Ingemar Johansson Sevä

Subjective well-being and job satisfaction among self-employed and regular employees : does personality matter differently?

Abstract Little is known about the importance of personality traits for subjective well-being (SWB) and job satisfaction among self-employed. The aim of this article is to investigate if the Big-Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience) have different relationships with SWB and job satisfaction among self-employed compared with regular employees. Data come from a Swedish survey comprising representative samples of self-employed (n = 2483) and regular employees (n = 2642). Personality traits are measured using a 10-item personality measure. Our findings show that there are only small differences, between self-employed and regular employees, in the associations between personality traits and SWB. For job satisfaction, on the other hand, we find much stronger relationships for self-employed than the regularly employed. For self-employed, every personality trait except ‘openness to experience’ have a significant positive relationship with job satisfaction. In comparison, only ‘extraversion’ and ‘emotional stability’ are significantly correlated to job satisfaction among regular employees. The relationship between ‘extraversion’ and job satisfaction was furthermore substantially weaker among regular employees. Therefore, being self-employed seems to be particularly beneficial for individuals scoring high on ‘extraversion,’ ‘agreeableness,’ and ‘conscientiousness.’

Local Contexts, Social Risks and Social Spending Preferences A Multi-Level Approach

In this article, I analyse the relationship between local context and individuals’ social spending preferences in Sweden. The contextual unit studied is the municipality and the analyses are based on both individual-level survey data (n = 5,324) and municipal-level data. Multi - level modelling is used to handle data at both levels simultaneously. It is suggested that the presence of social risks in the local community affects whether individuals are willing to support high social spending. It is argued that the interdependent nature of certain social risks, such as local unemployment rates, depopulation and labour market structure, is an important factor explaining contextual influence on social spending preferences. The results indicate that the prevalence of social risks in a municipality affect the willingness of local inhabitants to support high social spending. Support for high social spending tends to be greater, taking individual-level determinants into account, in municipalities suffering from unemployment, ill health, depopulation, a low tax base and an industry sector dominated by agriculture and manufacturing. This finding also indicates that contextual influence on political attitudes might not be restricted to interpersonal interaction, as often suggested in past research.

How critical thinking, multicultural education and teacher qualification affect anti-immigrant attitudes

Abstract Previous studies identify a relationship between education and anti-immigrant attitudes. There is, however, uncertainty regarding the underlying explanations linking education to attitudes. In this article, we examine whether a relationship exists between exposure to teaching about critical thinking as well as multiculturalism (measured as religions/cultures as well as xenophobia/racism), and anti-immigrant attitudes among adolescents. In addition, we examine whether teacher qualification matters for attitudes. The analysis is based on survey data collected from high school students in Sweden. The results show an association between exposure to teaching about critical thinking as well as multiculturalism (both indicators) and anti-immigrant attitudes among students, i.e. higher exposure is related to lower levels of anti-immigrant attitudes. However, we find that teaching about xenophobia/ racism affects attitudes, but not when simultaneously controlling for teaching about critical thinking and religions/cultures. In terms of teacher qualification, we find that students in schools with a high proportion of certified teachers tend to have lower levels of anti-immigrant attitudes.

Basic human values and white-collar crime: Findings from Europe

The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between values and white-collar crime. The analyses draw on pooled survey data covering 14 European countries. The value constructs are derived on the basis of the theory of basic human values and seven value constructs are tested in relation to three types of white-collar crime: tax evasion, insurance fraud and bribery. The results show that a majority of the value constructs are statistically significantly related to white-collar crime in the expected direction. The relationships between values and white-collar crime are particularly clear-cut regarding tax evasion and insurance fraud but more mixed regarding bribery. The value constructs ‘universalism/benevolence’, ‘power/achievement’ and ‘stimulation’ yield consistent results across all three crime types. ‘Universalism/benevolence’ levels are negatively associated, while ‘power/achievement’ and ‘stimulation’ levels are positively associated, with odds of having committed white-collar crime. The results suggest that values are relevant predictors when trying to account for variation in white-collar offending.

Are the self-employed really that poor? Income poverty and living standard among self-employed in Sweden

Small enterprises are often highlighted by politicians as important engines of economic growth and job creation. However, previous research suggests that self-employment might not be equally beneficial for individuals in terms of their income compared to regular employment. Several studies have in fact found that the self-employed may face a substantially higher poverty risk than do regular employees. The aim of the present study is to investigate to what extent income poverty is a good predictor of actual living standards among the self-employed. Is the relationship between income poverty and living standards different for self-employed compared to the regularly employed? To investigate this question we use a unique Swedish survey dataset including regularly employed (n=2,642) as well as self-employed (over-sampled, n=2,483). Income poverty is defined as living in a household with less than 60% of the median household income. Living standards are measured with a deprivation index based on 29 consumption indicators. The results show that even though income poverty is more prevalent among the self-employed than among the regularly employed, no evidence can be found suggesting that the self-employed have a lower standard of living than the regularly employed. Furthermore, when specifically comparing income poor self-employed with income poor regularly employed, we find that the income poor self-employed score significantly lower on the deprivation index even after the compositional characteristics of both groups are taken into account. The conclusion is that poverty measures based on income data underestimate the actual living standard of the self-employed.

Political Partisanship and Welfare Service Privatization: Ideological Attitudes among Local Politicians in Sweden

This article ties in with a growing international literature examining the link between party politics and welfare service privatization in modern welfare states. In recent decades, a central aspec ...

Ageing, health inequalities and the welfare state : A multilevel analysis

Comparative studies of health inequalities have largely neglected age and ageing aspects, while ageing research has often paid little attention to questions of social inequalities. This article investigates cross-country differences in gradients in self-rated health and limiting long-standing illness (LLSI) in middle-aged and in older people (aged 50–64 and 65–80 years) linked to social class, and degrees to which the social health gradients are associated with minimum pension levels and expenditure on elderly care. For these purposes, data from the European Social Survey (2002–2010) are analysed using multilevel regression techniques. We find significant cross-level interaction effects between class and welfare policies: higher expenditure on elderly care and particularly more generous minimum pensions are associated with smaller health inequalities in the older age group (65–80 years). It is concluded that welfare policies moderate the association between social class and health, highlighting the importance of welfare state efforts for older persons, who are strongly reliant on the welfare state and welfare state arrangements such as pensions and care policies.