Cross-national Survey Research Articles

Trust and vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-national analysis

Previous studies of vaccine hesitancy in the context of COVID-19 have reported mixed results in terms of the role played by political and institutional trust. This study addresses this ambiguity with a global analysis of the relationship between trust and vaccine hesitancy, disentangling the effects of generalized trust orientations, trust in specific institutions and conspiracy mentality. It first draws upon a cross-national survey of 113 countries to demonstrate that trust in government is a predictor of vaccine hesitancy across global regions. It further draws on original surveys fielded in seven countries (France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Croatia, Brazil, India), which deploy a diverse range of measures, to disentangle the individual-level predictors of vaccine hesitancy. Our findings confirm the robust effects of trust in government across countries, but when including other trust measures in the same models, the most robust effects are those of trust in health institutions and conspiracy mentality. Weaker associations are observed for right-wing ideology and online political engagement, while the consumption of traditional media tends to predict the willingness of individuals to be vaccinated.

Misinformation Literacy of COVID-19 Digital News in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda

ABSTRACT Amid a rise of misinformation worldwide, this paper examines digital misinformation literacy as it relates to COVID-19 news in East Africa. The study is grounded in inoculation theory and contributes to the body of scholarship examining misinformation literacy beyond the Western world. Data came from a comparative, cross-national survey in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda (N = 3,203), making this the largest known empirical investigation into digital misinformation literacy in the region within the context of a pandemic. Paper surveys were distributed throughout all three countries in 2021. The data revealed differences in actual and perceived misinformation literacy levels. Kenyans and Rwandans were better at detecting false COVID-19 statements in the media, whereas Ugandans were better at detecting true messages. Similarly, Kenyans’ and Rwandans’ perceived levels of digital misinformation literacy were higher than Ugandans’. Regarding perceived exposure to COVID-19 information, Kenyans felt they were exposed to fake COVID-19 news online more often than Ugandans, who felt more exposed than Rwandans. This research contributes to the growing literature on digital misinformation literacy, an area which isn’t significantly studied in many world regions, especially in Africa.

Sports Participation and Beliefs about Male Dominance: A Cross-National Analysis of Sexist Gender Ideologies

To fill the gap in empirical research on the relationship between sexist gender ideologies and sports participation, I examined how sports participation affects the endorsement of sexist gender ideologies by men and women and how country-level gender inequalities moderate this relationship. For the analysis, I used cross-national survey data from the World Values Survey and the European Values Study, including observations collected between 2005 and 2016 on 57,817 men and 61,080 women from 74 countries that vary in terms of gender equality, religiosity, modernization, and economic development. My findings show that when controlling for sociodemographic factors and between-country differences in sexist gender ideologies, men who are sports club members endorse sexist gender ideologies to a significantly greater degree than men who are not sports club members. This finding is independent of the prevalence of gender inequalities in a country. Furthermore, in very gender-inegalitarian countries, women who are active sports club members tend to hold less sexist gender ideologies than women who are not sports club members or are not active members, while they do not differ substantially in the endorsement of sexist gender ideologies in relatively egalitarian countries.

A foot in both countries: the effect of origin-country enfranchisement on migrants’ political interest and partisanship

ABSTRACT How does emigrant enfranchisement affect immigrants’ political interest and partisanship? The ballot access granted by the origin country has both a symbolic and informational value for individuals. It returns political dignity to emigrants and transforms them from passive subjects to political actors, targeted by political campaigns and get-out-the-vote efforts. For the majority of the enfranchised, this empowerment spills over onto their attitude not only as emigrants toward the origin country but also as immigrants toward the country of residence. However, those international migrants who perceive strong rejection from the local environment are pulled away from residence-country politics, as the stark comparison between rights granted extraterritorially and political isolation around them becomes even starker. By combining existing cross-national surveys with data regarding electoral regulations, and an original survey of Latin American immigrants in the United States, this paper offers a unique insight into the political attitudes of individuals who are caught between origin and residence countries.

