Christopher Bratt

The Impact of Norms and Assumed Consequences on Recycling Behavior

Given the aim to motivate consumers to behave in an environmentally friendly manner, there is a need to understand how consumers’ environmental behavior can be influenced and what variables predict environmental behavior. This article applies structural equation models (path analyses) to investigate these issues, with experienced social norm, assumed consequences of behavior and personal norm as independent variables of recycling behavior. The study is based on a Norwegian survey. As predicted, the social norm revealed no direct link to behavior. Rather, the effect of the social norm seemed to depend on an intervening personal norm. The possible social pressure exercised by family members was investigated. Assumed environmental consequences of behavior and reported behavior were found to be only loosely connected. Furthermore, assumed consequences of behavior revealed no mediating effect on the link between personal norm and behavior, which is contrary to what Schwartz’s theory on altruistic behavior would imply.

Why Men (and Women) Do and Don’t Rebel: Effects of System Justification on Willingness to Protest

Three studies examined the hypothesis that system justification is negatively associated with collective protest against ingroup disadvantage. Effects of uncertainty salience, ingroup identification, and disruptive versus nondisruptive protest were also investigated. In Study 1, college students who were exposed to an uncertainty salience manipulation and who scored higher on system justification were less likely to protest against the governmental bailout of Wall Street. In Study 2, May Day protesters in Greece who were primed with a system-justifying stereotype exhibited less group-based anger and willingness to protest. In Study 3, members of a British teachers union who were primed with a “system-rejecting” mind-set exhibited decreased system justification and increased willingness to protest. The effect of system justification on nondisruptive protest was mediated by group-based anger. Across very different contexts, measures, and methods, the results reveal that, even among political activists, system justification plays a significant role in undermining willingness to protest.

What will the others think? In-group norms as a mediator of the effects of intergroup contact.

The influence of social norms in the context of intergroup relations has long been recognized by social psychologists, yet research on intergroup contact and social norms have usually remained disconnected. We explored the influence of direct and indirect friendship on attitudes towards ethnic minorities in Norway, and in particular the role of in-group norms about the social approval of intergroup contact as a mechanism that distinguishes direct from indirect contact. Using a sample of school students from 89 classrooms (N=823), we tested this hypothesis with both one level and multi-level structural equation modelling (ML-SEM), where the amount of contact of other classroom members was considered as a form of indirect contact. The results suggest that the intergroup contact of other in-group members (in-group friends or classmates) affects attitudes towards the out-group by changing the perception of in-group norms and by reducing intergroup anxiety. In contrast, direct contact (or contact at the individual level in the case of ML-SEM), improved attitudes only by reducing intergroup anxiety, and did not affect the perception of in-group norms.

Revisiting the Paradox of Well-being: The Importance of National Context

OBJECTIVES Despite age-related changes or declines in circumstances, health or income, many older people are able to maintain subjective well-being (SWB) in later life. This is known as the paradox of well-being. To date, much research has focused on either individual- (e.g., age, health, and income) or country-level (e.g., national wealth, inequality) differences in SWB. The present research investigates how these levels combine, and whether the paradox of well-being persists across different economic contexts. METHOD This research uses the 2008-2009 European Social Survey to test the multilevel hypothesis that economic circumstances, reflected by a countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP), affect the paradox of well-being, that is, the relationship between age and SWB. Analyses also account for other relevant psychological, individual, and country differences. Possible avenues by which GDP affects SWB are also explored. RESULTS The multilevel analysis revealed that GDP disproportionally affects the SWB of older people relative to younger people, and that the paradox of well-being is only observed in countries with higher GDP. DISCUSSION The findings clarify the relationship between age and SWB by demonstrating that the paradox of well-being is conditional on the economic context. Implications for individual- and country-level strategies for successful aging are discussed.

Perceived Age Discrimination as a Mediator of the Association Between Income Inequality and Older People’s Self-Rated Health in the European Region

OBJECTIVES The relative income hypothesis predicts poorer health in societies with greater income inequality. This article examines whether the psychosocial factors of perceived age discrimination and (lack of) social capital may help explain the adverse effect of inequality on older peoples health. METHODS Self-rated health, perceived age discrimination, and social capital were assessed in the 2008/9 European Social Survey (European Social Survey Round 4 Data, 2008). The Gini coefficient was used to represent national inequalities in income in each of the 28 European Social Survey countries. Mediation analyses (within a multilevel structural equation modeling paradigm) on a subsample of respondents over 70 years of age (N = 7,819) were used to examine whether perceived age discrimination mediates the negative effect of income inequality on older peoples self-rated health. RESULTS Perceived age discrimination fully mediated the associations between income inequality and self-rated health. When social capital was included into the model, only age discrimination remained a significant mediator and predictor of self-rated health. DISCUSSION Concrete instances of age discrimination in unequal societies are an important psychosocial stressor for older people. Awareness that the perception of ageism can be an important stressor and affect older patients self-reported health has important implications for the way health practitioners understand and treat the sources of patients health problems in later life.

