Showing papers in "Social Indicators Research in 1980"

Satisfaction and Happiness

Abstract: I review the recent literature on satisfaction and happiness, identify some plausible next steps to take at the frontiers of the research field and offer some suggestions to facilitate those steps. Using partial correlation techniques, substantial levels of covariation are found among the variables that are used in predictions of satisfaction and happiness with life as a whole from satisfaction with specific domains (e.g. family life, health). Using path analysis, confirmation is found in a dozen domains for a model which has satisfaction as a function of a perceived goal-achievement gap, and the latter as a function of comparisons with previous best experience and the status of average folks. Using discriminant analysis, satisfaction with family life is found to be a powerful and predominant discriminator among three groups, identified as Frustrated (dissatisfied and unhappy), Resigned (satisfied and unhappy) and Achievers (satisfied and happy).

Measures of self-reported well-being: their affective, cognitive, and other components*

Abstract: This investigation begins from the hypothesis that social indicators of perceived well-being — e.g., people’s assessment of their own life quality — will, like other atttudes, reflect two basic types of influences: affect and cognition. In addition, the indicators were expected to include two other components: unique variance (mainly random measurement error) and correlated measurement error. These ideas are investigated using a structural modeling approach applied to 23 assessments of life-as-a-whole from a national survey of Americans (N = 1072) and/or a survey of urban residents in England (N = 932). In both sets of data, models that included affective and cognitive factors fit significantly better than more restricted models. Furthermore, as expected, measures of (a) ‘happiness’, ‘fun’, and ‘enjoyment’ tended to be relatively more loaded with affect than were measures of (b) ‘satisfaction’, ‘success’, and ‘meeting needs’; and (c) measures designed to tap both affect and cognition tended to fall between the first two groups. In addition, the results suggest that measures employing relatively many scale points and direct assessments yield more valid indicators of people’s evaluations of life-as-a-whole than do measures based on three-point scales or on explicit comparisons with other times or groups. These results contribute to basic knowledge about the nature of life quality assessments, help to explain some previously puzzling relationships with demographic factors such as age and education, and may be useful to designers of future studies of perceived well-being.

Models of cognition and affect in perceptions of well-being

Abstract: How do people arrive at assessments of their own life quality? A series of models was developed to provide an interpretation of the way the factors of cognition and affect operate along with evaluations of specific life concerns (domains) in the perception of well-being. Following previous research, cognition was defined operationally as a factor which accounts for the covariance among a set of assessments of life-as-a-whole after affect, as measured by Bradburn's scales, is partialled out and after allowance is made for the presence of correlated measurement errors. It was found that loadings on the cognitive factor, and hence the interpretation of this factor, changed little despite quite large changes in the models. Moreover, in all major comparisons, models that contained the cognitive factor fitted the data better than models that did not. Models that included affect as the only variable intervening between the domains and the life-as-a-whole factor led to results that were intuitively difficult to accept. In the preferred model both affect and cognition were positioned as intervening variables. In this model it was found that the domain evaluations had no direct impact on life-as-a-whole assessments — the contribution of the domains was indirect by way of their association with cognition and affect. It was hypothesised that associated with each domain was a domain-specific element of affect and a domain-specific element of cognition. The linear additive relation found by previous researchers between domain evaluations and life-as-a-whole assessments would then be explainable as a statistical result arising from the summing of the domain-specific elements of affect and cognition.

A human ecological approach to quality of life: Conceptual framework and results of a preliminary study

Abstract: A human ecological framework for study of quality of life is proposed and used in the study of the QOL of a rural sample in northern Michigan. The framework is based on an ecosystem, i.e., the interaction of humans, the environed units, with their interrelated environments. These are conceptualized as: natural, human constructed and human behavioral. Quality of life indicators can measure aspects of the environed units, environments, and their interaction. Scales to measure perceived overall quality of life (POQL), community satisfaction (COMSAT), and the importance of and satisfaction with selected life concerns (SALI and SALS) were used. The life concerns represented human needs, attributes of the self, conditions and resources of the three environments, or implied interaction with or action upon the environment. Objectives were to study how these life concerns contributed to POQL; the relationship between SALI and SALS ratings and how this influenced POQL; the relationship between COMSAT and POQL; and whether or not satisfaction with these two variables varied by demographic characteristics. A relatively high POQL was found; those with higher incomes and children living at home had higher scores. COMSAT was also generally high, but did not vary by demographic characteristics. POQL and COMSAT were significantly related. Family life, health, safety, house, and financial security ranked highest in importance; clothing, spare time activities, and fun ranked lowest. Family life, religious faith, food work, and safety ranked highest in satisfaction; national government, financial security, developing oneself, health, and an interesting life ranked the lowest. The various life concerns appear) to behave differently in regard to how the discrepancy between importance of a concern and satisfaction with it influences overall quality of life. Satisfaction with accomplishments, family life, work and financial security accounted for over half the variance in POQL. These represent essential human needs which are satisfied with resources of the near environment, suggesting the salience of one's most proximate environment to evaluation of quality of life. Findings, while preliminary, illustrate the viability of a human ecological model as a unifying framework for conceptualization and measurement of quality of life. Further specification and elaboration of the model are indicated.