Knowledge, attitudes and experience of physicians working in Chile toward the prescription of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): A cross-national survey.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) involves administering antiretroviral drugs to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in at-risk subjects. Chile is considered one of the countries with the highest number of new cases per year of HIV infections. A nationwide cross-sectional study was carried out in Chile. A questionnaire of physicians' attitudes toward the prescription of PrEP was used. 632 doctors responded correctly the survey. 58.5% (n = 370) were women, and median age was 34years (IQR 25-43). 55.4% (n = 350) responded that they have never prescribed antiretrovirals for HIV-negative individuals to prevent HIV infection, and only 10.1% have prescribed PrEP. 60.8% (n = 384) mentioned having informed about the possibility of using antiretroviral post-exposure prophylaxis in case of risky sexual activity. 76.3% (n = 482) believed each institution should formulate internal protocols for administering these drugs, and 98.4% (n = 622) stated that with the currently available evidence, PrEP should be suggested to cope with the HIV pandemic. It was concluded that knowledge, attitudes and experience toward PrEP prescribing are variable and related to patient care. However, Chile has a marked tendency in favor of this therapy, which is similar to that reported in studies worldwide.

Making space: citizens, parties and interest groups in two ideological dimensions

ABSTRACT In liberal democracies, interest groups and political parties constitute the primary organizational carriers of citizens’ preferences into the decision-making of the executive and legislative institutions. While political science research has put extensive efforts into understanding both channels of representation, their combined effect for citizen representation has only recently come into focus. In particular, we lack knowledge of the ideological alignment of citizens, parties and interest groups on overarching economic Left-Right and socio-cultural dimensions. We address this gap via an original cross-national survey of interest groups, which includes the self-placement of groups on the Left-Right and Gal-Tan dimensions. The configuration of groups on these dimensions are compared with Chapel Hill Expert Survey data on parties, and information on the preferences of citizens from the European Election Studies. Our findings indicate that interest groups have the potential to supplement multidimensional gaps in representation between the political party system and citizen preferences.

Understanding the role of fear of missing out and deficient self-regulation in sharing of deepfakes on social media: Evidence from eight countries.

Deepfakes are a troubling form of disinformation that has been drawing increasing attention. Yet, there remains a lack of psychological explanations for deepfake sharing behavior and an absence of research knowledge in non-Western contexts where public knowledge of deepfakes is limited. We conduct a cross-national survey study in eight countries to examine the role of fear of missing out (FOMO), deficient self-regulation (DSR), and cognitive ability in deepfake sharing behavior. Results are drawn from a comparative survey in seven South Asian contexts (China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and compare these findings to the United States, where discussions about deepfakes have been most relevant. Overall, the results suggest that those who perceive the deepfakes to be accurate are more likely to share them on social media. Furthermore, in all countries, sharing is also driven by the social-psychological trait - FOMO. DSR of social media use was also found to be a critical factor in explaining deepfake sharing. It is also observed that individuals with low cognitive ability are more likely to share deepfakes. However, we also find that the effects of DSR on social media and FOMO are not contingent upon users' cognitive ability. The results of this study contribute to strategies to limit deepfakes propagation on social media.

Religion and episodic volunteering

Connections between religion and volunteering have been widely documented. Religion is a key motivating factor for volunteering in religious settings and elsewhere. Episodic volunteering is one of the fastest-growing forms of volunteering, but literature on episodic volunteering and religion is scarce. In this article, we analyse connections between religion and religiosity, and episodic volunteering. First, we identify types of episodic volunteers at religious events. Second, we use a set of three independent variables (declared religious denomination, importance of religion and spiritual motivation) to understand episodic volunteering participation. Third, we examine whether those who volunteer both episodically and regularly are more religious. Finally, we identify differences across religious affiliations. Using data from a cross-national survey, we apply different data segments in each area of our study. Our findings suggest that episodic volunteers are influenced by religion and religiosity, with especially strong connections among Protestants. We conclude with suggestions for future research.

