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Previous research has indicated that socio-economic and racial characteristics of an individual's environment influence not only group consciousness and solidarity, but also affect his or her views toward minority or majority groups. Missing from this research is a consideration of how context, social interaction, and interracial experiences combine to shape more general psychological orientations such as generalized trust. In this study we address this gap in the literature by conducting a neighborhood-level analysis that examines how race, racial attitudes, social interactions, and residential patterns affect generalized trust. Our findings suggest not only that the neighborhood context plays an important role in shaping civic orientations, but that the diversity of interaction settings is a key condition for the development of generalized trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this national study, we analyzed population-level data from a representative longitudinal survey to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicidal ideation rates. Between April and May 2021, responses from 1793 adults aged 20 and older were collected regarding suicidal ideation. Our analysis revealed a significant increase in suicidal ideation during the pandemic's first year, with an age-adjusted incidence rate of 7.6%—nearly three times the pre-pandemic rate of 2.7%. Young adults, particularly those between 20 and 29 years of age, had a higher incidence of suicidal ideation (10.9%) in contrast to those aged 30 and older (6.6%). Furthermore, 21.4% of young adults aged 20 to 29 reported having experienced suicidal ideation at some point in their lives, compared to 13.1% among adults aged 30 and older, indicating a heightened susceptibility to suicidal ideation in this age group. Using multinomial logistic regression, the study identified factors like younger age and job loss due to COVID-19 as contributors to suicidal ideation with other sociodemographic variables, presenting new insights in the scientific literature. Job loss contribution was independent of the age effect. The study highlights a significant increase in suicidal ideation during the pandemic, particularly among young adults, emphasizing the need for targeted mental health interventions and prioritizing their well-being for future public health strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the formation and destruction of social capital which is attributed to associational memberships. Creation of generalized interpersonal trust by memberships in associations; Examination of each indicator of social capital; Correlation of association memberships in cultural groups with a wide range of forms of social capital; Effect of the diversity of an association on the connection between social capital and association memberships.

Although membership in voluntary associations has been presumed to be a central element in the building of social capital, micro-level knowledge about whether and how voluntary associations make their members more trusting and cooperative has been lacking. The link between trust and involvement in associations in Germany and Sweden was explored by means of a questionnaire concerning traits of individuals and of the associational groups to which they belong. The analysis of the resulting data set considered the extent to which various group characteristics (such as demographic diversity, in-group trust, and engagement level) are related to the generalized trust of the members. The results indicate that more diverse, more engaged voluntary associations, and those with weak ties, indeed accommodate more trusting people. In particular, time spent in groups with foreigners, or in groups with weaker ties, affects the generalized trust levels of the members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following public debates on the topic of trust in Quebec, this article examines the alleged social capital differential between Quebec and the rest of Canada. The literature has found lower levels of generalized trust in Quebec, but explanations offered are diverse and conjectural, with historical, sociological and political factors all in contention. We test contextual and compositional influences, including cohort differences, language and linguistic ability, religion, ethnicity, and neighbourhood-level measures of diversity, using pooled cross-sectional data from the Canadian General Social Survey (2003, 2008 and 2013) linked with precise measures of neighbourhood-level ethnic and linguistic diversity drawn from the Canadian census. We identify those Quebecers who have low levels of trust and those who more closely resemble their counterparts in the rest of Canada. We find that individual linguistic ability and linguistic heterogeneity of the neighbourhood are important correlates of trust and that among francophone populations, social distrust is found most in unilingual homogenous communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author replies to Richard Locke's review of his book "Political Consumerism: Global Responsibility in Action." Topics discussed include the patterns of overconsumption, the education of citizens about the consequences of consumerism, and the view that exploitative labor practices could have originated from consumer behavior.

