Tuesday, February 2, 2021

No Evidence That Hormonal Oral Contraceptives Affect Chemosensory Perception

No Evidence That Hormonal Contraceptives Affect Chemosensory Perception. Martin Schaefer at al. i-Perception, February 1, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041669520983339

Rolf Degen's take: Contrary to previous assumptions, oral contraceptives do not affect women's smell or taste perception

Abstract: The use of oral contraceptives (OC) in the form of a hormonal pill has been widespread for decades. Despite its popularity and long-time use, there is still much ambiguity and anecdotal reports about a range of potential side effects. Here, we addressed the potential effect of OC use on chemosensory perception. Previous research has almost exclusively focused on olfaction, but we expanded this to the trigeminal system and the sense of taste. We used Bayesian statistics to compare the olfactory, trigeminal, and taste detection abilities between a group of 34 normal cycling women and a group of 26 women using OC. Our results indicated that odor, trigeminal, and taste thresholds were not affected by the use of OC. Moreover, neither odor perception, nor taste perception was affected; all with Bayes factors consistently favoring the null hypothesis. The only exception to these results was odor identification where Bayes factors indicated inconclusive evidence. We conclude that effects of OC use on chemosensory perception are unlikely, and if present, likely are of no to little behavioral relevance.

Keywords: oral contraceptives, chemosensory perception, Bayesian, olfaction, trigeminal, taste, the pill

Previous research investigating the effect OC on olfactory sensitivity has been inconclusive. Odor sensitivity has previously been shown to be both positively and negatively affected by pill use, positively and negatively affected by duration of pill intake, and potential differences seem to have been odor-dependent (Derntl et al., 2013Kollndorfer et al., 2016Lundström et al., 2006Renfro & Hoffmann, 2013). Here, we revisited the question of whether OC use affects olfactory performance as well as assessed potential effects of OC use on trigeminal and taste perception. Our results indicate that OC use does not impact chemosensory perception. In fact, we considered a wide range of priors, and the null hypothesis (H0) was consistently favored over the alternative hypothesis (H1). Importantly, as trigeminal thresholds were not affected by OC, the mixed results from earlier research likely do not depend on differences in odor trigeminality of the odors used. Also, the only measure that indicated a potential effect of OC in our data was not a sensory function, but a measure that can be considered as more cognitive (cued odor identification). Notably, women have been shown to outperform men in odor identification—an effect not thought to be mediated by differences in olfaction but rather in general language abilities (Larsson, 1997, 2002; Larsson et al., 20052014). A recent meta-analysis on the effect of OC on cognition further demonstrated that there is little evidence that OC impacts cognitive functions with consistent evidence only demonstrated for verbal memory (Warren et al., 2014). These findings indicate that any potential effect of OC on odor identification may be due to an impact on language functions and not olfactory function per se.

The current study has, however, weaknesses including a rather small sample size of participants in each group (OC users and nonusers), thus making it difficult to reach definite conclusions due to low statistical power. Post hoc power calculations revealed that we had 0.47 power to detect a medium effect size (0.5 d) at alpha level .05 (Faul et al., 2007). Another limitation is that the type, and dosage, of the hormonal contents of the used OC varied, and we could not control the duration of OC intake. Both the dosage of the ethinyl estradiol content, and the duration of OC use, have been suggested to alter how OC usage impacts olfactory sensitivity (Derntl et al., 2013Kollndorfer et al., 2016). Future research should take this into account and also test a wider range of odorants, tastants, and trigeminal compounds. We tried to minimize the limitation in number of stimuli by including ecological relevant stimuli (food and non-food-associated odors) as well as use different chemical compositions (monomolecular odors and mixtures). Despite these short comings, we argue that our findings are strengthened by the following points. Earlier studies have only used frequentist statistics and were not able to test the strength of the H0 in instances when no differences were found (Dienes, 2014). Moreover, previous studies have found an effect of OC use on olfactory sensitivity when assessing very specific outcomes (e.g., the sensitivity for a specific odor, the influence of hormone dosage of the OC content, the duration of pill intake, which menstrual phase the women in the control group were in, etc.), with no general or broader effects consistently shown.

In summary, we conclude that an effect of OC use on chemosensory perception is unlikely and, if present, presumably of a small effect size with negligible ecological relevance. This should come as good news to OC users as based on these results there is no need to be concerned about altered chemosensory perception.

Monday, February 1, 2021

Policymakers are not likely to repeal alcohol taxes: Too many experts testify to their necessity and too many special interest groups agree, all while receiving government grants

Taxing Alcohol. Michael Thom. In Taxing Sin, pp 55-86, December 1 2020. https://rd.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-49176-5_3

Rolf Degen's take: Sobering theses on the alcohol tax. https://t.co/K2FfyUlDvC https://t.co/Tzqz9cw73x

Abstract: Alcohol is said to impose harms, including healthcare costs and impaired driving, that warrant an alcoholic beverage tax. However, research shows that light and moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial to health. Furthermore, the burden tied to heavy drinking are exaggerated and, when all costs and benefits are considered, may not exist. Research also suggests that alcohol taxes are self-defeating; those who are likely to drink less because of higher prices are the same light and moderate drinkers whose health improves after they drink. Heavy drinkers, by contrast, are not that responsive to higher prices. But policymakers are not likely to repeal alcohol taxes. Too many experts testify to their necessity and too many special interest groups agree, all while receiving government grants.

