Inkomensongelijkheid en de stijging in ‘verward gedrag’, 2018
The Netherlands have witnessed a strong increase in the number of reports received by police on ‘... more The Netherlands have witnessed a strong increase in the number of reports received by police on ‘emotionally disturbed persons’– or actually people with ‘misunderstood behavior’. Much speculation has followed on the underlying causes, but empirical and especially sociological attention for the phenomenon has been absent. The current paper is the first to study the wider social-economic roots of emotional disturbance calls, such as a higher level of income inequality. In order to study whether the number of calls is influenced by a higher income inequality, regression analyses were run among 376 municipalities between 2011 and 2014. A higher income inequality in municipality-years was indeed related to a higher number of calls. The main model revealed an estimated difference of 330 calls per 10,000 inhabitants between the most unequal (Wageningen, 2014) and equal (Pekela, 2012) municipality-years. The findings lend support for the inequality hypothesis and problematize the current individualistic approach to ‘misunderstood’ behavior.
Individuals with a higher social position are more tolerant of current income inequality than ind... more Individuals with a higher social position are more tolerant of current income inequality than individuals with a lower social position. Besides this, attitudes towards income inequality are influenced by inequality-legitimising myths in a given society. Little is known about how these two factors interact. This study combines these two lines of research and argues that different social strata are more polarised in their attitudes towards inequality in societies with strong prevalent meritocratic perceptions. We expect lower-status individuals (i.e. with a lower income or education) to experience a threat to their group esteem and therefore be less likely to support their society’s inequalities in societies with such strong meritocratic perceptions. This hypothesis was tested using data from the International Social Survey Programme 2009 (Social Inequality) on 39 countries. The results show that different social strata are indeed more polarised in their attitudes towards inequality in societies where meritocratic perceptions are more prevalent. Our results are robust for income, but not for education. This suggests that in perceived meritocracies, people regard income as the primary indicator of effort and ability.
Why are the unemployed particularly unhappy in some societies? According to the social norm theor... more Why are the unemployed particularly unhappy in some societies? According to the social norm theory of unemployment, the well-being of the non-employed is lower in countries with a strong social norm to work because of the greater stigma attached to unemployment. In this study, a social norm to work has been defined as the extent to which people expect others to work: do people think the unemployed should take any job they are offered, or should they have a right to refuse? The combined world and European values study and the European social survey were used to test the theory. Multilevel analyses show that—net of one's own norm and other measures of the social norm to work, such as one's personal work ethic—the well-being of unemployed men is lower in countries with a strong social norm to work, in particular that of the long-term unemployed. Overall, it appears that the social norm to work still weighs more heavily upon men than women.
The stock of research has produced contradicting findings on the much-debated happiness-impact of... more The stock of research has produced contradicting findings on the much-debated happiness-impact of inequality. The strength and direction of this impact has been thought to depend on several external factors: relative concerns, personal future expectations, and perceptions of the distributive process. Previous findings provide support for these presumed links, although some links are still awaiting empirical assessment. For instance, it is not clear yet whether inequality amplifies the positive happiness-impact of having optimistic beliefs about one’s future. Furthermore, the level of inequality and people’s perceptions on the distributive process, have been thought to shape people’s incentives to compete for high social positions. However, it remains questionable whether rising inequalities are interpreted in the same way by people regardless of the (perceived) social-distributive contexts. Rather than people being intrinsically inclined to compete (given a certain level of inequality), a great deal may depend on the cultural-ideological context, fostered by the (perceived) distributive context. Certain context could undo any effect of the level of inequality upon people’s competitive incentives. Eventually, the resulting intensity of competitive pressures is thought to affect happiness. Cross-national survey data were analysed using regression analysis. Two datasets were used, because no single dataset contains all required information: one worldwide (18 countries) and one European (33 countries). Overall, happiness turned out not to be unaffected by inequality, regardless of the kind of popular perceptions on the distributive process in societies. Instead, the effect of inequality was rather dependent upon the perceived corruption-level (for Europe), being negative for corrupt countries. The patterns were also identical for people with and without strong relative concerns. Finally, the happiness-benefits of being optimistic about one’s own future were not larger in more unequal societies. However, regarding this, the results were sensitive to the specific inequality-measure used.