Objective and subjective indicators: Effects of scale discordance on interrelationships

Abstract: Researchers in the social indicator movement are increasingly aware of the value of obtaining both subjective and objective measures. At the same time there is a recognition of the need to understand relationships between the types of measures. Studies utilizing both subjective and objective measures indicate that while relationships between them exist, relationships are often not strong. This paper suggests several explanations for such imperfect relationships. One is scale discordance, a term used to recognize that the territorial base of an individual's subjective evaluation may not coincide with the boundaries of the unites used for the collection of objective data. Using data from a metropolitan area study, relationships between objective measures of crime and respondents' feelings of safety are examined for people whose perceptions of neighborhoods vary in size. The hypothesis that the relationship between the objective and subjective measures is stronger among individuals whose view of neighborhood size is in line with the relatively large territorial base for objective crime statistics is tested and found to be correct. Implications of the findings for research and policy making are discussed.

Does rapid economic growth improve the human lot? Some empirical evidence

Abstract: Politicians and decision-makers in both developed and developing countries have sought to maximize economic growth on the basis of the belief that this leads to advances in the quality of life. This paper seeks to test whether this belief is well-founded. An application of the Diffusion Index to time-series data collected from a rapidly growing, low income country demonstrates that while higher national income makes for greater welfare the rate of welfare enhancement is almost independent of the rate of national income growth. On the basis of these findings, it is argued that the Gross National Product by itself may not be used as a reliable measure of human welfare. Finally, this paper suggests that in order to provide the maximum quality of life for the members of a given society, its national policy should be based on a much broader conception of welfare than is currently implied by the idea of GNP growthmanship.

Decision-making and informed consent: A study of the impact of disclosed information

Abstract: This paper is an empirical and normative study of several problems about informed consent in the law and in biomedical ethics. Its particular focus is on the adequacy of prevailing standards of informed consent in medicine and law. These standards generally govern adequate disclosure on the physician's part, to the relative neglect of the equally significant question, ‘What constitutes a valid consent on the patient's part?’ New empirical data regarding the actual decision-making behavior of patients is presented. It was gathered by studying patients considering whether to consent to the use of nonsurgical contraceptive techniques. Three hypotheses are examined regarding how disclosed information affects the decision-making process. Results indicate that disclosed information is not avowed as the prime determinant of the consent decision, that disclosed information does have some effect on the decision-making process, and that disclosed information does not impair or confuse the decision-making process. In conclusion, a number of implications for major areas of ethics and law are pointed out, with special emphasis on three areas of law: the materiality standard, causation, and the therapeutic privilege.

Measures of accessibility as social indicators: A note

Abstract: Although accessibility to jobs, services and amenities is an important component of the quality of life, it is rarely articulated in operational definitions of the concept. This note stresses the importance of physical accessibility to social well-being in cities, and outlines and reviews several measures which could be used to reflect territorial variations in accessibility to specific ‘goods’. One measure-a modified version of the gravity model-is elaborated in detail, and its utility as a social indicator is illustrated using the example of accessibility to primary medical care in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Objective and subjective social indicators of the quality of life in American SMSA'S: A reanalysis

Abstract: The paper examines and critiques Schneider's work that related the subjective and objective indicators of quality of life in American cities. The work then employs data collected by Liu in 1973, and the Institute for Survey Research in 1972 as part of their national election study for 41 large and medium-sized Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA's) to re-examine the question of the relationship between the objective and subjective factors. Although the results of this paper are in general comparable with those obtained by Schneider, there are individual cases where they differ. The paper then concludes with a discussion of the reasons why objective and subjective indicators may coincide.