Keywords: Healthcare costs Impaired driving Alcohol taxes Special interest groups 


European regions with higher pre-industrial climatic variability display higher levels of trust today: Climatic risk favored the early adoption of inclusive institutions (which implies higher quality of local governments today)

Climate Risk, Cooperation, and the Co-Evolution of Culture and Institutions. Johannes C Buggle, Ruben Durante. The Economic Journal, ueaa127, January 20 2021, https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueaa127

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between economic risk and the evolution of social cooperation. We hypothesize that trust developed in pre-industrial times as a result of experiences of cooperation aimed at coping with climatic risk. We document that European regions with higher pre-industrial climatic variability display higher levels of trust today. This effect is driven by variability in the growing season months and is more pronounced in agricultural regions. Regarding possible mechanisms, our results indicate that climatic risk favored inter-community exchange and the early adoption of inclusive political institutions which is associated with higher quality of local governments today.

JEL N53 - Europe: Pre-1913O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic DevelopmentO13 - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary ProductsQ54 - Climate; Natural Disasters; Global WarmingZ10 - General



Is partisan conflict driven by Republicans moving to the right, or have Democrats contributed too? Are the changes symmetric, occurring for both sides? They found that symmetric partisan changes have only occurred among whites

The Nature of Partisan Conflict in Public Opinion: Asymmetric or Symmetric? Maria Narayani Lasala Blanco, Robert Y. Shapiro, Joy Wilke. American Politics Research, October 8, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X20961022

Abstract: What are the dynamics of partisan conflict in the mass public in the United States? Has this conflict been driven by Republicans moving to the right across a wide range of issues, or have Democrats contributed to this as well? Have these changes been symmetric, occurring for both sides, or asymmetric, occurring for just one side? Understanding how the partisan gaps have widened may shed light on potential prospects for reversing extreme political conflict in public opinion. This paper examines this question with an analysis of opinion trend data over the last 40 years. It includes an original analysis of these trends among racial and ethnic groups. We find that symmetric partisan changes have only occurred among whites. Overall partisan differences have been less for Blacks and Hispanics than for whites.

Keywords: partisan conflict, public opinion, polarization among Latinos and Blacks



Many of the participants with severe psychiatric conditions endorse high levels of subjective well-being; the professionals' & patients' ratings were negatively related or unrelated, showing a lack of mutual understanding of SWB

The perception of well-being: Do people with severe psychiatric conditions and their therapists put themselves in each other’s shoes? Rocío Caballero,Carmen Valiente & Regina Espinosa. The Journal of Positive Psychology, Jan 31 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1871943

Abstract: Subjective well-being (SWB) has been shown to be linked to better prognosis but research on it in people with severe psychiatric conditions (SCP) is sparse. The main purpose of this study was to investigate SWB among individuals with SPC in comparison with the general population using a wide range of well-being measures. Also, we assessed the degree of agreement between professionals’ and their corresponding patients’ assessments of well-being. A total of 237 people with SPC and 34 referring staff members participated in this study. People with SPC reported significantly lower levels of hedonic well-being but preserved eudaimonic well-being compared to the general population. However, a substantial proportion of participants with SPC had an average or above-average SWB. We also found discrepancies between the well-being ratings of professionals and patients that were either negatively related or unrelated. These findings reinforce the importance of a more positive psychiatry, attuned to the patients’ perception.

KEYWORDS: Severe psychiatric illnessesschizophreniawell-beinglife satisfactionhappinessempathy



Art through the evolutionary lens

Art through the evolutionary lens. Sonya Sammut. Times of Malta, January 31, 2021. https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/art-through-the-evolutionary-lens.848454


[...]

Looking at art through an evolutionary lens, which is what my good friend and art specialist Joseph Agius has asked me to do, opens up a big box of questions.

Firstly, we need to remind ourselves of the basics of the evolutionary view, where we look at the brain as an adapted organ and observe those psychological mechanisms that guide our behaviour as biological adaptations, as products of natural selection that have been evolving for millions of years.


An accident of evolution

Thinking along these lines, the first question is whether art shows the signs of a true adaptation. Canadian American cognitive psychologist and advocate of evolutionary psychology Stephen Pinker speculates that it does not. 

