Ethnic prejudices and public support for anti-discrimination policies on the housing market

Objective: Weight-related discrimination is prevalent and associated with health impairments for those who are targeted, which underscores the need of antidiscrimination legislation. This study is the first to examine public support of weight-related antidiscrimination laws or policies in Germany, compared to the US and Iceland. Methods: In a representative German population sample (N = 2,513), public support for general and employment-specific weight-related antidiscrimination policies, weight-based victimization, and weight bias internalization were measured through established self-report questionnaires. Results: Half of the German population sample agreed with antidiscrimination policies. General antidiscrimination laws received lower support than employment-specific laws. Support for policies considering obesity a physical disability was greatest in Germany, whereas support for employment-specific antidiscrimination laws was lower in Germany than in the US and Iceland. Total support for weight-related antidiscrimination policies was significantly predicted by lower age, female gender, obese weight status, residence in West Germany, church membership, and readiness to vote in elections. Conclusion: German support for weight-related antidiscrimination policies is moderate. Increasing awareness about weight-related discrimination and laws prohibiting this behavior may help to promote policy acceptance.

Public Support for Policies to Increase Housing Stability During the COVID-19 Pandemic

INTRODUCTIONThere are limited data on the potential effects of e-cigarette experimentation on support for tobacco control policies. To bridge this gap, we assessed associations between e-cigarette experimentation and support for tobacco control policies in the European Union 2012-2014. We also investigated variations across tobacco-use status, e-cigarette experimentation and socio-demographic characteristics.METHODSDatasets were used from the Special Eurobarometer for Tobacco surveys performed in 2012 (n=26 751) and 2014 (n=27 801). Tobacco control policies assessed were: banning advertising, policies to keep tobacco out of sight, banning online sales, banning flavors, standardized packaging, tax increases, and policies to reduce illicit trade in tobacco. We use multilevel logistic regression models to assess variations in socio-demographics and tobacco/e-cigarette use with support for these policies in 2014, and examined changes in support for these policies, between 2012 and 2014, separately by tobacco-use status (never, current, and former smokers).RESULTSPopulation support for tobacco control policies was high in 2014: policies to reduce illicit trade had the highest level of support at 70.1%, while tax increases were the least likely measure to be supported with 52.3% support. Among never and former smokers, experimentation with e-cigarettes was associated with reduced support for all tobacco control policies assessed. For example, never smokers who had experimented with e-cigarettes were less likely to support either tobacco advertising bans (adjusted odds ratio aOR=0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.46-0.71) or standardized packaging for tobacco (aOR=0.58, 95% CI: 0.47-0.71). Former smokers who had experimented with e-cigarettes were less likely to either support standardized packaging for tobacco (aOR=0.70, 95% CI: 0.60-0.82) or keeping tobacco out of sight (aOR=0.77, 95% CI: 0.65-0.90). Among current smokers, e-cigarette experimentation was not associated with support for the tobacco control policies assessed.CONCLUSIONSE-cigarette experimentation was consistently associated with reduced support for tobacco control policies among never and former smokers but not among current smokers. The implications of these findings for tobacco control are unknown, but the data support concerns that e-cigarette experimentation may affect public support for established tobacco control policies within specific subgroups. Further research is needed to assess potential long-term impacts on tobacco control policies.

IntroductionThe aim of this research is to look into how signals carried by names can contribute to the explanation of why rental discrimination is measured. Ethnic discrimination on the rental housing market is a widespread phenomenon that is increasingly captured in an objective way by means of correspondence studies. This methodology assumes that the trigger for the measured discriminatory behavior is the signal of ethnic origin in names. Nonetheless, previous research found that names also contain other signals such as religiosity, social class and educational level.MethodThe current study relates data of 3.753 correspondence tests on the Flemish rental housing market in Belgium to survey data about the perception of the used names in the correspondence tests in terms of ethnic origin, gender, religiosity, social class and educational level. By doing so, we can set a step in the direction of why discrimination is measured.Results and discussionWe find that realtors discriminate based on the perception of a name as religious, which we describe as religious taste-based discrimination. Besides, we also find indications for statistical discrimination. For landlords, the perception of a name as non-European increases discrimination, indicating ethnic taste-based discrimination.

