Publications

2023

• Believing in conspiracy theories in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic: Drivers and public health implications.
  
  • Nefes Türkay Salim
  • Präg Patrick
  • Romero-Reche Alejandro
  • Pereira-Puga Manuel
  Social Science and Medicine, Elsevier, 2023, 336, pp.116263. Conspiracy theories jeopardize public health by disseminating misinformation and undermining authoritative health guidelines. This study explores social factors associated with the belief in conspiracy theories in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Max Weber, it posits that beliefs in conspiracy theories are linked to both instrumental rationality considerations, such as trust in health authorities, science, and pharmaceutical companies, as well as value-rationality based factors, such as ideological orientation. The study analyzes recent, nationally representative survey data and is the first to examine the social predictors of belief in conspiracy theories in Spain during the pandemic. The findings highlight that conspiracy theory beliefs are (a) associated with considerably worse vaccination behaviors, (b) not or only very weakly associated with standard demographics such as age, sex, or education, (c) related to instrumental rationality considerations, and (d) only weakly related to value-rationality indicators such as ideological and religious affiliations. In conclusion, the study underscores the significance of public health policies that specifically address conspiracy theory convictions, and to that end, advocates for the application of a Weberian sociological perspective to better understand the diverse rationalities underlying these beliefs, particularly in the absence of discernible demographic predictors. Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved. (10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116263)
  DOI : 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116263
• Subjective socioeconomic status and self-rated health in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging: A fixed-effects analysis.
  
  • Coustaury Camille
  • Jeannot Elias
  • Moreau Adele
  • Nietge Clotilde
  • Maharani Asri
  • Richards Lindsay
  • Präg Patrick
  Social Science and Medicine, Elsevier, 2023, 336, pp.116235. Higher subjective socio-economic status (SES) goes along with better self-rated health: This finding is well-established in the literature, yet the majority of studies it is based on only rely on cross-sectional analyses and only account for few potential confounders of the association. Particularly wealth, which is increasingly thought of as an important dimension of accumulated advantage, is only rarely examined as a confounder. Using eight waves of panel data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA, 2002-19), we investigate the association between subjective SES and self-rated health. We use random effects models that account for theoretically important time-constant (such as education and social class) and time-varying confounders (such as income and wealth) as well as fixed-effects models, that in addition control for all time-constant confounders, whether observed or unobserved. The fully adjusted fixed-effects model reveals a statistically significant association between subjective SES and self-rated health. Yet, a one-point increase on the subjective SES ladder goes along with a two per cent of a standard deviation increase in self-rated health, only around a quarter of the size of the random-effects estimate. The role of wealth for the subjective SES-self-rated health association is negligible in the fixed-effects specifications. Smoking, drinking, and physical activity do not appear to mediate the association. A substantial part, though not all, of the observed association between subjective SES and self-rated health is due to unobserved confounding rather than a causal effect. Reducing health inequalities based on objective SES is likely more effective than based on subjective SES. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116235)
  DOI : 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116235
• Subjective social status and allostatic load among older people in England: A longitudinal analysis.
  
  • Richards Lindsay
  • Maharani Asri
  • Präg Patrick
  Social Science and Medicine, Elsevier, 2023, 320, pp.115749. BACKGROUND : Subjective social status has a known association with health, whereby better health outcomes are observed for those with higher perceived status. In this research, we offer new evidence on the status-health relationship using a rigorous methodological approach that considers both observed and unobserved confounders. METHODS : We use 5 waves of data spanning 15 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and derive a measure of allostatic load with biomarkers as an objective measure of health. We apply 'within-between' panel regression models. RESULTS : Models reveal the expected association between subjective status and health when comparing participants (the 'between' estimate), but no association when examining temporal variation within participants (the 'within' estimate). When controlling for personality traits including optimism, and parental education, the 'between' association between subjective status and allostatic load is reduced but does not disappear. CONCLUSIONS : Person-level confounders play some role in explaining the observed link between subjective status and health. The exact nature of the link, including the role of psychological pathways and early-life confounders, remains a question for future research. Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved. (10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115749)
  DOI : 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115749
• Does Children’s Education Improve Parental Health and Longevity? Causal Evidence from Great Britain
  
