Political (Dis)Trust as a Determinant of Voting and Protest Participation

Polazeći od dvodimenzionanog razumijevanja povjerenja u političke institucije, u radu provjeravamo prediktivnost povjerenja u vladu i predstavničke institucije i povjerenja u provedbene institucije za objašnjenje glasanja te prosvjednog sudjelovanja, kao i moguću posredujuću ulogu zadovoljstva funkcioniranjem političkog sustava. Rad se temelji na hrvatskim podatcima petog vala Europskog istraživanja vrednota – EIV (European Values Study – EVS, 2017). Pojedinačne povezanosti dvaju oblika povjerenja i dvaju tipova sudjelovanja pokazuju da je izraženije povjerenje u vladu i predstavničke institucije povezano s češćim glasanjem te manjom sklonošću prosvjednom sudjelovanju, dok je povjerenje u provedbene institucije povezano samo s manjom sklonošću prosvjednom sudjelovanju. Ujedno, oba su oblika političkog povjerenja snažno međusobno povezana te praćena većim zadovoljstvom funkcioniranjem političkog sustava, a koje je u slaboj pozitivnoj vezi s glasanjem te u negativnoj sa sklonošću prosvjedima. Multivarijatnom analizom potvrđen je samo samostalan pozitivni doprinos povjerenja u vladu i predstavničke institucije za pojašnjenje glasanja. Rezultate raspravljamo u kontekstu visoke povezanosti dvaju oblika političkog povjerenja u hrvatskim uvjetima te dosadašnjih nalaza o odrednicama glasanja i prosvjednog sudjelovanja kao dvaju oblika političkog sudjelovanja.Starting from a two-dimensional understanding of trust in political institutions, the paper examines trust in the government and representative institutions and trust in executive institutions as predictors of voting and protest participation, as well as the possible mediating role of satisfaction with the functioning of the political system. The paper is based on the Croatian data from the fifth wave of the European Values Study (EVS, 2017). Individual associations between the two forms of trust and the two types of participation indicate that greater trust in government and representative institutions is associated with more frequent voting and a lower propensity for protest participation. In contrast, trust in executive institutions is only associated with a lower propensity for protest participation. At the same time, both forms of political trust are strongly interconnected and accompanied with greater satisfaction with the functioning of the political system, which is weakly positively associated with voting and negatively associated with the propensity for protest participation. The multivariate analysis confirmed only the trust in government and representative institutions as a unique positive predictor of voting. The results are discussed in view of the high association between the two forms of political trust in the Croatian context, and the findings to date regarding the determinants of voting and protest participation as two forms of political participation

Youth and Climate Change: Awareness and Behavioural Intentions

Unatoč sve većem zanimanju javnosti i javnim raspravama na temu klimatskih promjena uzrokovanih ljudskim djelovanjem, uočljiv je nedostatak istraživanja o stavovima i ponašanju mladih u vezi s klimatskim promjenama u hrvatskom kontekstu. Naime, iako su mladi budućnost svakog društva i nosioci razvoja, odnos njihove osviještenosti o klimatskim promjenama i namjera ponašanja u vidu smanjenja negativnog ljudskog utjecaja na okoliš nedovoljno je istražen. U ovom radu usmjerili smo se na ispitivanje odnosa osviještenosti mladih o klimatskim promjenama i namjera ponašanja u vidu smanjenja negativnog utjecaja na okoliš na temelju podataka 2134 učenika iz 28 srednjih škola u Republici Hrvatskoj, prikupljenih anketnim istraživanjem unutar projekta CHIEF. Testirali smo strukturne modele namjera sudjelovanja u aktivnostima u vezi sa zaštitom okoliša te osviještenosti o klimatskim promjenama, rodom sudionika, tipom školskog programa (gimnazijski/strukovni), procijenjenom mogućnošću učenja o klimatskim promjenama u školi te veličinom mjesta u kojem je škola smještena kao potencijalnim moderatorima navedenog odnosa. Provedene analize potvrdile su osviještenost o klimatskim promjenama kao značajnog prediktora opće spremnosti sudjelovanja u aktivnostima zaštite okoliša, ali i ukazale na to da snaga tog odnosa ovisi o rodu, tipu školskog programa i procijenjenoj mogućnosti učenja o klimatskim promjenama u školi.Despite the growing public interest and debate on anthropogenic climate change, there is a noticeable lack of research on the attitudes and behaviour of young people in relation to climate change in the Croatian context. Namely, although young people are the future of every society and bearers of development, the relationship between their awareness of climate change and intentions towards reducing the negative human impact on the environment has been insufficiently researched. In this paper, we focused on examining the above-mentioned relationship based on the data of 2,134 students from 28 secondary schools in the Republic of Croatia, collected within the CHIEF project survey. We tested structural models of intentions to participate in activities related to environmental protection and awareness of the importance of such action, with participant gender, type of school programme (grammar/vocational), and perceived availability of teaching content related to environmental protection as potential moderators of the aforementioned relationship. The conducted analyses confirmed awareness of climate change as a significant predictor of general willingness to participate in environmental protection activities, but also indicated that the strength of this relationship is moderated by gender, type of school program and the estimated learning opportunities regarding climate change at school