*Provisional paper of a project in which I plan to rerun the analyses on more recent and extensiv... more *Provisional paper of a project in which I plan to rerun the analyses on more recent and extensive data Abstract The last several years, the Dutch police has registered an increasing number of cases of allegedly "emotionally disturbed" persons. Strikingly similar concerns and debates about police-encounters with allegedly "emotional disturbed persons" have been going in the United Kingdom and the United States. Despite this wide public attention, sociological inquiry into the background of this increasing phenomenon has been absent. The current paper contains the first study that robustly examines sociological explanations of the larger involvement of police in this traditionally non-police issue of alleged "emotional disturbance". It places the phenomenon in a wider theoretical framework on attitudes towards the poor. Building on the work of Wacquant (2001; 2009) on paternalistic neoliberalism the penalization of poverty, and Larsen's (2013a), this paper states that the increase in the number of registered cases of alleged "emotional disturbance" is driven by an increase in poverty, in combination with a public distrust towards the poor. The finding from regression analyses among 376 municipalities between 2011 and 2014, indeed show a higher number of registrations in poorer areas. These findings call for a critical approach towards the current authoritarian way in which allegedly "emotionally disturbed" persons are approached.
Inkomensongelijkheid en de stijging in ‘verward gedrag’, 2018
The Netherlands have witnessed a strong increase in the number of reports received by police on ‘... more The Netherlands have witnessed a strong increase in the number of reports received by police on ‘emotionally disturbed persons’– or actually people with ‘misunderstood behavior’. Much speculation has followed on the underlying causes, but empirical and especially sociological attention for the phenomenon has been absent. The current paper is the first to study the wider social-economic roots of emotional disturbance calls, such as a higher level of income inequality. In order to study whether the number of calls is influenced by a higher income inequality, regression analyses were run among 376 municipalities between 2011 and 2014. A higher income inequality in municipality-years was indeed related to a higher number of calls. The main model revealed an estimated difference of 330 calls per 10,000 inhabitants between the most unequal (Wageningen, 2014) and equal (Pekela, 2012) municipality-years. The findings lend support for the inequality hypothesis and problematize the current individualistic approach to ‘misunderstood’ behavior.
Individuals with a higher social position are more tolerant of current income inequality than ind... more Individuals with a higher social position are more tolerant of current income inequality than individuals with a lower social position. Besides this, attitudes towards income inequality are influenced by inequality-legitimising myths in a given society. Little is known about how these two factors interact. This study combines these two lines of research and argues that different social strata are more polarised in their attitudes towards inequality in societies with strong prevalent meritocratic perceptions. We expect lower-status individuals (i.e. with a lower income or education) to experience a threat to their group esteem and therefore be less likely to support their society’s inequalities in societies with such strong meritocratic perceptions. This hypothesis was tested using data from the International Social Survey Programme 2009 (Social Inequality) on 39 countries. The results show that different social strata are indeed more polarised in their attitudes towards inequality in societies where meritocratic perceptions are more prevalent. Our results are robust for income, but not for education. This suggests that in perceived meritocracies, people regard income as the primary indicator of effort and ability.
Why are the unemployed particularly unhappy in some societies? According to the social norm theor... more Why are the unemployed particularly unhappy in some societies? According to the social norm theory of unemployment, the well-being of the non-employed is lower in countries with a strong social norm to work because of the greater stigma attached to unemployment. In this study, a social norm to work has been defined as the extent to which people expect others to work: do people think the unemployed should take any job they are offered, or should they have a right to refuse? The combined world and European values study and the European social survey were used to test the theory. Multilevel analyses show that—net of one's own norm and other measures of the social norm to work, such as one's personal work ethic—the well-being of unemployed men is lower in countries with a strong social norm to work, in particular that of the long-term unemployed. Overall, it appears that the social norm to work still weighs more heavily upon men than women.