Analysis of Maslow's Need Hierarchy with three social class groups

Abstract: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is often cited as a possible basis for a fuller understanding of the individual's needs, particularly with regard to Quality of Life. The reluctance to use these concepts is based primarily on lack of empirical evidence in this field. To rectify this situation, a new methodology based on Q sorting was developed to measure the individual's need importance for each of the five needs Maslow proposes. After an estimation of reliability, the test was administered to 240 adults, made up of three social groups, lower class, working class and middle class, balanced for age and sex. The results provided evidence that individuals of a similar social class share similar notions of which needs are most important to them, and these notions differ across social class. It appeared the majority of the middle class sample were esteem, self-actualization orientated, while the majority of the working class were esteem, belonging orientated. Conversely, the majority of the lower class sample were physiology and belonging orientated. However, a cluster analysis of the need items revealed that the items representative of a need were not necessarily assigned similar importance by any one group. It would appear that each need can not be viewed as a unitary whole of equal importance, but rather must be seen as a conglomerate. Methodologically, the article illustrates the feasibility of directly measuring need importance and the use of cluster analysis to group both need items and individuals. Further, the assessment of group differences allows a fuller understanding of needs and the importance the individual assigns to their satisfaction.

Analytical problems in the measurement of the quality of life

Abstract: The absence of an explicit theoretical framework seems to have led to a number of objectionable features — empirical as well as conceptual — in previous attempts to construct and apply QOL measures This paper presents a theoretical framework for QOL measurement based on individual utility maximization Without severe restrictions on the form of the utility function, however, this framework does not lead to meaningful average or aggregate QOL measures Furthermore, our empirical analysis indicates that attempts to use currently available QOL measures — despite their conceptual inadequacy — in the analysis of migration have been ill conceived

Rates of imprisonment and psychiatric hospitalization in the United States

Abstract: The relationship between penal and therapeutic custodial populations bears not only upon theories of social control, but also upon the validity of prison population rates as social indicators. Separate regression analyses of interstate variations in institutional populations for the year 1970, interstate variations in rats of change for the period 1967–73, and variation over time in nationally aggregated data for the period 1930–70 imply that the two custodial systems are essentially independent. The findings suggest that rates of imprisonment, when employed as social indicators, need not be adjusted statistically to account for contemporaneous variation in rates of mental hospitalization.

A macrodynamic analysis of changes in mortality indexes in the United States 1946-75: some preliminary results

Abstract: This paper extends earlier research by Brenner and by Land and Felson on the specification and estimation of macrodynamic structural-equation models to explain changes in American mortality indexes as a function of exogenous changes in societal conditions (social, demographic, economic, and health care). After reviewing the record of annual changes in several general and cause — specific mortality indexes for the post-World War II United States, patterns of temporal covariation in the indexes are discussed and some tentative structural-equation models are described. Among other findings, these models indicate: (1) that changes in the age structure of the American population have substantial impacts on changes in mortality rates for diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems as well as on deaths due to cirrhosis of the liver, accidents, and violence; (2) that the infective and parasitic diseases mortality rate is more closely related to per capita public health expenditures than to improvements in the general level of living in this post — war period; (3) that the business cycle, as indexed by the unemployment rate, has significant impacts on the cardiovascular, accident, and violence mortality rates; (4) that Brenner's finding of a positive association of an increase in the unemployment rate with an increase in cardiovascular diseases mortality two to three years later is partially mediated by an increase in per capita cigarette consumption during the economic recovery following a recession; (5) that an increase in the per capita level of cigarette consumption increases the respiratory systems mortality rate; (6) that both the general and the respiratory neoplasms mortality rates are more strongly affected by long-term moving averages of annual per capita levels of cigarette consumption than by single-years levels; (7) that the level of the degenerative diseases mortality rate is positively affected by an increase in per capita liquor consumption and negatively affected by an increase in health care utilization; (8) that the percentage of all vehicles traveling on highways at high speed is the exposure index most closely associated (of several that were studied) to the motor vehicle accident mortality rate; (9) that the levels of the maternal and infant mortality rates are positively related to an increase in the fertility rate (exposure) and negatively related to those advances in health care services associated with hospital births; (10) that the accuracy with which short-term changes in the crude mortality rate can be predicted from a knowledge of cause-specific mortality rates and how the latter are affected by societal conditions is effectively limited by the degree of accuracy of predictions of the respiratory diseases mortality rate because of its volatile influenza, pneumonia, and bronchitis component; and (11) that short-term changes in the life expectancy index can be somewhat more accurately predicted from such knowledge. Although most of these relationships have been noted before in mortality studies, only a small fraction have been studied in a macrodynamic structural-equation models context. These findings thus constitute a baseline of statistical evidence which can be explored in future research.