Croatian High School Pupils’ Attitudes towards Ethnic Minorities: The Role of Multiculturality, Social Identity and School

Uslijed digitalizacije, geopolitičkih previranja i migracija u Europi danas su više nego ikada istaknuti učinci sociokulturnoga konteksta (posebice kulturne globalizacije) na naše stavove i ponašanja. Mladi su posebno osjetljivi na (multi)kulturne utjecaje kojima su svakodnevno izloženi zbog intenzivne uključenosti u aktualna društvena zbivanja i specifičnosti razvojnog perioda. Izloženost i sudjelovanje u različitim multikulturnim elementima te nacionalizam i kulturna otvorenost imaju značajne učinke po njihove stavove, odnose i ponašanja prema drugim grupama, kao i njihove interkulturne kompetencije. Školsko okruženje ima važnu i aktivnu socijalizacijsku ulogu u oblikovanju socijalnog identiteta adolescenata stvarajući normativnu okolinu koja ima potencijal promovirati kulturnu otvorenost kroz odgojno-obrazovne aktivnosti. Stoga je prvi cilj istraživanja bio ispitati stavove prema manjinama, multikulturnu izloženost i kontakt te nacionalizam i kulturnu otvorenost adolescenata, dok je drugi cilj bio ispitati odnos multikulturne izloženosti i kontakta te nacionalizma i kulturne otvorenosti, uzimajući u obzir sociodemografske karakteristike adolescenata, kao i za međugrupne odnose potencijalno relevantne karakteristike škola i zajednica. Istraživanje je provedeno u sklopu CHIEF projekta na uzorku od 2134 adolescenta (57% djevojaka) u 28 srednjih škola u Republici Hrvatskoj. Adolescenti su iskazali pozitivan opći stav prema manjinama. Procjena razine međukulturnoga kontakta je niska, dok je međukulturna izloženost umjerena, kao i izraženost kulturne otvorenosti i nacionalizma. Učenici percipiraju umjerene prilike za učenje o temama ljudskih prava i nacionalnog identiteta u okviru srednjoškolske nastave. Regresijskom analizom provedenom u sklopu strukturalnih modela potvrđena je važnost kulturne otvorenosti, nacionalizma, percepcije zastupljenosti sadržaja u obrazovanju, roda i socioekonomskog statusa zajednice u oblikovanju općeg stava o manjinama. Kontakt s pripadnicima drugih kultura nije pridonio predviđanju općeg stava o manjinama neovisno o međukulturnoj izloženosti.Amid digitalization, geopolitical turmoil, and migrations in Europe, the effects of sociocultural context (especially cultural globalization) on attitudes and behaviours have become emphasized more than ever. Young people are susceptible to (multi)cultural influences to which they are exposed on a daily basis due to intensive involvement in contemporary social events and characteristics of their developmental period. Exposure to and participation in various multicultural elements, and nationalism and cultural openness substantially affect their attitudes, relationships, and behaviours towards other groups, as well as their intercultural competencies. The school environment plays an important and active socialization role in shaping the social identity of adolescents, creating a normative environment that has the potential to promote cultural openness via educational activities. Therefore, the first goal of our study was to explore the attitudes towards minorities, multicultural exposure and contact, and nationalism cultural openness of adolescents, while the second goal was to evaluate the relationships between multicultural exposure and contact, and nationalism and cultural openness, taking into account sociodemographic characteristics of adolescents, as well as characteristics of schools and communities deemed potentially relevant for intergroup relationships. The study was conducted within the CHIEF project on a sample of 2,134 adolescents (57% female) from 28 Croatian secondary schools. Adolescents have exhibited positive general attitudes toward minorities. The quantity of their self-reported multicultural contacts was low, while the levels of multicultural exposure, nationalism and cultural openness were moderate. The possibilities of learning about human rights and national identity within the secondary school curriculum were perceived as moderate. Regression analyses conducted within the context of structural equation modelling have confirmed the relevance of cultural openness, nationalism, perception of the presence of different contents in education, gender, and socioeconomic status of the community in determining the general attitudes towards minorities. Multicultural contacts did not provide an independent contribution to the prediction of general attitudes towards minorities when controlled for multicultural exposure

