Alan C. Acock

National Elections and Political Attitudes: The Case of Political Efficacy

Elections constitute a principal avenue of citizen involvement in political life, and knowledge of their effects on public attitudes towards the polity and the role of the individual therein has important implications for theories of democratic governance. One sucli attitude is political efficacy, ‘the feeling that individual political action does have, or can have, an impact on the political process’. Although many studies have documented that political efficacy is positively associated with electoral participation, the causal mechanisms involved are not well understood. Most researchers have simply assumed that the ‘causal arrow’ runs from efficacy to participation, i.e. from the attitude to the behaviour. Investigations of the hypothesis that the behaviour (participation) affects the attitude (efficacy) are rare. Rarer still are enquiries focusing on the impact of election outcomes on efficacy, and studies that examine both effects are virtually non-existent. In this Note covariance structure analysis is used to investigate the effects of voting, campaign activity and the outcomes of the 1984 national elections on political efficacy in the American electorate.

A New Model for Old Measures: A Covariance Structure Analysis of Political Efficacy

Political efficacy is a key concept in theories of political participation and democratic governance. This paper uses covariance structure analytic techniques to assess the adequacy of traditional SRC indicators for measuring political efficacy in the United States and other liberal democracies. Analyses indicate that a two-factor model of a subset of these indicators fits data for the U.S. and six other countries very well, with item loadings corresponding to prevailing conceptual distinctions between internal and external efficacy. In the American case the structure of the model is invariant by race, gender and political context, and the relative strength of correlations between the efficacy factors and measures of personal competence and perceived government responsiveness agrees with theoretical expectations. Although the SRC items appear to be useful measures of efficacy, simple equally weighted additive indices such as those utilized by the SRC itself are inadequate. More sophisticated measurement models are required.

Alternative measures of political efficacy: models and means

In the 1982 and 1984 American national election surveys the CPS deleted a subset of its longstanding measures of political efficacy. This paper employs covariance structure analysis to test a two-factor measurement model based on alternative indicators. The model has an excellent fit for data from the 1964–84 national surveys as well as for different educational, gender, and racial groups in the 1984 study. Consistent with previous theorizing, the internal efficacy factor is significantly more stable than the external factor. Also, the two efficacy factors correlate as expected with measures of general personal competence and political trust. The paper is the first to use LISREL structured means tests to test group differences in levels of efficacy or other important political attitudes. Since this technique is not well-known, a tutorial appendix describing its implementation in LISREL VI is included to facilitate future research.

Social Exchange and Equity Determinants of Relationship Commitment

The present study examines the explanatory power of alternative determinants of relationship commitment derived from the social exchange and equity perspective. We hypothesized that relationship commitment varies directly with relationship outcomes, outcomes relative to the attractiveness of alternatives, relationship satisfaction and duration. We also hypothesized that commitment varies inversely with relationship inequity and that females would be less committed to their relationships than would males. Using self-report data from college students dating one person exclusively and multiple regression procedures, we found clear support for the first set of hypotheses, marginal support for the effect of inequity, and no -support for the hypothesized gender difference in commitment.

Social Network Analysis: A Structural Perspective for Family Studies

We review research on egocentric networks to show how network analysis provides both a distinctive perspective and a methodology for studying the family. In this perspective, individuals are influenced by social networks but are also active agents in their creation. We describe such key concepts as density, range, size, homogeneity and homophily. We also consider network stability, affect structure, segmentation and overlap. We discuss a number of methodological issues along with work in selected substantive areas. Finally, we discuss the data resources of network analysis and suggest an agenda for family applications of network concepts and methodology.

Standardized Solutions Using LISREL on Multiple Populations

This article argues that the procedure used to calculate standardized coefficients in LISREL 6.1 is inappropriate. An alternative approach is proposed. The two approaches are compared empirically.

Nutrition Behavior Change Outcomes of an Educational Approach

This study addresses four issues in the evaluation of nutrition education programs: (1) the reliability of knowledge, belief, and behavior scales; (2) the effectiveness of programs targeted to the general public; (3) the longitudinal effects of nutrition education interventions; and (4) the relationship between changes in the cognitive, belief, and behavioral domains. Our findings indicate that reliable knowledge and behavior scales can be developed, but that the internal consistency of belief scales are more problematic. Moreover, improvements in all three domains can be attained with an heterogenous target audience. Although knowledge deterioriates after the course is completed, beliefs remain stable and nutrition behavior continues to improve significantly. Finally, changes in knowledge and beliefs are influential on changes in behavior as a result of the course, but postcourse changes in knowledge and beliefs are not associated with changes in behavior.

Childhood family structure and adult psychological well‐being of black Americans

This study investigates the long‐term effects of childhood family structure on self‐esteem (self‐confidence and self‐deprecation), personal efficacy, and life satisfaction in black adults, using da...

Applying the Semistandardized Regression Coefficient to Factor, Canonical, and Path Analysis.

The semistandardized (SS) regression coefficient is applied to factor, canonical and path analysis. The SS regression coefficient is interpreted as: if the standardized independent factor, canonical variate, or variable increases one standard deviation unit, then the dependent indicator y will increase by b yzx units. The SS coefficient provides information not given by the conventional standardized regression coefficients used in factor, canonical, and path analysis.