Happiness Inequality in Post-Socialist Countries during Neoliberal Transition

Abstract Both average levels of happiness and its distribution have dramatically changed with neoliberal transition in post-socialist countries that have been marked by chronic unhappiness. This study aims to describe the distribution of happiness by showing its levels and trajectories, and investigates the factors explaining it. The descriptive and multivariate statistical analysis were conducted by using cross-national survey data and a dataset covering country indicators. The findings show an inverse V-shaped pattern for changes in happiness inequality, although there are notable differences between individual countries. Income inequality explains cross-national differences in distribution of happiness during the first intensive reform years. However, objective health status and social trust are the most important predictors in explaining happiness inequality in consolidation and convergence periods.

Under the Veil of Democracy: What Do People Mean When They Say They Support Democracy?

Scholars have expressed concern over waning support for democracy worldwide. But what do ordinary citizens mean by the term “democracy," and how do their definitions of democracy influence their support for it? Using global cross-national survey data, this study demonstrates that individual variation in the understanding of democracy is substantively linked to democratic support across countries and regime contexts. Individuals who define democracy in terms of elections and the protection of civil liberties and those with greater conceptual complexity express higher support for democracy. This relationship between democratic conceptualization and support holds across diverse political contexts and alternative explanations. These results suggest that it is essential to consider divergent conceptualizations of democracy—and how they may vary systematically—when analyzing popular opinions of democracy.

Homopositivity Across Europe: Predictors, Pathways, and Moderators

Although homopositivity, the attitudinal acceptance of homosexuality, has generally increased across Western societies, there remains considerable homonegativity across certain regions of the world as well as certain demographic and socioeconomic groups. Although previous cross-national research has successfully identified the key factors affecting homopositive attitudes, the literature neglects both potentially key mediation pathways and moderating interactions between those factors that may unlock more nuanced understanding of these variations in homopositive attitudes across individuals and places. In response, the present study innovatively applied a multivariate structural equation modelling approach to the latest Wave 9 (2018 data) of the large-scale cross-national European Social Survey data in order to shed new light on these currently neglected predictors, pathways, and moderating influences on homopositive attitudes. It used a three-item latent variable to measure the homopositive attitudes outcomes construct. Its explanatory variables were focused across three key sets of factors identified in theoretical and empirical literature (socioeconomics, religiosity, and values) alongside various wider controls. Our analyses made several innovative methodological and empirical contributions to existing debate. Key innovative findings include the original identification of important indirect effects of religious beliefs on homopositive attitudes via religious practices, important indirect effects of education on homopositive attitudes via household income, and the role of national welfare regimes to homopositive attitudes (and with its effects interestingly not moderated by household income).

Low-Skill Products by High-Skill Workers: The Distributive Effects of Trade in Emerging and Developing Countries

In developing countries, trade is increasingly associated with greater returns to high-skilled labor and rising inequality. These empirical patterns are at odds with canonical models of trade in the developing world. What does this mean for the political economy of trade in these countries? We argue that although developing countries have a comparative advantage in low-skill products, these are produced by workers that are relatively high-skilled compared to their peers. Trade and global production benefit relatively skilled workers, particularly those exposed to exports and inward foreign direct investment in manufacturing. Our argument offers insight into why relatively skilled workers are most supportive of free trade and why inequality is rising in developing countries. We examine micro- and macro-level implications of our argument using cross-national survey data on policy preferences and aggregate data on trade and inequality. The findings have important implications for the political economy of trade and global production in developing countries.

