Social Indicators Research

Aytaç, Işık; Rankin, Bruce; İbikoğlu, Arda

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0769-5pmid: N/A

This paper deals with the social impact of the 2008 global economic crisis on urban Turkey. Empirical evidence drawn from recently collected survey data using a multi-stage, stratified, random cluster sample illustrates the extent to which the economic crisis was also a social crisis. Analyses of three different levels—the neighborhood, household, and individual—highlight multiple detrimental effects, as seen in increased neighborhood social problems, household economic hardship and associated coping strategies, and individual mental and physical health problems. While post-crisis economic hardship, as measured by job loss, earnings reduction, and underemployment, was wide-spread, lower socioeconomic groups, renters, and Kurdish households suffered more. Economic hardship was also associated with a range of household coping strategies, both of which represent potential longer-term secondary social impacts, particularly in the Turkish context, when government safety nets are weak and families are left to fend for themselves. If appropriate measures are not taken, the long-term effects may go beyond the current generation of workers to affect the future wellbeing of vulnerable groups.

Olivera, Javier

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0777-5pmid: N/A

This paper analyses the determinants of trust in a pool of 34 European countries over the period 2002–2012. We find that income inequality is negatively related with generalized trust when we analyze the pooled data of individuals with multilevel models, confirming a well-established result in the analysis of cross-country differences in trust. However, we are unable to find the same significant relationship when we estimate fixed effects models with a panel dataset composed by countries. It is plausible that unobserved effects may account for the significant and negative relationship between economic inequality and trust at the cross-sectional level. In contrast, in the fixed effects models, we find negative and significant effects of ethnic and linguistic fractionalization, discrimination (general or based on migrant status) and crime rates on trust.

Janský, Petr

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0779-3pmid: N/A

Over the recent years illicit financial flows have attracted increasing attention from researchers and policy makers because of their negative effects on poor countries. In 2013 the mostly rich countries’ OECD acknowledged illicit flows as an issue of “central importance”. Since 2003, the Center for Global Development has been publishing the Commitment to Development Index (CDI) which ranks rich countries on their policies which affect poor countries. This paper rationalizes the inclusion of indicators of policies affecting illicit financial flows in the CDI, in addition to the previously included policies of aid, trade, migration, environment, security, technology and investment. It provides a survey of existing approaches to measuring illicit financial flows, discusses possible metrics which could be included in the CDI, evaluates how such indicators might be incorporated into the CDI, and proposes changes to current CDI indicators. The qualitative indicators of the Financial Secrecy Index emerge as the best contribution to the newly renamed and updated finance component of the CDI.

Michálek, Anton; Veselovská, Zuzana

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0785-5pmid: N/A

Poverty in Eastern European countries and the problems that accompany the social malady have become widely discussed topics. We chose Slovakia as an example of aggregated indicator using, but the criteria can also be applied to other countries. The aim of the article is to point to the distinct spatial concentration of poverty in Slovakia, to capture its differentiated level (depth) conditions, and to identify its main traits and carriers. Another aim is to use of an aggregated indicator. An aggregated indicator, a comparatively new method applied by the Eurostat was used for identification of poverty. Data collected by the Regional Database of the Statistical Office of the SR and of the Centre of Labour, Social Matters and Family (UPSVaR) were used in this study. The obtained results showed that poverty is a serious problem for one-third (24) of all Slovak districts, its level and depth are differentiated and it is clearly concentrated in the eastern and southern parts of the country (these territories comprise the six poorest districts of Slovakia). The accumulated statistics also unveiled the conditions, status, and socio-economic situation of poor districts. It was found that poor districts have many common traits and properties which make it possible to identify the characteristics and carriers of poverty in Slovakia. Identification of poor districts and establishment of the level of poverty yield important information in the search for solutions, compilation of programmes, and measures of social and regional policies, which when implemented, would prevent further increase of poverty in affected regions.

Steenvoorden, Eefje

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0786-4pmid: N/A

Surveys show discontent with society to be prevalent among the general public across western societies. However, this undercurrent, here called societal unease, has received little scientific attention. This article has four aims. First, it proposes a conceptual model of societal unease by integrating a broad range of interdisciplinary literature. Second, it tests this conceptual model empirically with survey data from the Netherlands. Confirmatory factor analyses confirm a latent dimension of societal unease behind attitudes about five aspects of society. Third, it shows societal unease to be highly related to societal pessimism, moderately to anomia and weakly to happiness. Finally, it explores the association of societal unease with various demographic, attitudinal and behavior characteristics.

Çalışkan, Hüseyin; Sapmaz, Fatma; Uzunkol, Ebru

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0778-4pmid: N/A

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between value preferences and life goals, and find out to what extent values preferences predict life goals. The study consisted of 273 university students. A Schwartz Value Survey was conducted to determine the value preferences of the participants, and a Life Goals Scale was used to measure their purposes in life. Multi Regression Analysis was used to determine the predictive power of value preferences regarding life goals. According to the regression coefficients (β), values of safety, benevolence and conformity positively predict intrinsic life goals. However, only values of power and hedonism positively predict extrinsic life goals. It was found that values of safety, benevolence and conformity positively predict intrinsic life goals at a significant level. Similarly, values of power and hedonism positively predict extrinsic life goals at a significant level.