Life domain statisfactions and personal social integration

Abstract: Data from a sample of northwestern Wisconsin residents were analyzed to identify the contribution of specific life domain satisfactions to the prediction of satisfaction with social integration. The results show the dominant impact of family satisfaction across the sample and its sub-populations of age, sex and income. The contribution of satisfactions with spare time activities and organizational involvement is also fairly uniform over the various groups. The impact of satisfactions with work, spiritual life and the remaining domains, on the other hand, is highly selective for different subpopulations. The results support the hypothesis of greater family and community centeredness among the lower income individuals and the elderly, and of the greater impact of organizational involvement, spare time activities and national affairs on the high income individuals. The differential impact of some of the resource and consumption domains across the subpopulations underlines the prominence of alternate consumption orientations and different resource instrumentalities for attaining the feelings of social integration.

Social indicators for measuring residential satisfaction in marginal settlements in Costa Rica

Abstract: The realization is growing among housing professionals, policymakers, and planners that the succ?s of housing programs, either in the United States or abroad, cannot be measured merely in terms of the number of units supplied. Along with providing housing units we must also aim to provide a suitable living environment that meets certain basic requirements in terms of location, safety, services, and social organization. Such a goal, however, is easier to state than to accomplish. While it is possible to construct a given number of housing units, it is another matter to construct 'residential satisfaction'. This cannot be done with bricks and

Developing social indicators research on the military in American society

Abstract: This paper suggest an organizing framework for developing social indicator research of the military and its relationship to larger society. Military activities are divided into seven categories which parallel civilian institutional sectors: (1) economy and labor force, (2) education, (3) crime and deviance, (4) science and technology, (5) health and health care, (6) population and family, and (7) politics and government. In each activity area each of the following three topics is discussed: (1) impacts of civilian social changes on the military, (2) patterns of internal military change, (3) impacts of changes in the military on civilian society. For each topic in each category we briefly review some relevant issues, classifying references by the topics and categories to which they relate.

Genetics and the quality of life.

Abstract: Thanks to recent innovations in medicine, it is now possible to detect many so-called genetic diseases' before birth. Consequently, there is a growing movement amongst the medical fraternity advocating genetic counseling: the detection and abortion of diseased fetuses, before birth. This paper considers the implications of this practice on the general quality of life, examining in some detail cost-benefit analyses of the most extensive screening and counseling programme to date, the Kennedy Institute project aimed at reducing the numbers of North American Jewish children born with Tay-Sachs disease. It is argued that although genetic counseling clearly does hold prospects for improving the quality of life in some respects, nevertheless it raises many questions (e.g. to do with minorities and the poor), and care must be taken lest-stampeded by the enthusiasms of medical researchers-overall the quality of life declines.

Life satisfaction—Aspirations and alcohol use: A preliminary report

Abstract: Significant differences have been found to exist among individuals with different drinking patterns with respect to past life satisfactions — five years ago (p < 0.001) and present satisfaction (p < 0.005); however, no significant difference in future aspirations could be identified. In addition, using an ‘unrealistic hopefulness’ coefficient, the authors found higher future aspirations levels than would be normally expected. Those individuals who drink more now than five years ago consistently show the lowest mean satisfaction scores on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. Those whose drinking pattern remained stable over time consistently perceived themselves highest on the scale both five years ago and now, regardless of present drinking pattern.

The trend and pattern in attitudes toward abortion in the United States, 1965–1977

Abstract: Using replicated questions from nationwide surveys conducted by the National Opinion Research Center in 1965 and yearly in 1972 through 1977, this paper traces the trend in attitudes toward abortion and examines these attitudes in relation to several sociodemographic characteristics known to be related to the attitudes. People have become remarkably more tolerant of abortion since 1965, although there has been relatively little change in overall level of approval in the 1970's. Approval remains strongly related to education, race, and religion and rather weakly related to age, with little evidence of polarization or homogenization in attitudes by people in different sociodemographic aggregates.