Culture, Identity and Cultural Participation among Secondary School Pupils in Croatia

U ovom radu istražujemo kako srednjoškolci u Hrvatskoj razumiju i doživljavaju svoj kulturni identitet te koji su oblici njihove kulturne participacije. U sklopu međunarodnog projekta CHIEF u Hrvatskoj je provedeno kvalitativno istraživanje kojim smo obuhvatili učenike drugih razreda triju srednjih škola, jedne u velikom gradu, druge u manjem urbanom središtu i treće u ruralnom području. Pritom su provedeni polustrukturirani intervjui sa 60 učenika (po dvadeset iz svake škole) i devetero nastavnika (po troje iz svake škole). U sklopu projekta provedeno je i anketno istraživanje u 28 srednjih škola na više od 2000 učenika. Kvalitativni nalazi, potkrijepljeni nalazima anketnog istraživanja, pokazuju da se mladi ponajprije identificiraju kroz obrasce mjesta, regije i nacije pa tek onda kroz obrasce Europe i čovječanstva. Razlike između urbanih i ruralnih sredina nisu se pokazale presudnima za različitost stavova i oblika kulturne participacije mladih. Važnija se čini izloženost multikulturnom iskustvu uz ekonomsku dimenziju uže regije koja je u nekim slučajevima utjecala na značenje koje mladi pridaju etničkoj različitosti u vlastitoj sredini. S obzirom na visoko mjesto koje pripada glazbi na ljestvici najčešćih oblika kulturne participacije mladih prema rezultatima anketnog istraživanja, važan je nalaz kvalitativnog dijela istraživanja koji ukazuje na dominaciju stilova u vezi s popularnom glazbom zvanom „cajka“ neovisno o stupnju urbanizacije (veliki grad naspram ruralne sredine).In this paper, we investigate how secondary school pupils in Croatia understand and experience their cultural identity and forms of their cultural participation. As part of the international Horizon 2020 CHIEF project, qualitative research was conducted in Croatia, which included second-grade pupils from three secondary schools; one in a large city, another in a smaller urban centre, and the third in a rural area. We interviewed 60 pupils (twenty from each school) and nine teachers (three from each school) using a semi-structured form. Additionally, a survey was conducted in 28 secondary schools on more than 2,000 pupils as part of the project. Qualitative findings, supported by the survey findings, indicate that young people primarily identify themselves through the modes and patterns of place, region and nation, and only then through the modes and patterns of Europe and humanity. The differences between urban and rural environments did not prove to be decisive for the diversity of attitudes and forms of cultural participation of young people. Exposure to multicultural experiences seems to be more important, along with the economic dimension of the narrower region, which in some cases influenced the meaning young people attach to ethnic diversity in their own environment. Considering the high position of music on a scale of young people’s most common forms of cultural participation, suggested by the survey results, the important finding of the qualitative part of the research is the dominance of styles in connection with popular music called ‘cajka’, regardless of the degree of urbanization (big city versus rural area)

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic.Peer reviewe

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (vol 13, 517, 2022) : National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (Nature Communications, (2022), 13, 1, (517), 10.1038/s41467-021-27668-9)

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.In this article the author name ‘Agustin Ibanez’ was incorrectly written as ‘Augustin Ibanez’. The original article has been corrected.Peer reviewe

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic.

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = -0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic

Author Correction: National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Correction to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27668-9, published online 26 January 2022