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced unprecedented changes in the lives of many people. Although research has documented associations between concerns related to COVID-19 and poor mental health indicators, fewer studies have focused on positive factors that could help people better cope with this stressful social context. To fill this gap, the present research investigated the trajectories of self-compassion facets in times of dramatic social change. Using a longitudinal research design, we described the trajectories of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness during the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a representative sample of Canadian adults (N = 3617). Relying on a multi-trajectory group-based approach, we identified clusters of individuals following persistently low (4.0%), moderate-low (39.3%), moderate-high (46.7%), and high (10.0%) levels of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. Interestingly, we found that compassionate self-responding trajectories were mainly stable over time with minor fluctuations for some groups of individuals, in line with the epidemiological situation. In terms of covariates, we observed that older women were more likely to follow trajectories of high compassionate self-responding, as compared to the other age and gender groups. In terms of mental health indicators, we demonstrated that trajectory groups with high levels of compassionate self-responding were associated with greater life satisfaction, more happiness, better sleep quality, higher sleep quantity, and fewer negative emotions, as compared to lower trajectory groups. The results supported the idea that self-compassion during the COVID-19 pandemic could have favored better mental health indicators and could possibly be promoted as a psychological intervention in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of public health crises such as the COVID‐19 pandemic, it is essential that individuals cooperate by complying with preventive measures (e.g., wearing a mask). The current research examines how high trust in close others is linked to less cooperation—that is, less compliance with measures—and thus, undermines collective interests. Specifically, we test whether individuals are less willing to comply with preventive measures when interacting with close others they trust. We conducted two experiments in which participants read a vignette depicting a social interaction with either close others (e.g., family) or strangers. Participants had to report the extent to which they would (1) trust the other people in the situation and (2) comply with the mask wearing and physical distancing measures during this interaction. In both experiments, we find that when individuals are considering an interaction with close others, they report experiencing higher trust which is then linked to lower compliance with preventive measures. In Experiment 2, we further demonstrate that participants report less compliance with preventive measures around close others, even when they perceive non‐compliance with the measures as morally "wrong". Our findings shed light on the challenges that compliance with preventive measures poses during social interactions in a context of high trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have highlighted the importance of promoting health literacy and minimizing misinformation to encourage higher adherence to key public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores how one's self-reported understanding of information and types of sources used to get information regarding COVID-19 can hinder adherence to public health measures implemented by the Canadian government. Data was collected following a longitudinal design of 11 time points for April 2020 to April 2021. The sub-sample used for this study included 2659 Canadians who completed the survey for at least four time points. Using Latent Class Growth Analysis, we modelled typical trajectories of adherence to three key public health measures: staying home, social distancing and mask wearing. Overall, a lower level of understanding was associated with lower adherence trajectories to public health measures, and vice-versa. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) showed that the higher the level of understanding, the higher were the chances of following a high adherence trajectory. The type of used sources also showed a significant statistical association with adherence trajectories for social distancing and staying home (AOR: between 1.1 and 3.4). These results are discussed considering future policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a two-pronged methodology, this article takes a closer look at an understudied group: the disengaged youth. Using interviews, we discern four different types within this disengaged group: the criticals, those lacking political resources, the busy and those waiting for mobilization. The ‘criticals’ constitute only a minority of the disengaged group, while the young people who lack political resources are more common. Most importantly, a great proportion of young people show a certain potential for engagement. The quantitative analysis reveals that these types resemble distinct attitudinal and demographic profiles, and differ in their future willingness to participate. Thus the non-engaged are not a monolithic group. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is assumed that civic education has persistent effects on political attitudes and behaviours of young citizens. There is no consensus, however, on what kind of efforts have the strongest effects on specific outcomes, like political knowledge and intended political participation. In some of the older literature, it has been shown that effects of civic education are stronger for children from a visible minority background. This article takes up these questions using a dataset with a sample of 15-17-year olds from Canada (n = 3,334). The results show that active efforts for civic education can make a difference. Especially community service, a rather new form of civic education, fosters political knowledge and conventional future participation. However, in Canada, adolescents from a visible minority background do not benefit disproportionately from civic education efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While most current research documents a negative relation between ethnic diversity and generalized trust, it has to be acknowledged that these results often originate from one-country analyses in North