What Kind of Democracy Do We All Support? How Partisan Interest Impacts a Citizen’s Conceptualization of Democracy

Despite waves of democratic backsliding over the last decade, most global citizens still claim to support democracy. On the other hand, many citizens become more supportive of specific anti-democratic actions when their preferred political side can benefit. How, then, do citizens justify their consistent “explicit support for democracy” with their more malleable support for the implementation of liberal democracy? This paper uses cross-national survey data from 74 countries and two methods—a standard cross-sectional analysis and a within-country variation design—to show that a citizen’s conceptualization of democracy, or what democracy means to them, is subject to partisan-motivated reasoning. In other words, citizens are more likely to conceptualize democracy in illiberal terms, like emphasizing the need for obeying authority, when their preferred political party is in power. The findings suggest one’s conception of democracy can be a fluid attitude that citizens mold to match their partisan self-interest.

Detecting Interviewer Fraud Using Multilevel Models

Abstract Interviewer falsification, such as the complete or partial fabrication of interview data, has been shown to substantially affect the results of survey data. In this study, we apply a method to identify falsifying face-to-face interviewers based on the development of their behavior over the survey field period. We postulate four potential falsifier types: steady low-effort falsifiers, steady high-effort falsifiers, learning falsifiers, and sudden falsifiers. Using large-scale survey data from Germany with verified falsifications, we apply multilevel models with interviewer effects on the intercept, scale, and slope of the interview sequence to test whether falsifiers can be detected based on their dynamic behavior. In addition to identifying a rather high-effort falsifier previously detected by the survey organization, the model flagged two additional suspicious interviewers exhibiting learning behavior, who were subsequently classified as deviant by the survey organization. We additionally apply the analysis approach to publicly available cross-national survey data and find multiple interviewers who show behavior consistent with the postulated falsifier types.

Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps: A Cross-National Survey

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, countries around the world have implemented a range of measures and virus containment strategies, including digital contact-tracing (DCT) in the form of smartphone apps. While early studies showed a high level of acceptability of such technologies, the adoption rates varied greatly between countries after contact-tracing apps became available to download. This cross-national user survey ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${n}=871$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) aims to explore public attitudes and factors that affect user acceptability and adoption of contact-tracing apps in the USA, UK, and the Republic of Ireland, which employ similar underlying technology, but have uneven adoption rates. The results indicate interactions between installation decisions and public trust in actors and institutions communicating COVID-related information, and releasing such technologies. Beyond the immediate case of contact tracing, our findings hold implications for the deployment and communicative framing of technology for public health and the public good, and inform the design of crisis response public health information systems.

A cross-national study of multilevel determinants on public fully vaccination against COVID-19.

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has impacted the world for close to three years and led to substantial costs to public well-being. To mitigate the pandemic's damage, the most effective approach lies in the vaccine. This study aims to investigate multilevel predictors of the public decision to become fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Data from a cross-national survey on representative samples are merged with country-level indicators. Multilevel logistic regression models are estimated on populations from 15 countries. Findings show that people who agree the government handles the pandemic well, believe the health officials would provide an effective vaccine, perceive the virus's danger, and are older are more likely to get fully vaccinated than their counterparts. Meanwhile, the national case rate and vaccination rate also affect one's decision to become fully vaccinated. Furthermore, there are significant cross-level interactions as people are more inclined to become fully vaccinated if they agree with the government's performance, perceive the virus's danger, and also reside in countries with higher case and vaccination rates. This study shows cross-national evidence regarding multilevel determinants of public vaccine uptake. Knowing the profiles among populations who have become fully vaccinated or not helps public health experts leverage factors and maximize vaccination.

Abortion and Directive Genetic Counseling

AbstractThis multi-method study uses statistical and comparative-historical investigations to find that abortion values shape genetic counseling practices across societies. Genetic counselors and genetically interested social scientists have long questioned, but never systematically demonstrated, whether this relationship exists. Genetic counseling data are drawn from cross-national surveys of genetic counselors (n= 2,906) from the mid-1990s, the key historical moment after this profession was globally established but before potentially confounding transnational professional effects. Data focus on Trisomy 21, severe open spina bifida, and Huntington’s chorea. Abortion data are drawn from a new comparative-historical investigation of abortion attitudes in 36 countries based on law, frequency of policy debate, incidence rates, and public opinion polling. The key overall finding is that the more controversial abortion is within a society, the less directive genetic counselors are willing to be, whereas the less controversial abortion is, the more directive the counseling. Polynomial regressions,t-tests, likelihood ratios, and Wald tests provide statistical evidence for the relationship observed through qualitative clustering.