Poverty and inequality in the United States: A non-Marxist explanation

Abstract: Several structural characteristics of the state have been shown to predict variation among the 48 United States in two major aspects of the quality of life, socio-economic well-being and social pathology.1 The structural characteristics include state differentiation, progressive industrialization, and population change. However the most powerful predictor was the flexibility (conversely rigidity) of the state system. Flexibility was defined as an open class system with achievement of social roles and social mobility. Such a system necessitates an open or competitive government system. These characteristics were measured in terms of a cluster of indicators for each concept that were analyzed into four components in a principal components analysis. Flexibility was measured by a Guttman scale of discrimination and anti-discrimination laws, by a scale of competitive state government, and by the percent of the population Black among other measures. A number of Southern states had low scores on the flexibility component. The question arises as to whether the influence that this component exerts on the quality of life is simply that a large proportion of the population in the rigid states is Black and poor ? a simple tautology ? or is there really a systemic charac teristic that depresses the well-being of all groups in the rigid states. If there is a systemic characteristic operating ? if a flexible, competitive state structure is better for all people and all sub-groups ? such a finding is of considerable importance both in formulating theory and recommending policy for improving the quality of life. The original idea was that an open class system in which achievement of social roles is possible necessitates com petitive government and leads to innovative, forward looking industrial development, and therefore improved quality of life. States lacking these structural characteristics indeed tend to have many poor people belonging to the lower caste; but they are products of the system and do not in and of themselves cause an inferior quality of life.

Evaluating the quality of life in Belgium

Abstract: This paper deals with the evaluation of social welfare inequalities in order to establish a qualitative growth model for Flanders. As a base for the enquiry, quantitative, objective result indicators are chosen. The various quantified components are dealt with separately and different methods of aggregation are discussed. 32 indicators are selected on the basis of a specific definition of social welfare and taking account of the difficulties of collecting certain information. The indicators are aggregated in three different ways and in two stages: first per component for each region and secondly per region. The results show that major variations in the components are weakened by the aggregation and further that the different aggregation methods lead to only small differences. As a general conclusion one can speak of a regional homogeneity in Belgium.

Freedom of information, privacy, and official secrecy: The evolution of federal government information policy concepts

Abstract: At present, the ‘freedom of information’ concept has particular appeal to various democracies seeking to realize or refine a popular right to government information. The American experience with this construct provides both a significant theoretical model and a legislative realization of this idea. However, drafting imperfections and political tampering with the policy purpose of the Freedom of Information Act are apparent in the legislative history of the Federal statute and, hopefully, can be avoided by other nations pursuing this type of law. In addition, the United States has developed privacy of information and has sought to reconcile it and official secrecy with the ‘freedom of information’ concept. While the former is regarded as a valuable symbiont the latter appears to be a dangerous competitor to the effective realization of ‘the people's right to know’.

Objective quality of life indicators and the external validity of community research findings

Abstract: We assessed how representative the objective quality of life in our research community was in order to provide a basis for judging the external validity of environmental-behavioral research findings that will emerge from future investigations. We also provided a methodology of evaluation that could be duplicated by other community study groups. The central city and county units of a U.S. Midwestern metropolitan area were categorized into four geographic reference zones with structural attributes that differentiated them along a city-suburban-rural continuum. Within this geographic frame-work, we were able to evaluate how eleven major categories of our community's quality of life compared, and to unambiguously assign the community's quality of life a position along the city-suburban-rural continuum.

Some social indicators for multiple family housing

Abstract: This research suggests some social indicator candidates for families housed in multiple-family environments. Objective, subjective, and behavioral data sets are all represented in the analysis. This range of social statistics and the utilization of appropriate statistical analysis are viewed as necessary conditions for generating social indicators rather than simply relying on arbitrarily selected social statistics and assume they are indicators. Analysis of 1253 interviews in 88 Alberta subsidized housing projects reveals that subjective data from the tenant category of housing variables rank highest in accounting for present levels of user satisfaction and are viewed therefore as reasonable social indicators with respect to that issue.

Social Indicators of Youth Development and Educational Performance: A Programmatic Statement.

Abstract: This paper argues for the use of social indicators, in conjunction with the traditional norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests, to assess the effects of local educational systems. A conceptual framework for the study of educational performance is presented, interrelating (1) personal resources invested by youth, (2) opportunities for development, (3) developmental behaviors, (4) educational system impacts, and (5) other contextual variables, which together affect (6) progress toward adulthood. Four types of variables and 15 content areas that should be monitored are described, with examples of social indicators for each. Procedures are presented for selecting variables, collecting time-series data, and analyzing and reporting the indicators, relying entirely on existing data sources. Appendices include a data base screening form, a statistic screening form, and a list of United States national, state, county, and city sources of time-series data relevant to youth development and educational performance.