America. In this article, attitudinal measurements from the European Social Survey are combined with Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development data on migration patterns, thus examining the relationship between diversity and trust in a comparative manner across 20 European countries. More fine-grained measurements of diversity (including type and rise of diversity over time and legal status of immigrants) are included in a multilevel model. At the individual level, most of the familiar relations were confirmed. At the country level, hardly any indicators for migration or diversity proved to be strongly and consistently related to generalized trust. Results suggest that the pessimistic conclusions about the negative effects of ethnic diversity on generalized trust cannot be confirmed at the aggregate level across European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Becoming a parent is a profound change in one's life that likely has consequences for political mobilization. This paper focuses on the earliest stages of parenthood, which have rarely been theorized nor empirically investigated. Close to childbirth, there may be substantial demobilizing effects due to hospital stays, immediate childcare responsibilities, parenting distress and the physical burden of pregnancy and childbirth. It is unclear how sizeable these effects are on political demobilization as well as the extent to which they are long-lasting. Based on two individual-level register datasets from Denmark and Finland, we compare the voter turnout among parents in local elections across different dates of childbirth. We find a robust negative short-term effect. We also find that the recovery periods after childbirth are differentiated by gender, illustrating a somewhat stronger demobilizing effect of early stages of motherhood compared to the early stages of fatherhood. There are also some indications that recovery periods after childbirth are slower for women with higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Our study shows that childbearing and childbirth have strong demobilizing, although mostly temporary, implications for electoral participation, even in these strong welfare states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holistic antenatal care requires knowledge of individuals' emotional response to pregnancy. Little is known about how a pregnant woman and her partner influence each other emotionally during a pregnancy. This study examines six discrete emotions that expectant couples experience during pregnancy, how these emotions change mid-to late-pregnancy, and whether the partners' emotional responses influence each other. A longitudinal dyadic study where pregnant women and their partners (1432 couples) rated the extent to which the pregnancy evoked joy, strength, security, worry, shame, and anger at pregnancy week 12–19, 22–24, and 36. Latent curve models with structured residuals identify levels of and change in these emotions over time, while accounting for between- and within-couple variance. Pregnancy evoked mainly joy, strength, security, and worry, and lower levels of anger and shame. Pregnant women and partners felt similar levels of joy, strength, and security, but pregnant women felt more worry, shame, and anger. There was little to no mean-level change in all six measured emotions evoked by pregnancy (between-couple change), and no reciprocal effects between the partners (within-couple change). Emotions in mid-pregnancy were also felt in late pregnancy. Furthermore, the pregnant woman and her partner have individual emotional trajectories. The results can assist healthcare professionals and researchers target interventions to expectant mothers and partners, specifically by understanding emotional response to pregnancy as a stable confound and by not approaching the couple as one emotional unit. • Latent variable approach studying couples' emotions evoked by pregnancy. • Pregnant women and partners felt similar high levels of joy, strength, and security. • Shame and anger: felt more by pregnant women and not associated between couples. • Joy, strength, security, worry, shame, and anger do not change throughout pregnancy. • Emotions felt in mid-pregnancy are also felt in late pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We test whether a larger percentage of non-Whites in neighborhoods decreases associational involvement and build on earlier research in three ways. First, we explicitly consider the ethnic composition of organizations, distinguishing involvement in bridging (with out-group members) and bonding (only in-group members) organizations. Second, we start from constrict theory and test competing sets of predictions derived from conflict and contact theories to explain these relationships. Third, we examine whether relative out-group size affects involvement in different types of voluntary organizations equally. Using data from the 2005 U.S. ‘Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy’ survey, the percentage of non-Whites in neighborhoods is largely unrelated with associational involvement or perceived ethnic threat. However, perceiving ethnic threat is consistently negatively related with involvement in bridging organizations. Simultaneously, a larger percentage of non-Whites fosters intergroup contact, which is negatively related with perceptions of ethnic threat and involvement in bonding leisure organizations. Our results shed more light on the relationship between the relative out-group size in neighborhoods and associational involvement as well as underlying explanations for this link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed evidence for a contextual effect of positive intergroup contact, whereby the effect of intergroup contact between social contexts (the between-level effect) on outgroup prejudice is greater than the effect of individual-level contact within contexts (the within-level effect). Across seven large-scale surveys (five cross-sectional and two longitudinal), using multilevel analyses, we found a reliable contextual effect. This effect was found in multiple countries, operationalizing context at multiple levels (regions, districts, and neighborhoods), and with and without controlling for a range of demographic and context variables. In four studies (three cross-sectional and one longitudinal) we showed that the association between context-level contact and prejudice was largely mediated by more tolerant norms. In social contexts where positive contact with outgroups was more