According to Pinker, like other cultural activities, art is one of those so-called non-adaptive by-products of evolution. In other words, although it is a product of the evolutionary process, rather than being an adaptation – a feature that helps solve problems of survival or reproduction, like the umbilical cord for example – it is a by-product, something that does not solve problems, does not have a functional design and is being carried along with the adaptations, in this case like the belly button.

Pinker is of the opinion that humans have invented art because they learned how to push the right buttons that activate certain inherited mechanisms that form part of our universal human nature, such as the colour vision that would have evolved for locating ripe fruits, and that, in essence, art mimics those very same stimuli – patterns, colours and shapes – that we as humans have been designed to perceive, respond to and take pleasure from. 

Art, in his view, is like cheesecake: a technology we make because we can, and for no other reason than our own satisfaction.


A true adaptation

American evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller holds a rather different view.  Although he admits that, for evolutionists, art has always been difficult to explain through natural selection, he quickly reassures us that, through sexual selection, the evolution of art is much easier to understand. 

The story of the peacock’s tail, and how it is said that Charles Darwin became so obsessed with this metabolically costly object, serving as an advertisement for predators, that he said it made him feel sick, is a perfect example of how the peacock’s tail is actually a reproductive organ, a biological adaptation for sexual advantage, and a veritable work of art.

In his book The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature, Miller expands on the classical Darwinian approach to show us that art is a true biological adaptation rather than an accident of evolution, with a number of biological functions. 

This means opening our perspective to the evolution and functions of two types of mental adaptations: those around producing art, and those around appreciating or judging art.

Miller takes us to meet the bowerbirds of Australia and New Guinea, the birds who, with nothing but courtship on their minds, invest all the time, energy and skill they can to construct proportionately large, symmetrical and elaborately decorated nests. 

Not only do the male bowerbirds search for brilliantly coloured objects and arrange them carefully by colour, they also go as far as replacing the dried or faded fruits and flowers with fresh ones.

Some are even more competent, using regurgitated fruit residues and leaves or bark to paint the walls of their bowers.


Some display, others enjoy

These are all signs of a so-called biological signalling system, designed to display the fitness and superior skills of the owner for advantage.

It explains why many major works of art are created by young men (as opposed to women and older men), and helps us understand why even an apparently pragmatic tool such as the hand axes wielded by our ancestors Homo erectus may have evolved as works of art and displays of manual skills.

In discussing this topic, there is so much more we can be curious about, such as why we find beauty so compelling, why the artist’s virtuosity is fundamental to artistic beauty and why beauty conveys the truth about the artist’s skill and creativity. 

To answer these questions, we must not fear that the evolutionary standpoint will reduce the impact of what we find intriguing.  [...]

[...]


Economics Seminars: Women presenters are treated differently than their male counterparts, are asked more questions during a seminar & the questions asked of women presenters are more likely to be patronizing or hostile

Gender and the Dynamics of Economics Seminars. Pascaline Dupas, Alicia Sasser Modestino, Muriel Niederle, Justin Wolfers, and the Seminar Dynamics Collective. January 20, 2021. https://web.stanford.edu/~pdupas/Gender&SeminarDynamics.pdf

Abstract: This paper reports the results of the first systematic attempt at quantitatively measuring the seminar culture within economics and testing whether it is gender neutral. We collected data on every interaction between presenters and their audience in hundreds of research seminars and job market talks across most leading economics departments, as well as during summer conferences. We find that women presenters are treated differently than their male counterparts. Women are asked more questions during a seminar and the questions asked of women presenters are more likely to be patronizing or hostile. These effects are not due to women presenting in different fields, different seminar series, or different topics, as our analysis controls for the institution, seminar series, and JEL codes associated with each presentation. Moreover, it appears that there are important differences by field and that these differences are not uniformly mitigated by more rigid seminar formats. Our findings add to an emerging literature documenting ways in which women economists are treated differently than men, and suggest yet another potential explanation for their under-representation at senior levels within the economics profession.

JEL Classifications: A1, C8, J4, J7.

Keywords: differential treatment, seminar culture, interruptions

Sunday, January 31, 2021

Why are grandiose narcissists more effective at organizational politics? Means, motive, and opportunity

Why are grandiose narcissists more effective at organizational politics? Means, motive, and opportunity. Charles A. O'Reilly, Jeffrey Pfeffer. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 172, April 2021, 110557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110557

Highlights

• Grandiose narcissists often emerge as leaders in organizations.

• But the evidence is that they are no more qualified than non-narcissists.

• In 3 studies, we show that this may be because they are more effective political actors.

• We discuss the potential negative implications for this for organizations.

Abstract: Research over the past decade has shown that grandiose narcissists are often successful at attaining leadership positions in organizations. However, there is no evidence that narcissists lead higher performing firms, and while they see themselves as more competent leaders, there is no evidence for this, either. In fact, research shows that narcissistic leaders have numerous negative effects on the entities they lead. This raises a question: Why are narcissists so successful in attaining leadership positions? We suggest that the defining characteristics of grandiose narcissism (grandiosity, self-confidence, entitlement, and a willingness to exploit others for one's own self-interest) may make them more effective organizational politicians than those who are lower in narcissism. We report the results of three studies that show: (1) those higher in narcissism are more likely than those who are lower to see organizations in political terms (opportunity), (2) they are more willing to engage in organizational politics (motive), and (3) they are more skilled political actors (means). We discuss the implications of these results for organizational dynamics and career processes.