A cross-national survey of patterns of complementary foods for infants

A cross-national survey of patterns of complementary foods for infants

Interprofessional Collaboration and Team Effectiveness of Pharmacists in General Practice: A Cross-National Survey.

As team-based care continues to evolve, pharmacists have been included in general practice teams in many countries, to varying extents, to improve medication use and patient safety. However, evidence on interprofessional collaboration and team effectiveness of pharmacists in general practice is sparse. This study aimed to compare the extent of interprofessional collaboration and team effectiveness of general practice pharmacists in Australia with international sites (Canada and the UK), and identify the factors associated with interprofessional collaboration and team effectiveness. General practice pharmacists from Australia, Canada, and the UK were identified through professional organisations and networks, and invited to participate in an online survey, adapted from existing validated tools. The survey explored interprofessional collaboration through four sub-domains (professional interactions, relationship initiation, trust and role clarity, and commitment to collaboration) and team effectiveness of general practice pharmacists. Of the 101 respondents (26 from Australia, 44 from Canada and 31 from the UK), 79% were female and 78% were aged below 50 years. Interprofessional collaboration and team effectiveness appeared to be high and similar between countries. Total scores for collaboration of pharmacists were 86.1 ± 7.4 in Australia, 88.5 ± 7.5 in the UK, and 89.1 ± 7.3 in Canada (mean ± SD, where higher scores represent more advanced collaboration), while the team effectiveness scores of the pharmacists were 88.6 ± 14.6 in Canada, 91.8 ± 14.6 in Australia and 97.5 ± 14.0 in the UK. Pharmacists who had worked in general practice for a longer time showed advanced interprofessional collaboration while those who worked exclusively in general practice had higher scores for team effectiveness. Overall, general practice pharmacists in the three countries were highly collaborative with general practitioners. Long-term employment and longer work hours could enhance interprofessional collaboration and team effectiveness in general practice pharmacists by improving trust and working relationships over time.

ADJUSTING FOR COUNTRY-LEVEL VARIATION IN DEMENTIA PREVALENCE WITH CLASSIFICATION ALGORITHMS IN SHARE

Abstract Background. Population-level dementia prevalence depends on societal factors and individual-level risk and protective factors. To improve our understanding of how these factors interact, we can use cross-national surveys such as the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). However, in absence of validated cognitive assessments, adjusting for underdiagnosis of dementia is needed. The present study sought to explore the usefulness of the Langa-Weir and alternative algorithms to detect probable dementia while accounting for country-level variation in estimated prevalence and underdiagnosis of dementia.Method. Data from 57,880 respondents aged 60 years and older to wave 7 of SHARE (2017) with non-missing data on variables related to sociodemographics and cognition were used. Adaptations of the Langa-Weir classification algorithm were compared to a weighted logistic regression model and an XGBoost classifier applying the synthetic minority oversampling technique. Different specifications of algorithms were tested globally and for individual countries and compared with the World Alzheimer’s Report (2015)’s country-level projections of dementia prevalence for 2018. Results. All algorithms accurately classified self-reported diagnosis of dementia (accuracy = 0.90-0.96), with the Langa-Weir classification based on recall and a cutoff reflecting country-specific prevalence outperforming other algorithms regarding compensation of underdiagnosis. Algorithmically detected probable dementia is associated with newly self-reported dementia diagnosis, drop-out and death two years later. Discussion. Identifying probable dementia through classification algorithms can increase statistical power and improve validity in cross-national investigations. Further research is needed to replicate the findings in validated cognitive assessments and to identify causes of cross-national variation in dementia underdiagnosis.