commonplace, norms supported such positive interactions between members of different groups. Thus, positive contact reduces prejudice on a macrolevel, whereby people are influenced by the behavior of others in their social context, not merely on a microscale, via individuals' direct experience of positive contact with outgroup members. These findings reinforce the view that contact has a significant role to play in prejudice reduction, and has great policy potential as a means to improve intergroup relations, because it can simultaneously impact large numbers of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of the 2011 Canadian federal election were surprising. What accounts for the dramatic and largely unexpected shift in electoral fortunes? Most importantly, what accounts for the sudden leap in popularity of the New Democratic Party, particularly in Quebec? The aftermath of election day produced no lack of potential explanations. Pundits, politicians, and political scientists have suggested many. This paper examines the empirical validity of various explanations swirling about the 2011 election, especially regarding the "orange surge." The analysis relies upon the 2011 Canadian Election Study and the content of news media coverage. It concludes that the most important factors behind the orange wave were the image gap between Jack Layton and the other party leaders, as well as the proximity between the NDP's values and issue positions and those of many Quebeckers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We investigated whether initial risk classes and heterogeneous trajectories of self-compassion over the course of the pandemic may impact well-being outcomes 1 year into the pandemic., Methods: A large, representative sample of Canadians ( N  = 3,613; 50.6% women) was sampled longitudinally over 11 waves (April 2020-April 2021), using a rolling cross-sectional survey design. Analyses were conducted in three steps: (1) latent class analysis to identify heterogeneity in risk factors (sociodemographic, cognitive-personality, health-related) early in the pandemic, (2) latent class growth analysis (LCGA) to identify longitudinal self-compassion trajectories, and (3) GLM to examine effects of risk factor classes and self-compassion trajectories, as well as their interaction, on later well-being (mental health, perceived control, life satisfaction)., Results and Discussion: Four risk factor classes emerged, with 50.9% of participants experiencing low risk, 14.3% experiencing multiple risks, 20.8% experiencing Cognitive-Personality and Health risks, and 14.0% experiencing sociodemographic and Cognitive-Personality risks. Four self-compassion trajectories also emerged, with 47.7% of participants experiencing moderate-high self-compassion that decreased then stabilized, 32.0% experiencing moderate self-compassion that decreased then stabilized, 17.3% experiencing high and stable self-compassion across time, and 3.0% experiencing low and decreasing self-compassion. Comparisons of well-being outcomes 1 year post-pandemic indicated that higher levels of self-compassion over time may protect against the impact of initial risk on well-being outcomes. Further work is still needed on heterogeneity in experiences of risk and protective factors during stressful life events., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Kil, Lacourse, Mageau, Pelletier-Dumas, Dorfman, Stolle, Lina and de la Sablonnière.)

Objectives: Previous studies found a general increase in prejudice against Chinese people during the first months of the pandemic. The present study aims to consider inter-individual heterogeneity in stability and change regarding prejudice involving Chinese people during the pandemic. The first objective is to identify and describe different trajectories of prejudice over a seven-month period during the pandemic. The second and third objectives are to test the association between trajectory group membership and antecedent variables such as: socio-demographic factors (i.e., age, gender, political affiliation) and two psychological mechanisms, namely economic threat and global citizenship identification., Methods: A representative Canadian sample ( N  = 3,617) according to age, gender and province of residence, was recruited for a 10-wave survey starting from April 2020 to December 2020. First, a group-based modeling approach was used to identify trajectories of prejudice. Second, a multinomial logistic regression model was used to test associations between membership in trajectories and antecedents., Results: Four trajectories were identified. The first three trajectories have a low (71.4% of the sample), high (18.5%) or very high (5.3%) level of prejudice against Chinese people which is relatively stable over time. The fourth trajectory (4.9%) reports low levels of prejudice in favor of Chinese people which become more positive throughout 2020. Regarding socio-demographic factors: gender is not associated with trajectory group membership, younger people are more likely to follow the trajectory in favor of Chinese people and conservatives are more likely to follow the highest trajectories against Chinese people. Regarding some psychological mechanisms: personal but not collective economic threat is associated with the trajectory in favor of Chinese people. Finally, the highest levels of prejudice are found when the strategy of identification is more local rather than global., Conclusion: The present study shows that Canadians differ in terms of both their level and change in prejudice against Chinese people throughout the pandemic with some socio-demographic groups being more likely than others to be associated with prejudice. The results also suggest that a promising way to tackle the major social issue of prejudice is to highlight a vision of the world where individuals are all "global citizens" facing the same challenge., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Ferrante, Lacourse, Dorfman, Pelletier-Dumas, Lina, Stolle and de la Sablonnière.)

This article examines how much women know about government services and benefits and discusses why this type of knowledge matters. Using data from a survey as well as focus groups conducted in Montreal and Toronto, we show that the women who are most likely to need information about these programs are often the least likely to be aware of them. This is especially true of low-income women, older women, and women who came to Canada as immigrants. We end by suggesting some steps that could be taken to address these knowledge gaps.