Keywords: PersonalityGrandiose narcissismLeadershipOrganizationsPolitics


International Math Olympiad (IMO) medalists: We show that migrants to the U.S. are up to six times more productive than migrants to other countries—even after accounting for talent during one's teenage years

Agarwal, Ruchir and Ganguli, Ina and Gaule, Patrick and Smith, Geoff, Why U.S. Immigration Barriers Matter for the Global Advancement of Science. IZA Discussion Paper No. 14016, Jan 11 2021. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3762886

Abstract: This paper studies the impact of U.S. immigration barriers on global knowledge production. We present four key findings. First, among Nobel Prize winners and Fields Medalists, migrants to the U.S. play a central role in the global knowledge network— representing 20-33% of the frontier knowledge producers. Second, using novel survey data and hand-curated life-histories of International Math Olympiad (IMO) medalists, we show that migrants to the U.S. are up to six times more productive than migrants to other countries—even after accounting for talent during one's teenage years. Third, financing costs are a key factor preventing foreign talent from migrating abroad to pursue their dream careers, particularly talent from developing countries. Fourth, certain 'push' incentives that reduce immigration barriers – by addressing financing constraints for top foreign talent – could increase the global scientific output of future cohorts by 42% percent. We conclude by discussing policy options for the U.S. and the global scientific community.

JEL Classification: O33, O38, F22, J61


Why developing good psychological theories is so hard: Relative lack of robust phenomena that impose constraints on possible theories, problems of validity of psychological constructs, & obstacles to discovering causal relationships

The Theory Crisis in Psychology: How to Move Forward. Markus I. Eronen, Laura F. Bringmann. Perspectives on Psychological Science, January 29, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620970586

Abstract: Meehl argued in 1978 that theories in psychology come and go, with little cumulative progress. We believe that this assessment still holds, as also evidenced by increasingly common claims that psychology is facing a “theory crisis” and that psychologists should invest more in theory building. In this article, we argue that the root cause of the theory crisis is that developing good psychological theories is extremely difficult and that understanding the reasons why it is so difficult is crucial for moving forward in the theory crisis. We discuss three key reasons based on philosophy of science for why developing good psychological theories is so hard: the relative lack of robust phenomena that impose constraints on possible theories, problems of validity of psychological constructs, and obstacles to discovering causal relationships between psychological variables. We conclude with recommendations on how to move past the theory crisis.

Keywords: theory, phenomena, robustness, validity, causation

---

I could add, tentatively, this one: lack of geniuses like Newton or Einstein.


In this article, we have discussed three fundamental difficulties in developing good psychological theories: the lack of (sufficient) robust phenomena, the lack of validity and epistemic iteration for psychological constructs, and the problem of establishing psychological causes. These issues should be addressed and discussed to make progress in resolving the theory crisis. We now outline several recommendations for psychological research on the basis of these issues.

First, our discussion supports the recent calls for more “phenomena detection” or “phenomenon-driven research” in psychology (Borsboom et al., 2021De Houwer, 2011Haig, 2013; see also Trafimow & Earp, 2016). By discovering new phenomena and gathering more robust evidence for those already discovered, the space of possible theories will be constrained.

Another important reason to support phenomenon-driven research is that phenomena can also be extremely important for science and society as such (Eronen, 2020): Consider, for example, the broad range of cognitive biases that psychologists have discovered, such as confirmation bias, most of which are very robust phenomena (Gilovich et al., 2002). Various theories have been proposed to explain these phenomena, such as the attribute-substitution theory, according to which people substitute difficult computations with simple heuristics, or the more general dual-system theory (Kahneman & Frederick, 2002). However, these theories are far more controversial than the phenomena themselves. Moreover, knowing that these phenomena exist is extremely important for science and society, even if we do not know the theory or mechanism behind them. The same holds for a broad range of other robust phenomena discovered in psychology, for example, the phenomenon that people tend to prefer familiar stimuli to unfamiliar ones (i.e., the mere-exposure effect; Bornstein, 1989). Simply knowing that these phenomena exist and describing them is useful, even in the absence of an accepted theory that would explain them.

In addition to being discovered and being described, phenomena can also be further analyzed by looking for shared abstract structures in different phenomena (Hughes et al., 2016). For example, at an abstract level, phenomena as different as constantly checking your phone and rewarding the good behavior of children with candy can both be seen as instances of (positive) reinforcement (Hughes et al., 2016). For all of these reasons, phenomena detection should be seen as an important goal in itself and as a central part of psychological research (see also Fiedler, 2017Haig, 2013Rozin, 2001).

