Die gesellschaftliche Verteilung von Traurigkeit. Eine emotionssoziologische Analyse

Abstract

Zusammenfassung: Die Soziologie interessiert sich für die soziale Verteilung und Determinanten von traurigkeit als teil der gefühlskultur einer gesellschaft. Sie eröffnet zugleich potenziale für das themenfeld der sozialen ungleichheit von emotionen. auf der grundlage einer Querschnittsanalyse von Daten des Schweizer Haushalt-panels (SHp) werden Zusammenhänge zwischen der Häufigkeit der erlebten Traurigkeit und Merkmalen der sozialstrukturellen Position, des sozialen Kontextes sowie in Abhängigkeit von kritischen Lebensereignissen geprüft. Der Beitrag bestätigt Variationen von Traurigkeit entlang sozialer Merkmale wie Geschlecht, Einkommen, Alter, Nationalität und Sprachregion.

Socioeconomic Status Differences in Negative Emotions

“…Another explanation refers to the French- and Italian-speaking Swiss population being more oriented toward and having a stronger sense of belonging to the neighbouring countries of France and Italy respectively. This can lead to a more distanced relationship to German-speaking Switzerland and feelings of exclusion and alienation in one's own country as a consequence of being in such a minority position (Jakoby 2013). Further research is needed to understand the association between the Swiss language regions and the distribution of negative emotions.…”

“…2.5 With the exception of Simon and Nath (2004), Rackow et al (2012) and Jakoby (2013), sociological research on negative emotions drawing on survey data is still rare. In their analysis of the General Social Survey (GSS) 1986, Simon and Nath (2004) found effects of education and income on the frequency of sadness and anxiety.…”

“…Persons with lower education and household income report feelings of sadness more often than those with higher education and income (Simon and Nath 2004; Simon 2002). Jakoby (2013) reported associations between education, income and the frequency of sadness. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP), Rackow et al (2012) found income to have negative effects on anxiety.…”

“…Much less attention has been paid to socioeconomic status differences in experiencing ‘everyday emotions’ (Thoits 1989: 322) based on self-reports, rather than psychiatric diagnoses (Horwitz 2013; Horwitz and Wakefield 2007). Correlates of specific emotions such as anxiety, sadness or anger have recently been investigated in the field of the sociology of emotions (e.g., Simon and Nath 2004; Simon and Lively 2010; Jakoby 2013; Rackow et al 2012). However, quantitative studies on emotional inequality are still rare.…”