Suchergebnisse

Should 16-year-olds be entitled to participate in elections? We theorize that mock elections for adolescents, who are not eligible to vote, affect the short-term support among the general public for lowering the voting age. To test our theoretical expectation, we utilize variation among municipalities in the organization of mock elections during the Danish local elections in 2009. Difference-in-difference estimates with data from the subsequent local elections in 2013 demonstrate that citizens in municipalities with mock elections for adolescents were more supportive of lowering the voting age and that their support was strongly rooted in ideological differences.

Over recent years, Europe has experienced a series of Islamic terrorist attacks. In this article, conflicting theoretical expectations are derived on whether such attacks increase populist Euroscepticism in the form of anti‐immigration, anti‐refugee and anti‐European Union sentiment. Empirically, plausible exogenous variation in the exposure to the 2016 Berlin attack is exploited in two nationally representative surveys covering multiple European countries. No evidence is found for a populist response to the terrorist attack in any of the surveyed countries. On the contrary, people in Germany became more positive towards the EU in the wake of the Berlin attack. Moreover, little evidence is found that ideology shaped the response to the attack. The findings suggest that terrorist attacks are not met by an immediate public populist response.

Surveys based on self-reported hygiene relevant routine behaviours have played a crucial role in policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, using anchoring to test validity in a randomised controlled survey experiment during the COVID-19 pandemic, we demonstrate that asking people to self-report on the frequency of routine behaviours are prone to significant measurement error and systematic bias. Specifically, we find that participants across age, gender and political allegiance report higher (lower) frequencies of COVID-19 relevant behaviours when provided with a higher (lower) anchor. The results confirm that such self-reports should not be regarded as behavioural data and should primarily be used to inform policy decisions if better alternatives are not available. To this end, we discuss the use of anchoring as a validity test relative to self-reported behaviours as well as viable alternatives to self-reports when seeking to behaviourally inform policy decisions. ; Surveys based on self-reported hygiene relevant routine behaviours have played a crucial role in policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, using anchoring to test validity in a randomised controlled survey experiment during the COVID-19 pandemic, we demonstrate that asking people to self-report on the frequency of routine behaviours are prone to significant measurement error and systematic bias. Specifically, we find that participants across age, gender and political allegiance report higher (lower) frequencies of COVID-19 relevant behaviours when provided with a higher (lower) anchor. The results confirm that such self-reports should not be regarded as behavioural data and should primarily be used to inform policy decisions if better alternatives are not available. To this end, we discuss the use of anchoring as a validity test relative to self-reported behaviours as well as viable alternatives to self-reports when seeking to behaviourally inform policy decisions.

To limit the transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it is important to understand the sources of social behavior for members of the general public. However, there is limited research on how basic psychological dispositions interact with social contexts to shape behaviors that help mitigate contagion risk, such as social distancing. Using a sample of 89,305 individuals from 39 countries, we show that Big Five personality traits and the social context jointly shape citizens' social distancing during the pandemic. Specifically, we observed that the association between personality traits and social distancing behaviors were attenuated as the perceived societal consensus for social distancing increased. This held even after controlling for objective features of the environment such as the level of government restrictions in place, demonstrating the importance of subjective perceptions of local norms.