However, we by no means intend to suggest that theorizing in psychology is hopeless or a waste of resources or that we should return to a kind of behaviorism in which theories about mental processes are rejected as unscientific. The issues we have raised should not be seen as insurmountable obstacles but rather as challenges that need to be met before good psychological theories can be developed in a given domain.

This brings us to our next point: It is doubtful whether making psychological theories more mathematical or formal, which is a common theme in the recent literature (e.g., Borsboom et al., 2021Muthukrishna & Henrich, 2019Oberauer & Lewandowsky, 2019van Rooij & Baggio, 2020), will lead to significant advances in psychology as a science.5 None of the problems we have discussed is solved by formalizing psychological theories: There will still be no large body of robust phenomena to constrain the theories, the constructs used do not become more valid, and a formal treatment alone does not solve the problem of causality and fat-handed interventions. Moreover, many successful and extremely important theories in the life sciences are not formalized or mathematical theories (e.g., the fermentation theory or the theory of synaptic transmission; Bechtel & Richardson, 1993Machamer, Darden & Craver, 2000). As pointed out by Rozin (2001; see also Morey et al., 2018), using complex statistical and computational models does not make psychology more scientific and can be even counterproductive if the conceptual and empirical basis (e.g., robust phenomena) is not yet solid.

Finally, it is hard to overemphasize the importance of having clearly and transparently defined concepts as the basis for theories. Note that this is not the same as formalization of theories: Concepts can be well defined in qualitatively formulated theories as well (e.g., Darwin’s theory of evolution), and formal theories can have poorly defined concepts as their elements (e.g., models in memetics that have a clear mathematical structure but for which the central concept “meme” is not well defined; Kronfeldner, 2011). Conceptual clarification and construct validation should be seen as an important and valuable parts of research, and validation should be taken to be an iterative and ongoing process instead of just a hurdle that needs be crossed. In our view, strengthening the conceptual basis of psychological theories is at least as important as improving statistical techniques and practices in psychological research.

In the long run, this will also help with the problem of causal inference, as having clearly defined and clearly measurable constructs makes it easier to perform targeted interventions and to track their effects. With sufficiently well-defined constructs and valid measurements, it may also be possible to eventually infer causal relationships from purely observational data (for more, see, e.g., Eronen, 2020Rohrer, 2018). Another possible reaction to the problem of finding psychological causes is to develop noncausal theories, for example, in the form of abstract functional principles extracted from phenomena (De Houwer, 2011Hughes et al., 2016), although whether noncausal theories can be truly explanatory is a matter of ongoing debate (see, e.g., Reutlinger & Saatsi, 2018).

Fortunately, there are ongoing research programs in psychology that exemplify the good practices we have describe above. For example, after the recent disappointments in ego-depletion research, there are now increasing efforts to better define the key constructs, such as self-control and related concepts, and to validate different ways of measuring them (Friese et al., 2019Inzlicht & Friese, 2019Lurquin & Miyake, 2017). A broader example is the functional-cognitive paradigm (De Houwer, 2011Hughes et al., 2016) that aims at first establishing environment-behavior relations (robust phenomena) and then formulating explanations for them in terms of clearly defined mental constructs that act as mediators. Finally, as a more concrete example, Robinaugh et al. (2020) propose a theory for panic disorder that is tailored to this specific disorder and thereby constrained by phenomena (there is robust evidence for many central phenomena related to panic attacks), and the authors also explicitly focus on defining the key concepts.

To conclude, we believe that the most fundamental factor underlying the theory crisis is that the subject matter itself, psychology, makes it very hard to develop good theories (Meehl, 1978). Drawing on contemporary philosophy of science, we have discussed three central challenges to developing psychological theories: There are often not enough robust phenomena to constrain theories, not enough attention is paid to defining and validating constructs, and establishing psychological causes is very hard. We hope that this article brings more attention to these crucial issues and thereby helps to provide more solid building blocks for the theoretical foundations of psychology.

Using millions of father-son pairs spanning more than 100 years of US history, we find that children of immigrants from nearly every sending country have higher rates of upward mobility than children of the US-born

Abramitzky, Ran, Leah Boustan, Elisa Jacome and Santiago Perez. 2021. "Intergenerational Mobility of Immigrants in the United States over Two Centuries." American Economic Review, 111(2):580-608. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20191586

Abstract: Using millions of father-son pairs spanning more than 100 years of US history, we find that children of immigrants from nearly every sending country have higher rates of upward mobility than children of the US-born. Immigrants' advantage is similar historically and today despite dramatic shifts in sending countries and US immigration policy. Immigrants achieve this advantage in part by choosing to settle in locations that offer better prospects for their children.