‘Being old and ill’ across different countries: social status, age identification and older people’s subjective health

Objective: It has been suggested that the extent to which older adults identify with ‘old-age’ is associated with greater subjective ill-health. Based on social identity theory, we hypothesise that the societal social status of older people should moderate this relationship, such that the effect of age-identification on subjective health should be stronger in countries in which older people have lower social status. Design and main outcome measures: Subjective health, age identification and the perceived status of people over 70 were assessed in a subsample of older respondents (N = 6185) of the 2008/2009 European Social Survey. We examined whether country-level differences in the perceived status of older adults moderated the effect of age identification on subjective ill-health. Results: 20% of the total variance in older people’s subjective ill-health was due to country differences. The hypothesised cross-level interaction was significant in that the negative association between old age identification and subjective health was stronger in countries where the social status of older people is perceived to be lower. Conclusion: The results provide an important insight into being ascribed a higher social status is likely to have a protective function for older people.

Home, Car Use, and Vacation The Structure of Environmentally Significant Individual Behavior

Strategies to promote environmentally friendly behavior among consumers require an understanding of how such behaviors are interrelated. We examined 29 different environmentally significant behaviors, using data from surveys in Germany (n = 967) and in Norway (n = 880). A priori models derived from previous research assuming either environmental behavior as a single factor or as organized by behavioral sectors, degrees of constraint, or frequencies of occurrence did not fit the data. In contrast, a model developed via a bottom-up approach with the German data was supported by the independent, Norwegian sample. This model can integrate several theoretical perspectives and suggests three distinct behavioral fields, with little or no correlation: home-based actions, car use, and air travel for vacation. The factor home-based actions encompasses several behaviors and correlates with the New Ecological Paradigm scale but also with a measure of impression management. Implications for understanding and influencing environmentally significant behaviors are discussed.

What do older people think that others think of them, and does it matter? The role of meta-perceptions and social norms in the prediction of perceived age discrimination.

Psychological theories of aging highlight the importance of social context. However, very little research has distinguished empirically between older people’s perception of how others in their social context perceive them (personal meta-perceptions) and the shared perceptions in society (societal meta-perceptions). Drawing on theories of intergroup relations and stereotyping and using a multilevel perspective, this article examines how well older people’s perceptions of age discrimination (PAD) are predicted by (a) older people’s personal meta-perceptions, (b) societal meta-perceptions, and (c) social norms of intolerance toward age prejudice. Aging meta-perceptions are differentiated into the cognitive and affective components of ageism. Multilevel analyses of data from the European Social Survey (Nover 70 years of age = 8,123, 29 countries; European Social Survey (ESS) Round 4 Data, 2008) confirmed that older people’s personal meta-perceptions of negative age stereotypes and specific intergroup emotions (pity, envy, contempt) are associated with higher PAD. However, at the societal-level, only paternalistic meta-perceptions were consistently associated with greater PAD. The results show that a few meta-perceptions operate only as a psychological phenomenon in explaining PAD, some carry consonant, and others carry contrasting effects at the societal-level of analysis. This evidence extends previous research on aging meta-perceptions by showing that both the content of meta-perceptions and the level of analysis at which they are assessed make distinct contributions to PAD. Moreover, social norms of intolerance of age prejudice have a larger statistical effect than societal meta-perceptions. Social interventions would benefit from considering these differential findings.

One of few or one of many: Social identification and psychological well‐being among minority youth

Feeling belongingness with small social groups such as the family or a group of friends predicts psychological well-being. Acculturation research has argued for similar effects of belongingness with large social groups. In particular, a strong ethnic identity is assumed to improve psychological well-being among members of minority groups, but this conclusion has been drawn based on cross-sectional data. This study uses three-wave longitudinal data collected among adolescents from ethnic minority groups (N = 705), comparing identification with small groups (the family and the school class) with identification with large groups (the ethnic in-group and the nation) as predictors of psychological well-being (self-esteem, mental health problems, and life satisfaction). Analyses suggest that identification with small groups, in particular with the family, can predict developments in psychological well-being (self-esteem and mental health). In contrast, the data gave no support for causal effects from ethnic identity or national identity, in spite of substantial bivariate correlations with all three dimensions in psychological well-being. The findings have implications for acculturation research. In particular, research on ethnic or national identity as predictors of psychological well-being will benefit from adding small-group identities as covariates and using longitudinal data.

Perceived Age Discrimination across Age in Europe: From an Ageing Society to a Society for All Ages.

Ageism is recognized as a significant obstacle to older people’s well-being, but age discrimination against younger people has attracted less attention. We investigate levels of perceived age discrimination across early to late adulthood, using data from the European Social Survey (ESS), collected in 29 countries (N = 56,272). We test for approximate measurement invariance across countries. We use local structural equation modeling as well as moderated nonlinear factor analysis to test for measurement invariance across age as a continuous variable. Using models that account for the moderate degree of noninvariance, we find that younger people report experiencing the highest levels of age discrimination. We also find that national context substantially affects levels of ageism experienced among older respondents. The evidence highlights that more research is needed to address ageism in youth and across the life span, not just old adulthood. It also highlights the need to consider factors that differently contribute to forms of ageism experienced by people at different life stages and ages.