Shaping public support for nudge-based decarbonization policies through policy narrative: The role of victim type, victim number and narrativity

Understanding public support for eugenic policies: Results from survey data

Societal processes and public opinion can affect whether employers take action and which policy measures they choose to boost diversity, equal opportunities and inclusion, and to reduce discrimination in the workplace. Yet, public opinion regarding workplace diversity initiatives (other than affirmative action) has so far received little scholarly attention, especially in Europe. Consequently, we have very little evidence about how the general public feels about workplace diversity policies - particularly those that are more common or more often discussed in Europe - and about which factors shape public support for these workplace diversity initiatives. Yet, a better understanding of the patterns and antecedents of citizens' attitudes toward workplace diversity policies is of clear scientific and practical importance. Against this background, this study sheds light on public attitudes toward three different, commonly applied types of workplace diversity policies, and examines which individual-level and - innovatively - national-level conditions shape public support. To do so, we bring together insights from various different and so far largely disconnected strands of research and a range of theoretical perspectives. We use large-scale, representative survey data from two pooled waves of the Eurobarometer, covering 38,009 citizens across 26 European countries. We enrich these data with information on national-level income inequality as well as countries' labor market and antidiscrimination legislation and policies, obtained from Eurostat and the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX). Results show significant differences in public support across the three types of policies, with the strongest support for diversity training, followed closely by monitoring recruitment procedures, whereas support for monitoring workforce composition is clearly lower. This is in line with the idea that support tends to be lower for more preferential and prescriptive workplace policies. Furthermore, we find that, in addition to individual-level factors - particularly gender, ethnic minority group membership, personal experiences with discrimination, prejudice, intergroup contact and political orientation - national-level conditions are important antecedents of public support for workplace diversity policies. That is, differences in public attitudes regarding such policies are also shaped by country-level income inequalities, people's perceptions of how widespread discrimination and unequal opportunities are in society, and national-level laws and policies to fight unequal opportunities.

This thesis investigates the ethnic discrimination faced by the minority communities under different scenarios. Chapter 2 examines ethnic discrimination in the rental housing market in England using an online experiment. We investigate discrimination by running a large scale experiment where fictious identities sent inquiries to property advertisements posted on a leading property portal signalling different ethnicities and specific personal information. For the experiment, 5,545 online inquiries were made. Results suggest significant differential treatment towards potential tenants based on applicant's ethnicity. We find that inquiries sent with British sounding names have better chance of being invited for property viewing compared to the Non-British applicants. The estate agents further discriminate based on the information provided on the inquiry form. We also analyse heterogeneous effects. Chapter 3 explores the ethnic discrimination in the rental housing market through telephone inquiry method. We test for discrimination in the English rental market via telephone inquiries by trained callers from different ethnic backgrounds. We made 1,472 rental inquiries where the ethnic identity and explicit accent associated with the identity were signalled directly to the estate agents. We find that the British applicants are more likely to be booked in for viewing a property or offered a call back. Chapter 4 investigates ethnic discrimination while conducting stop and search by the police officials in England and Wales. I used the latest available data on stop and search and police workforce to assess ethnic disproportionality and explore the effect of ethnic composition of the police workforce on it. I find that even though the number of stop and search has been declining, there exists ethnic disproportionality for minority communities. Blacks suffer the highest disproportionality in stops and searches and its extent varies across the regions. I also find that more diversity in the police workforce, especially in those categories with stop and search power significantly reduces the search disproportionality for Black and Minority Ethnicities (BME).

This paper examines the level of public support for alcohol control policies during a period of policy evolution in Ireland. A comparison of attitudes to alcohol policy at three points in time was undertaken. The first survey took place in 2002 and was repeated in 2006 and 2010 using a national quota sample of 1000 adults with face-to-face interviews. Policy areas examined were drunk-driving, price, availability and promotion. In 2002, the highest level of public support was for drink-driving countermeasures (84% favoured random breath testing) and measures to restrict alcohol promotions (67% favoured restrictions). Support for stricter measures on price and availability was lower. Trends showed a decline in support for tax increases and for early closing time, whereas support for fewer outlets (off-trade) increased. When public concerns (level of support) for stricter alcohol policies were seen to be meet, as occurred with price and hours through increased tax and reversal of opening hours, public concern/support declined. When concerns were not met, as with outlets, support continued to rise most likely influenced by greater number of off-trade outlets and cheaper alcohol. Support for liberal alcohol policies was low and the majority favoured the status quo on price and availability. Public support for policy is one element of the complexity of policymaking along with consensus building across government and management of vested interests, so that the policy outcome is seldom assured.

This study aims to investigate to which extent the ethnic and socio-economic composition of the neighbourhood is related to levels of discrimination in the rental housing market and how this is linked to theories of ethnic discrimination. Hereby, we divide the context into the neighbourhood of the dwelling and the real estate agency, using data from 2385 correspondence tests conducted among realtors in the city of Antwerp in Belgium. Regarding the neighbourhood of the dwelling, we find a tipping point at one third ethnic minorities whereafter ethnic discrimination decreases, which is in line with the perceived preference hypothesis and customer-based prejudice. A lower socio-economic composition relates to lower general invitation rates, which we describe as an elaboration of Putnam’s hunkering down hypothesis. Regarding the neighbourhood of the real estate agency, a higher percentage of ethnic minorities leads to lower general invitation rates, also referring to the hunkering down hypothesis. The socio-economic neighbourhood composition of the agency, however, has no impact.

