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Using two waves of nationally representative data, the present study shows the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated anti-outgroup and anti-ingroup attitudes among South Korean adults. To that end, in a quasi-experimental setting, it exploits the survey interview timing as a source of exogenous variation to investigate the causal influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data imbalance is initially corrected using the coarsened exact matching procedure. Then, a series of multilevel models, with data on 10,454 subjects nested in 34 wave–region units, are estimated with additional covariate adjustment to improve estimate precision. Results show that, first, those who are more relatively deprived became less inclined to support the granting of citizenship status to foreigners since the coronavirus outbreak. Second, the same trend was found among individuals who are more dissatisfied with the country's overall economic condition. Third, in the wake of the global health crisis, Korean natives became less willing to pay additional taxes to support conational others who are economically underprivileged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout parts of the Western world, populist nationalism has gained increasing momentum. Despite cross-national differences in populist leaders and parties, one common feature stands out: xenophobic prejudice. This paper examines in the U.S. context, first, a common assumption linking outgroup threat perception with support for restrictive immigration. Second, more importantly, this paper tests how and the extent to which collective (state-level) social capital independently influences the American citizens' anti-immigrant attitudes, as well as whether it moderates the association between outgroup threat and preference for restricting immigration. Multilevel models based on a nationally representative sample show that people who hold higher perceptions of outgroup threat are indeed more likely to oppose immigration. By contrast, living in a state endowed with more social capital is associated with pro-immigration attitudes. Last, the association between security threat and anti-immigrant preference is weaker (stronger) in states with higher (lower) measures of social capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines the associations between multiple measures of social trust and two outcomes of psychological wellbeing (happiness and depression) among South Korean adults (n = 1549) living in residential communities, that is, administrative districts (n = 77) in and around the capital city of Seoul. Based on multilevel modeling, we find that familial trust positively predicts happiness at both individual and contextual levels; and it negatively predicts depression at the individual level only. In comparison, peer trust is negatively related only to depression at the individual level, albeit marginally. Lastly, general trust significantly predicts both outcomes at the community, but not individual, level. These mixed findings suggest that the trust‐wellbeing relationship depends critically on issues of definition (how the variables are conceptualized) and measurement (how they are operationalized according to different units of analysis). Our study offers implications for the literature on social determinants of mental health broadly and, more specifically, on the role of social trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large body of research exists concerning determinants of public opinion on immigration and immigrants, primarily based on Western countries. Given that South–South migratory flows have increased dramatically in recent decades, we contribute to the literature by analyzing cross-national probability data in the Asian context. Using multilevel modeling, we derive and test economic and cultural hypotheses concerning natives' support for restrictive immigration policy. Results show that at the individual level, along with xenophobic tendency, personal financial insecurity, unequal material distribution in society, and sociotropic economic concern all significantly predict the outcome. As a theoretical contribution, contextual effects are also reported: living in a subnational region with more national pride and with higher parochialism is positively associated with it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the network antecedents of receiving job search assistance, specifically how and to what extent social capital relates to this process. Data come from probability samples on four East Asian countries. Hierarchical linear models are estimated to investigate the associations between social capital and inequality in the receipt of information and influence from personal contacts during job search. Adjusting for confounders, organizational affiliation, civic participation, and frequency of social interaction significantly predict the rate of assistance. Also significant are network size and diversity. Net of compositional effects, regional-level civic participation is further associated with the outcome. Finally, three significant cross-level interactions are observed with respect to social network characteristics (size and diversity). Understanding why some people receive more job search assistance is fundamental to status attainment and labor market inequality. Findings herein shed new light on this critical, yet underexplored, issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Based on a large cross-national dataset, we investigated the role of parental smoking (a risk factor) and parental supervision (a protective factor) on the frequency of smoking by youths in resource-poor countries. In addition, we tested for cross-level interactions between these two predictors and national wealth on the outcome variable.Methods: Pooled cross-sectional data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey (2003-2011) were analyzed, which consists of 58956 students in 31 countries. Hierarchical linear models were estimated to examine the associations between the two parental influence variables and adolescent smoking.Results: Among the control variables, age, gender (male), the experience of being bullied, frequency of getting into physical fights, truancy, and anxiety were significantly related to higher frequency of smoking. With respect to the main predictors, both at the individual level, parental supervision was negatively associated with adolescent smoking, while parental smoking was positively related to it. Two cross-level interaction terms were also observed. National wealth (GDP per capita) significantly moderated, that is, increased, these effects of parental influence on how often the adolescents smoked.Conclusions: We provided new evidence on the factors related to adolescent smoking in low-income countries, a topic that has received very little attention. We showed that the associations between parental influences and adolescent smoking behaviors are not constant but vary according to the level of economic development. Future research should incorporate this comparative dimension in elaborating and specifying the conditions under which parental influences and other predictors differentially affect adolescent smoking.Implications: Prior research on adolescent smoking focused on developed countries. Based on the secondary analysis of the Global School-based Student Health Survey (2003-2011), this study examines the associations between parental influence (parental smoking and parental supervision) on the frequency of youth smoking behaviors in resource-poor countries. We show that parental smoking is positively related to adolescent smoking, while parental supervision is negatively related to it. We also find that these two associations vary according to national wealth: both effects are stronger in a country with higher per capita GDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A global survey is analyzed to examine the health benefits of household income. • During the COVID-19 pandemic, household income is positively related to subjective health. • Health benefits of household income are greater in countries hit harder by the pandemic. • The coronavirus disease has exacerbated the health-income gradient globally. Using a unique cross-national dataset, we explore the interplay between household income, coronavirus-induced anxiety, national context, and self-rated health (SRH) across dozens of countries among more than 13,500 older adults. Based on multilevel models, we find that the emotional anxiety due to COVID-19 negatively predicts SRH, net of country random effects. And holding constant coronavirus-related stress and background controls at both individual and contextual (country) levels, higher income is positively associated with better subjective health. We also report cross-level interactions. The income-health gradient is stronger in countries with higher numbers of coronavirus-related deaths and, to lesser extent, infected cases. That is, health benefits of higher income are more pronounced in countries hit harder by the pandemic. Our study shows that globally income inequality exacerbates the unequal health consequences of COVID-19 for older segments of the population especially vulnerable to the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]