 23 308 currently working respondents (their main activity is paid work) with 7130 of them having leadership position were analyzed. Three countries that varied in power distance scores (with reference to results from Hofstede country comparison tool) were chosen for the further analysis: Serbia (with the highest score of 86), Lithuania (with the middle score of 42) and Austria (with the lowest score of 11).
The results of the study showed that people having leadership position were more satisfied with life, were happier and less socially excluded than people who did not have leadership position in their workplace. Moreover, a country variable that represented different power distance index had a significant role to relation between leadership position and wellbeing (people’s’ happiness, satisfaction with life and social exclusion).
With reference to the results, shared leadership perspective could be proposed for practice in order to have a bigger amount of satisfied with life, happy and socially active members in organization. Additionally, future research should evaluate the level of leadership position, not only the fact that you have subordinates.
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The event will be physically hosted at
Társadalomtudományi Kutatóközpont (TK) Center for Social Sciences (CSS) 1092 Budapest, Tóth Kálmán u. 4. You can join the conference streaming via Zoom. Please note that you need to register to the event to have access to the Zoom link. 
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A selection of the presentations will be published in Intersections. EEJSP in 2021
Designed and created by Bence Ságvári