Analysis of Age Discrimination in the Rental Housing Market in Japan: An Approach Using a Fair Housing Audit

The chronic disease model of opioid use disorder (OUD) is promoted by many public health authorities, yet high levels of stigma persist along with low support for policies that would benefit people with OUD. Determine if a survivorship model of OUD, which does not imply a chronic, relapsing disease state, compared to a chronic disease model improves public stigma and support for opioid-related policies. Explore if race or gender moderates any effect. Online, vignette-based randomized study. US adults recruited through a market research firm. Participants viewed one of 8 vignettes depicting a person with OUD in sustained remission. Vignettes varied in terms of the OUD model (survivorship, chronic disease) and vignette individual's race (Black, White) and gender (man, woman). (1) Public stigma measured by desire for social distance, perceptions of dangerousness, and overall feelings toward the vignette individual. (2) Support for 7 opioid-related policies. Overall feelings were measured on a feelings thermometer (0/cold-100/warm). Stigma and policy support responses were measured on Likert scales dichotomized to indicate a positive (4, 5) or negative/indifferent (1-3) response. Of 1440 potential participants, 1172 (81%) were included in the analysis. Exposure to the survivorship model resulted in warmer feelings (mean 72, SD 23) compared to the chronic disease (mean 67, SD 23; difference 4, 95%CI 1-6). There was no effect modification from the vignette individual's race or gender. There was no significant difference between OUD models on other measures of public stigma or support for policies. The survivorship model of OUD improved overall feelings compared to the chronic disease model, but we did not detect an effect of this model on other domains of public stigma or support for policies. Further refinement and testing of this novel, survivorship model of OUD could improve public opinions.

In the popular news media, public health officials routinely emphasize the health risks of obesity and portray weight as under personal control. These messages may increase support for policies designed to reduce rates of obesity, but can also increase antifat stigma. Less often, the media cover 'Health at Every Size' or 'Fat Rights' perspectives that may have the opposite effects. We investigated how exposure to different 'fat frames' shifts attitudes about weight and support for obesity policies. Across four experiments (n=2187), people read constructed news articles framing fatness as negative (unhealthy, controllable, acceptable to stigmatize) or positive (healthy, uncontrollable, unacceptable to stigmatize). Compared with people who read fat-positive frames, people who read fat-negative frames expressed more: belief in the health risks of being fat (d=0.95-1.22), belief weight is controllable (d=0.38-0.55), support for charging obese people more for health insurance (d=0.26-0.77), antifat prejudice (in three out of four experiments, d=0.28-0.39), willingness to discriminate against fat people (d=0.39-0.71) and less willingness to celebrate body size diversity (d=0.37-0.64). They were also less willing to say that women at the lower end of the obese range could be healthy at their weights. Effects on support for public policies, however, were generally small and/or nonsignificant. Compared with a control condition, exposure to fat-positive frames generally shifted attitudes more than fat-negative frames. In experiment 4, adding a message about the unacceptability of weight-based discrimination to unhealthy/controllable news articles only reduced antifat stigma on one of three measures compared with articles adding a discrimination-acceptable message. Exposure to different news frames of fat can shift beliefs about weight-related health risks and weight-based stigma. Shifting policy attitudes, however, is more challenging.

ABSTRACTThe way we describe health threats affects perceptions of severity and preferred solutions to reduce risk. Most people agree obesity is a problem, but differ in how they attribute responsibility for development and decline of the disease. We explored effects of message framing on attributions of responsibility and support for public obesity policies using a 3 × 2 factorial design. Participants read one of six versions of a health message describing the negative effects of obesity. Message frames influenced respondent attributions and their support for policies to reduce obesity. Those who read a message that assigned agency to the disease (e.g., Obesity causes health problems) endorsed genetics as the cause to a greater degree than those who read a semantically equivalent message that instead assigned agency to people (e.g., Obese people develop health problems). In contrast, assigning agency to people rather than to the disease prompted higher attributions of individual responsibility and support for public policies. Explicit message frames that directly connected responsibility for obesity to either individual or societal factors had no effect on respondent perceptions. Findings suggest explicit arguments may be less effective in shifting perceptions of health threats than arguments embedded in agentic message frames. The results demonstrate specific message features that influence how people attribute responsibility for the onset and solution of obesity.

This paper presents a field experiment studying possible discrimination against Russians in the rental housing market in Finland. We study the effect of discriminatory behaviour by the landlords during the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, an event that has shaped ideas, attitudes, and behaviour. We let three fictitious individuals, one Finnish, one Russian and one British, apply for vacant rental apartments advertised by landlords on the internet. We then investigated whether there were differences between the individuals in the number of callbacks received and positive invitations to further contact. Linear probability models revealed strong evidence of differential treatment of Russians by Finnish landlords. The discriminatory behaviour is mainly driven by male, private landlords. The present study extends the literature on discrimination in the rental housing market and provides insights into its mechanisms.