A large volume of academic research has demonstrated that individuals who profess radical political ideology, both left-and right-wing, tend to share similar underlying psychological patterns. By utilizing data collected through a voting advice application in Sweden, this study aims to assess whether extreme leftists and rightists share similarities in the psychological and political understanding of how society functions. We propose three hypotheses to test this pattern: Extreme left and right individuals are more inclined to believe in conspiracy theories than moderates; they are more likely to have negative economic evaluations; and they are less politically and interpersonally trustful. By means of hierarchical regression analyses, we reveal a quadratic relationship between extreme political ideology and conspiracy beliefs. Moreover, we find a similar linkage between ideology and economic evaluations. However, the empirical analyses fail to provide evidence that extreme ideology is related to lower political and interpersonal trust.Keywords: political ideology, economic evaluations, trust, conspiracy belief, extremism Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2017, Vol. 5(2), 435-462, doi:10.5964/jspp.v5i2.745 Received: 2016-12-08. Accepted: 2017-09-10. Published (VoR): 2017-10-28.Handling Editor: Małgorzata Kossowska, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland *Corresponding author at: Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 334 2 1012 RW Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: andre.krouwel@vu.nl This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Throughout the 20 th century, radical political ideologies served as the propeller of tragic events that have left a deep mark in human history (Baumeister, 1997;Midlarsky, 2011). Movements of the radical right, such as Fascism and Nazism, were ideologically driven to commit unimaginable crimes against humanity which resulted in the death of millions. On the left, communist regimes in the former Soviet Union and its satellite states, as well as in numerous Asian countries were responsible for comparable atrocities. Even though there are substantial differences between these ideologies, political psychologists have noted that extreme left-and right-wing ideologies may share a similar underlying psychological pattern (Greenberg & Jonas, 2003). In order to assess whether rigid devotion to extreme political ideology on both the left and the right corresponds to a similar psychological under- jspp.psychopen.eu | 2195-3325 standing of the world, it is necessary to compare radical individuals and test if their comprehension of the functioning of society is identical. Journal of Social and Political PsychologyAlthough extremist regimes of the past are in many ways hard to compare to political actors that are considered relatively extreme in the current politi...
Background One of the groups that is most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic is pregnant women. They cannot choose to refrain from care; they and their children are at risk of severe complications related to the virus; and they lose comfort and support as clinics prohibit their partners and as societal restrictions demand isolation from friends and relatives. It is urgent to study how this group is faring during the pandemic and we focus here on their health-related worries. Methods A longitudinal survey at a Swedish hospital starting six months before (16 September 2019) and continuing during the COVID-19 outbreak (until 25 August 2020). 6,941 pregnant women and partners of diverse social backgrounds were recruited. 96 percent of birth-giving women in the city take early ultrasounds where recruitment took place. 62 percent of the women with an appointment and 51 percent of their partners gave consent to participate. Results Pregnant women experienced dramatically increased worries for their own health, as well as for their partner’s and their child’s health in the beginning of the pandemic. The worries remained at higher than usual levels throughout the pandemic. Similar, but less dramatic changes, were seen among partners. Conclusions There is a need for heightened awareness of pregnant women’s and partners’ health-related worries as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related feelings such as anxiety have been linked to adverse pregnancy outcome and might have long-term effects. The health care system needs to prepare for follow-up visits with these families.
Falling participation rates is one of the most significant challenges facing survey research today. To curb this negative trend, scholars have searched for factors that can increase and decrease citizens’ willingness to participate in surveys. In this article, we investigate the timing effects of survey invitation e-mails on participation rates in a university-based online panel with members of the Swedish public. Through two large-scale experimental studies, we examine whether the day of week ( N = 11,294) and time of day ( N = 47,279) for sending out survey invitations impact participation rates. We also ask respondents when they prefer to answer surveys. We find that the timing of survey invitations affects participation rates, however, the effects are small, short-lived, and even out within a week. We also find that the effects of timing vary by employment status and age. The results have implications for scholars and practitioners who utilize online panels for web surveys. When quick answers are important, there may be some limited gains of tailoring the timing of the survey invitation to different individuals. In surveys with more extended field periods, however, such efforts seem less warranted.
The rationale for this study is that self-categorising rating scales are becoming increasingly popular in large-scale survey research moving beyond binary ways of measuring gender. We are referring here to the use of rating scales that are similar to graded scales capturing left–right or liberal–conservative political ideology, that is, scales that do not include predefinitions of the core concepts (femininity/masculinity, as compared to left/right or liberal/conservative). Yet, previous studies including such non-binary gender measures have paid little attention to potential effects of survey designs. Using an experimental set-up, we are able to show that sequencing of gender measurements influences the answers received. Men were especially affected by our treatments and rated themselves as significantly ‘less masculine’ when prompted to reason about the meaning of gender prior to self-categorisation on scales measuring degrees of femininity and masculinity. Moreover, self-categorising seems to trigger more biological understandings of gender than anticipated in theory.<br /><br />Key messages<ul><li>Sequencing of gender measurements influences answers received in a survey.</li><li>Men rate themselves as ‘less masculine’ when prompted to reason about gender prior to answering gender scales.</li><li>Self-categorising gender scales trigger more biological understandings of gender than anticipated in theory.</li></ul>
How do pregnancy and childbirth affect engagement in politics and society? Our data from a large-scale citizen panel record political engagement before, during, and after pregnancy for (future) mothers and fathers. We find that women demobilize from politics and societal issues during pregnancy. This disengagement is strongest for indicators of political participation and seeking of political news. Our analysis also shows that gender gaps in political engagement are not only strengthened but also partly created in the earliest stages of parenthood. Although the effects are relatively minor, they are robust to various analysis techniques. Some effects also last until the child grows older. Pregnancy and childbirth rarely lead to political mobilization, and when they do, they concern child-related activities, such as attempts to change daycare providers, but only at later stages of early parenthood.
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