  • Potente Cecilia
  • Präg Patrick
  • Monden Christiaan
  Journal of Health and Social Behavior, American Sociological Association, 2023, 64 (1), pp.21-38. Parents with better-educated children are healthier and live longer, but whether there is a causal effect of children’s education on their parents’ health and longevity is unclear. First, we demonstrate an association between adults’ offspring education and parental mortality in the 1958 British birth cohort study, which remains substantial—about two additional years of life—even when comparing parents with similar socioeconomic status. Second, we use the 1972 educational reform in England and Wales, which increased the minimum school leaving age from 15 to 16 years, to identify the presence of a causal effect of children’s education on parental health and longevity using census-linked data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study. Results reveal that children’s education has no causal effects on a wide range of parental mortality and health outcomes. We interpret these findings discussing the role of universal health care and education for socioeconomic inequality in Great Britain. (10.1177/00221465221143089)
  DOI : 10.1177/00221465221143089
• Intergenerational Social Mobility and Allostatic Load in Midlife and Older Ages: A Diagonal Reference Modeling Approach
  
  • Mcloughlin Sinéad
  • Präg Patrick
  • Bartley Mel
  • Kenny Rose Anne
  • Mccrory Cathal
  Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, The Gerontological Society of America, 2023, 78 (1), pp.154-166. Abstract Objectives This study aims to understand the association of life-course intergenerational social mobility with allostatic load (AL) burden in midlife and older ages in Ireland. Methods The study involved biological data for 3,987 older adults participating in The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Intergenerational social mobility was characterized using the cross-classification of origin socioeconomic position (SEP; i.e., father’s occupation) and destination SEP (i.e., own occupation). AL was operationalized using 12 biomarkers tapping cardiovascular, metabolic, renal, and immune system dysregulation. Diagonal reference modeling (DRM) and ordinary least square regression techniques were applied to explore the effect of social mobility on AL burden. Results A total of 55.5% experienced intergenerational mobility: 37.5% were upwardly mobile, 18.0% were downwardly mobile. A social gradient in AL was observed among the socially non-mobile. Destination SEP (b = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.57, 0.92) predominated in influence over origin, although both life stages exerted significant influence on later-life AL. Social mobility in either direction was not associated with AL burden. Mobility coefficients were substantially small across a large variety of model specifications. Discussion Findings provide evidence for an accumulation model of social inequalities in which disparities in health are diluted rather than increased by social mobility (i.e., gradient constraint), with the socially mobile having an AL score that is intermediate between their origin class and destination class. This implies that the effects of origin SEP on health are not immutable, but are instead responsive to changing socioeconomic circumstances across the life course. (10.1093/geronb/gbac122)
  DOI : 10.1093/geronb/gbac122
• Fixed-term work contracts and anti-immigration attitudes. A novel test of ethnic competition theory
  
  • Ersanilli Evelyn
  • Präg Patrick
  Socio-Economic Review, Oxford University Press (OUP), 2023, 21 (1), pp.293-318. Abstract Whether labor market competition is shaping anti-immigration attitudes is a contentious issue. We conduct a novel test of ethnic competition theory by comparing the attitudes toward immigration of workers with fixed-term contracts to those with permanent jobs in Europe. Fixed-term contract workers are particularly at risk of competition as they have to compete for jobs in the foreseeable future. In the first step of our investigation, we analyze cross-sectional data (European Social Survey, 2002–18) from 18 Western European countries. We find that—contrary to our expectation—fixed-term workers are less anti-immigration. The effect is substantively small. In the second step, we use a fixed-effects design with longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP, 1999–2015) to rule out time-constant unobserved heterogeneity. We find that transitioning from a fixed to a permanent contract does not affect anti-immigration attitudes. Our combined results thus add to the growing body of studies that do not find evidence for labor market competition as an explanation of anti-immigrant attitudes. (10.1093/ser/mwab059)
  DOI : 10.1093/ser/mwab059