Chan, Kara; Evans, Sherrill; Chiu, Marcus; Huxley, Peter; Ng, Yu-Leung

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0780-xpmid: N/A

The study of the relationship between mental health and social inclusion has generated much interest among social services providers, policy makers, and academics (Huxley et al. in Life Day 12(3):33–35. doi: 10.1108/13666282200800029 , 2008). This paper reports the subjective experience of social inclusion in various key life domains of 168 Chinese mental health services users in Hong Kong collected through a non-probability sample survey. A Chinese version of the Social and Communities Opportunities Profile (i.e. SCOPE-C) employing the same methodology as an earlier UK study was employed in the study. Face-to-face individual interviews were conducted between October 2013 and February 2014. Results indicated that participants perceived an average level of opportunities to participate in various life domains. Despite this, they were satisfied in general with the level of opportunities in these domains. Contradictory to Chan et al. (Soc Indic Res 119(1):121–137, 2014)’s findings, participation did not often encounter discrimination in their daily life. Their perceived general health was between average and good. The overall social inclusion, average satisfaction with opportunities, and average perceived opportunities had significant positive correlation with one another. These three SCOPE-C variables were positively correlated with respondents’ physical health, but not mental health. These findings are discussed.

Ngoo, Yee; Tey, Nai; Tan, Eu

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0772-xpmid: N/A

While many studies on life satisfaction have been conducted in Western countries, there is still a dearth of such studies in Asia and other parts of the less developed world. To fill the lacuna in research, we used data from the Asia Barometer survey to examine the differentials in life satisfaction across Asian countries, and analyse the determinants of life satisfaction in the four sub-regions of Asia. We found that many other factors such as marital status, standard of living, and role of government have a greater influence than income on life satisfaction in Asia. The importance of marital status on life satisfaction in Asia can be attributed to Asian culture which places great emphasis on family values. The standard of living is probably a better measure of quality of life than income, as it takes into account non-monetary benefits such as better facilities provided by state. In low resource countries, good governance and efficient utilization of resources for the benefit of the citizens contributes to life satisfaction. However, education, gender and age are not significant determinants of life satisfaction in Asian countries. Be that as it may, education may have an indirect role as it tends to improve the job status of an individual and hence one’s income and standard of living. Policies that are formulated to enhance life satisfaction should be geared towards strengthening the family institution, improving the standard of living and good governance, while pursuing socioeconomic development and increasing the country’s GDP.

Smith, Lisa; Wade, Christina; Case, Jason; Harwell, Linda; Straub, Kendra; Summers, James

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0775-7pmid: N/A

A Human Well-Being Index (HWBI) has been developed for the U.S. to help inform and empower decision makers to equitably weigh and integrate human health, socio-economic, environmental and ecological factors to foster sustainability. The integrity of the index structure is designed to be transferable to different U.S. population groups across space, time and demography. This paper presents the applicability and integrity of the HWBI framework using metrics scaled to assess well-being for American Indian Alaska Native (AIAN) and large tribal populations. Potential modifications needed to produce reasonably defensible well-being assessments were identified and HWBIs were calculated for the AIAN population and large tribal groups for the time period covering 2000–2010. Greater than 80 % of the data available for a national AIAN assessment were specific to the target population, while the remaining data were derived from the general U.S. population. Despite the utilization of non-target data, the AIAN well-being signature could still be differentiated from the U.S. HWBI, indicating that the HWBI approach is transferable. As designed, the framework is intended to be used for a variety of spatial scales and demographic groups; however, the degree to which the structure can be utilized is dependent upon the availability and quantity of quality data.

Longo, Ylenio

doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0776-6pmid: N/A

The structure of affect is often studied through the circumplex: a circular model on which similar (i.e. highly correlated) states lie close to each other. While very informative, the circumplex lacks simple structure, as items spread more or less uniformly around its perimeter. Consequently, affect scales loading close to each other on the circumplex are likely to overlap substantially and have poor discriminant validity. The present study aims to identify distinct dimensions of affect. Based on theory and previous findings, the following hypotheses were formulated: (1) only positive affect items loading on the most distant segments of the circumplex will form two separate factors and approximate a simple structure; (2) moderate-arousal positive affect (MAP) should be representative of general positive affect; (3) MAP should substantially overlap with life satisfaction (LS). The hypotheses were tested in an Australian sample (N = 424) through exploratory analyses and structural equation modelling, and were all supported. The paper contributes to current research by encouraging a more parsimonious measurement of positive affect. Studies focusing on different levels of arousal may only use scales of calmness and energy. Studies that aim to measure positive affect in general may simply use a MAP scale, as a promising alternative to the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS, Watson et al. in J Pers Soc Psychol 54(6):1063–1070, 1988). Finally, since MAP also explained 68 % of the variance in LS, it shows potential as a brief measure of subjective well-being.