The EU states with the highest levels of gender equality, such as the Nordic countries, have disproportionally high prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence against Women (the Nordic Paradox)

Intimate Partner Violence against Women in the EU: A Multilevel Analysis of the Contextual and Individual Impact on Public Perceptions. Matilda Karlsson, Maria Wemrell, Juan Merlo & Anna-Karin Ivert. Women & Criminal Justice, Nov 9 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2020.1835792

Rolf Degen's take: https://t.co/24B7R5U9Rp https://t.co/nnXwGpUfUn

Abstract: Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) poses severe threats to women’s health and rights. This study investigates the role of country context and gender equality in shaping individual perceptions of the severity of IPVAW. Multilevel logistic regression analyses of a Eurobarometer survey on attitudes toward IPVAW from 27 EU states showed that male gender, young age, low education, low self-assessed social position and particularly perceiving IPVAW as uncommon were associated with perceiving IPVAW as less severe. The likelihood of perceiving IPVAW as less severe was higher in countries with low gender equality. Between-country variance accounted for 14% of the variability, while country-level gender equality accounted for 22% of the between-country variance. We conclude that efforts toward strengthening perceptions of IPVAW as a severe issue should focus on awareness-raising and on increasing country-level gender equality.

Keywords: European Uniongender-based violencegender equalityintimate partner violence against womenmultilevel analysispublic perceptions


INTRODUCTION

Violence against women is a global phenomenon and a concern for public health, human rights and social policy (Devries et al., 2013; Krantz, 2002). Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is the most common type of violence against women and puts women at risk of severe direct injury as well as long term illness (Campbell, 2002; World Health Orgainization, 2010). It constitutes a serious threat to women’s security, human rights and equal participation in society. Despite measures taken by the European Union (EU) to combat IPVAW (European Commission, 2010), one in five women in the EU still experience IPVAW during their lifetime (FRA, 2014).

As noted by Gracia and Lila (2015, p. 13), IPVAW “is a complex phenomenon that needs to be understood within the wider social context and within the social and cultural norms that permeate it. Public attitudes and responses regarding violence against women reflect these norms and play an important role in shaping the social climate in which the violence occurs.”

Public beliefs and attitudes form an important part of the social context of IPVAW (Copp et al., 2019; Martín-Fernández et al., 2018; Waltermaurer, 2012) and can influence IPVAW prevalence, help-seeking behavior among victims and responses from judicial systems and support organizations as well as ambient communities (Gracia et al., 20092014; Gracia & Herrero, 2006; Rizo & Macy, 2011; West & Wandrei, 2002). Notably, victim-blaming attitudes can reflect public tolerance toward IPVAW and have often been used to explain or justify IPVAW (Boethius, 2015; Gottzén & Korkmaz, 2013; Gracia, 2014; WHO, 2002). Previous research has also shown that perceived severity of IPVAW is associated with the willingness to intervene when gaining awareness of a case of IPVAW (Gracia et al., 2018). How incidents of IPVAW are perceived in society is thus important for future prevention and policy, as well as for available support services or sanctions (Gracia & Herrero, 2006; Waltermaurer, 2012).

Evidence from previous research related to IPVAW suggests that prevalence of and attitudes toward IPVAW seem to be influenced by contextual-level factors (Gracia et al., 2015; Heise & Kotsadam, 2015; Herrero et al., 2017; Kovacs, 2018; Sanz-Barbero et al., 2018). However, the prevalence of IPVAW does not cut equally across alla sociodemographic groups within countries (Kovacs, 2018). For example, research on differences in IPVAW prevalence between socioeconomic and demographic groups within the country of Sweden has not always shown clear and consistent results (Lundgren et al., 2002; Nybergh et al., 2013). This indicate that individual-level characteristics and contextual factors work together toward the persistence of IPVAW, and possibly also the attitudes justifying it. Such an interplay between factors at different levels in the causation of IPVAW has previously been described in what has been called the integrated ecological approach (Heise, 1998).

In the international research, Individual-level socioeconomic status has proven to be correlated with both the prevalence of IPVAW (Herrero et al., 2017; Lauritsen & Schaum, 2004; Sanz-Barbero et al., 2018) and with the attitudes that justify it (Gracia & Herrero, 2006; Ivert et al., 2018; Stickley et al., 2008; Tran et al., 2016; Waltermaurer, 2012; Waltermaurer et al., 2013). Previous research has also shown that education is an important individual level predictor for IPVAW (Herrero et al., 2017; Sanz-Barbero et al., 2018) as well as attitudes toward IPVAW (Gracia & Herrero, 2006; Ivert et al., 2018; Stickley et al., 2008; Tran et al., 2016; Waltermaurer, 2012; Waltermaurer et al., 2013). Furthermore, research has also shown that the type of residential area (e.g. urban vs rural) correlates to attitudes that justify IPVAW (Gracia & Tomás, 2014; Ivert et al., 2018; Waltermaurer, 2012; Waltermaurer et al., 2013). However, according to a systematic review by Gracia et al. (2020) gender was the most frequently reported factor correlating with attitudes. They found that, broadly speaking, the results were consistent in showing that males in general tend to accept, justify and perceive IPVAW as less severe than women. Regarding noted inconsistencies in associations between age and attitudes, Gracia et al. (2020) suggest that this could be the result of the varying methods for sampling, measuring and analyzing these parameters. Moreover, country of residence does seem to provide a relevant contextual lens for understanding these types of attitudes (Ivert et al., 2018; Uthman et al., 2010). Literature investigating contextual-level factors is, however, scarce. This is particularly the case when it comes to the EU (Ivert et al., 2018). It remains important to look not only at the fact that contextual factors seem to matter, but also to what extent they are useful in predicting individual attitudes (Merlo et al., 2017).