The stock of research has produced contradicting findings on the much-debated happiness-impact of... more The stock of research has produced contradicting findings on the much-debated happiness-impact of inequality. The strength and direction of this impact has been thought to depend on several external factors: relative concerns, personal future expectations, and perceptions of the distributive process. Previous findings provide support for these presumed links, although some links are still awaiting empirical assessment. For instance, it is not clear yet whether inequality amplifies the positive happiness-impact of having optimistic beliefs about one’s future. Furthermore, the level of inequality and people’s perceptions on the distributive process, have been thought to shape people’s incentives to compete for high social positions. However, it remains questionable whether rising inequalities are interpreted in the same way by people regardless of the (perceived) social-distributive contexts. Rather than people being intrinsically inclined to compete (given a certain level of inequality), a great deal may depend on the cultural-ideological context, fostered by the (perceived) distributive context. Certain context could undo any effect of the level of inequality upon people’s competitive incentives. Eventually, the resulting intensity of competitive pressures is thought to affect happiness. Cross-national survey data were analysed using regression analysis. Two datasets were used, because no single dataset contains all required information: one worldwide (18 countries) and one European (33 countries). Overall, happiness turned out not to be unaffected by inequality, regardless of the kind of popular perceptions on the distributive process in societies. Instead, the effect of inequality was rather dependent upon the perceived corruption-level (for Europe), being negative for corrupt countries. The patterns were also identical for people with and without strong relative concerns. Finally, the happiness-benefits of being optimistic about one’s own future were not larger in more unequal societies. However, regarding this, the results were sensitive to the specific inequality-measure used.
*Provisional paper of a project in which I plan to rerun the analyses on more recent and extensiv... more *Provisional paper of a project in which I plan to rerun the analyses on more recent and extensive data Abstract The last several years, the Dutch police has registered an increasing number of cases of allegedly "emotionally disturbed" persons. Strikingly similar concerns and debates about police-encounters with allegedly "emotional disturbed persons" have been going in the United Kingdom and the United States. Despite this wide public attention, sociological inquiry into the background of this increasing phenomenon has been absent. The current paper contains the first study that robustly examines sociological explanations of the larger involvement of police in this traditionally non-police issue of alleged "emotional disturbance". It places the phenomenon in a wider theoretical framework on attitudes towards the poor. Building on the work of Wacquant (2001; 2009) on paternalistic neoliberalism the penalization of poverty, and Larsen's (2013a), this paper states that the increase in the number of registered cases of alleged "emotional disturbance" is driven by an increase in poverty, in combination with a public distrust towards the poor. The finding from regression analyses among 376 municipalities between 2011 and 2014, indeed show a higher number of registrations in poorer areas. These findings call for a critical approach towards the current authoritarian way in which allegedly "emotionally disturbed" persons are approached.
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Papers by Karlijn Roex
Earlier draft version of Roex, K.L.A., Huijts, T. & Sieben, I. Attitudes towards income inequality ‘Winners’ versus ‘losers’ of the perceived meritocracy, Acta Sociologica (online pre-publication version, 1-17). Copyright © [2018] (SAGE Publications). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. DOI: 10.1177/0001699317748340
Drafts by Karlijn Roex
The Dutch Review by Karlijn Roex
Earlier draft version of Roex, K.L.A., Huijts, T. & Sieben, I. Attitudes towards income inequality ‘Winners’ versus ‘losers’ of the perceived meritocracy, Acta Sociologica (online pre-publication version, 1-17). Copyright © [2018] (SAGE Publications). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. DOI: 10.1177/0001699317748340