Feminist theories consider IPVAW to be a result of unequal gender norms and patriarchal structures in society (Lawson, 2012), meaning that gender inequality should be considered as a central and fundamental driving force behind gender-based violence such as IPVAW. Promoting increased gender equality is often put forward as a way of reducing IPVAW (García-Moreno et al., 2015; Jewkes, 2002; Uthman et al., 2010). Several studies resonate with feminist theories in that gender equality is negatively related to IPVAW and attitudes toward IPVAW (Archer, 2006; Heise & Kotsadam, 2015; Sanz-Barbero et al., 2018; Uthman et al., 2010). Still, some counterintuitive results have shown that the EU states with the highest levels of gender equality, such as the Nordic countries, have disproportionally high prevalence of IPVAW. This phenomenon has been referred to as the Nordic Paradox (Gracia & Merlo, 2016). Moreover, victim-blaming attitudes have been found to be higher in Nordic countries compared to other EU countries with lower levels of gender equality (Gracia & Tomás, 2014). Thus, findings indicating that higher levels of gender equality are associated with higher rates of IPVAW contradict theories postulating that IPVAW is a result of gender inequality. Several hypotheses and theories attempt to explain this relationship. One explanation discussed in the literature is that of issues related to reporting (Gracia & Merlo, 2016). Another frequent explanation, often discussed in rape research, is that increased gender equality or demands for gender equality can result in a backlash against women, and thus in increased rates of violence against women (Whaley, 2001; Wemrell et al., 2020). This so-called backlash hypothesis has proven to be useful when analyzing changes in IPVAW rates over time in certain contexts (Xie et al., 2012). Nonetheless, regardless of the reasons for the relationship between the prevalence of IPVAW and gender equality, the issue remains that the prevalence of attitudes that justify IPVAW is also high in countries with high levels of gender equality. To better understand these relationships, further research on the public’s attitudes toward IPVAW is needed.

The perceived severity of IPVAW among the public is an under-researched subject. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of country context and gender equality on the perceived severity of IPVAW. Moreover, it aims to evaluate the ability of contextual and individual level factors to accurately discriminate between someone who perceives IPVAW as severe and someone who does not. The following three research questions were posed:

  1. To what extent does the country of residence, in addition to individual sociodemographic characteristics, affect individuals’ perceptions of the severity of IPVAW?

  2. How accurately can individual sociodemographic characteristics and country context discriminate between those who find IPVAW to be severe and those who do not?

  3. To what extent can between-country variance in perceptions of the severity of IPVAW be explained by the country level of gender equality?

DISCUSSION

IPVAW poses a serious threat to women’s health, security and human rights globally. To contribute to an increased understanding of the attitudes that can potentially affect the prevalence of and the community responses toward acts of IPVAW, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of country context and gender equality in addition to individual sociodemographic characteristics on perceived severity of IPVAW. Moreover, the study aimed to evaluate the ability of these contextual and individual factors to accurately discriminate between those individuals who perceive IPVAW as severe and those who do not.

Conclusive relationships were found between the outcome and all individual sociodemographic predictors, meaning that male gender, young age, low education and low self-assessed social position in society as well as habitation in a rural area was associated with a higher likelihood of perceiving IPVAW as a less severe issue. Perceptions of IPVAW as not at all common was the stronger individual predictor, the influence of which was much greater than that of not knowing an IPVAW victim.

Our results show that 14% of the total variance in individual perceptions lie at the contextual level, and thus represent the between-country variability. While no definite interpretation exists for the magnitude of the ICC, according to a recently proposed framework for preforming geographical comparisons (Merlo et al., 2019), an ICC between 10 and 20% falls into the category of large geographical differences. Thus, our results support the importance of the societal context, alongside that of individual factors, for the shaping of perceived severity of IPVAW (Heise, 1998). Furthermore, individuals residing in countries with a lower GEI were more likely to perceive IPVAW as less severe, compared to individuals in high GEI countries. The DA of the models was fair, and the study suggests that disparities exist between, as well as within, nation state borders.

A particularly interesting finding of this study is the relationship between the specific contextual effect of GEI and the individual perceptions of the severity of IPVAW. The respondents in countries with low GEI were more likely to perceive IPVAW as less severe compared to those in countries with high GEI. In support of the understanding of IPVAW as strongly related to patriarchal structures in society (Lawson, 2012), increased country-level gender equality is here associated with citizens’ perceptions. However, the inconclusive difference in perceptions between the countries in the middle and high GEI groups indicates that the association with GEI is only relevant to a certain level. The fact that the country-level GEI explains 22% of the total contextual-level variance means that it is an important factor for understanding the variance in attitudes, even though some of the contextual-level variance is still unaccounted for. The low POOR for the low GEI group indicates a homogeneous relationship. Only 9% of the time, an individual from a low GEI country was less rather than more likely to perceive IPVAW as less severe than someone from a high GEI country. Meanwhile, the high POOR for the medium GEI group is coherent with the inconclusiveness of the difference in odds between the medium and high GEI groups. Here the heterogeneity is so large that in almost half of the cases the relationship is opposite to the average. It may here also be mentioned that, as noted above, a larger share of the respondents in low and medium than in high GEI believed IPVAW to be very common.

Nevertheless, the importance of the GEI is coherent with Heise (1998) integrated ecological approach. In this study the GEI represents the societal structure and gender norms at the contextual level (representing the macrosystem in Heise’s model) in which individuals are embedded. Our results show that the contextual level works conjointly with relational, situational and personal characteristics in relation to individual perceptions. Considering the Nordic paradox (Gracia & Merlo, 2016) and the previous difficulties in establishing a conclusive relationship between GEI and attitudes toward IPVAW in the EU (Ivert et al., 2018), the results of this study are more surprising than they may appear.

IPVAW persists despite being illegal and, according to the results of this study, socially undesirable, particularly in countries with high GEI (FRA, 2014; Gracia & Merlo, 2016). The inconsistency between people’s perceptions and their actions raise questions which merit further investigation. Why is the prevalence of IPVAW so high in the high GEI countries, even though the inhabitants claim to find it very severe? We could assume that in a context where people find IPVAW to be less severe, fewer cases of IPVAW would be reported, which could explain the lower prevalence. Conversely, in countries with high GEI, where it is perceived as very severe by a larger share of the population, more cases will be taken seriously and thus be reported (Gracia & Merlo, 2016). This could be one explanation as to why the high GEI countries also have high prevalence of IPVAW (FRA, 2014; Gracia & Merlo, 2016). However, that does not explain why there is such a high prevalence of IPVAW cases to begin with in more gender equal contexts where more people perceive it to be more severe.

The fact that people in countries with high a GEI tend to find IPVAW to be more severe is also surprising if we apply the backlash hypothesis. One possible explanation of the inconsistency between perception and action, or between theory and practice (SOU, 2004, p. 121), in the high GEI countries could be that respondents here feel a stronger obligation to answer in a certain way, to avoid stigmatization associated with downplaying the severity of IPVAW. Wemrell et al. (2020) investigate the discrepancy between gender equality and the relatively high prevalence of IPVAW in the specific context of Sweden. One of their suggestions for this discrepancy is that the image of Sweden as a gender-equal country may in itself have hindered an appropriate response to IPVAW, therefore allowing its continuation. Following this reasoning it is plausible that respondents in countries with high GEI would respond that they find IPWAW to be very severe because it is a societal norm, and because it corresponds to a gender-equal self-image, even if this does not correspond with their actions. This could indicate a type of self-monitoring behavior, to ensure that one’s responses agree with the social context (Snyder, 1987): a phenomenon previously referred to as social desirability bias (Brace, 2008).

Limitations

Since a cross-sectional study design was used, this study identifies correlations but not causal relationships. Moreover, the data used is nearly 10 years old, and we can assume that societies have undergone changes during these years. For example, IPVAW has received more attention in public debate, especially following the viral spread of the MeToo movement in 2017. Outdated numbers do not present a serious limitation, however, as our aim is not to demonstrate IPVAW prevalence levels but to investigate how factors at different levels impact individual perceptions, in ways which are likely to remain consistent over time.

The Eurobarometer survey does not specify how well different ethnic minorities are represented in the sample, or the amount of time respondents had lived in the country of residence into which they were recorded. We thus have no way of knowing if this may have resulted in a sample bias. Moreover, the survey, and in extension this study, excludes the population with gender identities other than male or female. Hence, no conclusions can be drawn concerning this part of the population. The response rates varied between different countries and the Eurobarometer survey does not include any information concerning the characteristics of the non-responders, meaning that a non-response bias cannot be ruled out.

Moreover, the data includes only two levels: the country level and the individual level, although in a previous study on prevalence of IPVAW in Valencia, Spain the community level has proven to be important (Gracia et al., 2015). The community level would represent the exolevel in Heise’s ecological model, and adding this third level to this study could have added interesting and useful insights. However, we were unable to do so since the survey data did not include community data on the respondents’ areas of residence.