The lives of others: Class divisions, network segregation, and attachment to society in Chile

In this paper, we examine whether social class and class divides in social networks contribute to individuals' attachment to society. We argue that network segregation restricts individuals' social worlds, thereby diminishing societal attachment. Our research site is Chile, a country with relatively low social cohesion and one of the world's highest levels of economic inequality. We use large-scale representative survey data collected in 2016 for the Chilean urban population aged 18-75 years (n = 2983) and interrelate indicators of well-established dimensions and sub-dimensions of societal attachment. Results of our regression analyses show that members of the upper middle class are more attached to society than their fellow citizens from other social strata. In addition, having more social contacts within one's own social class reduces attachment to society. In particular, network homogeneity lessens societal attachment for lower- and upper-class individuals, but not so strongly in the middle class. We conclude that social cohesion in Chilean society would be enhanced not only by more equal opportunities but also by changes to the social settings in which social class segregation is (re)produced.

Personality and Social Capital

While previous research has shown that personality shapes social networks, we know very little about the relationship between these important psychological characteristics and the creation of social capital. In this article, we argue that personality shapes individuals' ability to create social capital, and we predict positive associations between each of the Big Five personality traits and social capital. We tested our hypotheses using the Social Survey of the Networks of the Dutch, 2014, which contains data on about 1,069 respondents, including social capital and Big Five personality measures. Our findings showed that personality and social capital were related such that extraversion and openness predicted instrumental social capital, and extraversion, emotional stability, and agreeableness predicted expressive social capital. Conscientiousness benefited instrumental social capital when respondents were older or when social capital was accessed via weak ties. We discuss these findings in light of existing explanations of the creation of social capital.

The impact of social capital, land use, air pollution and noise on individual morbidity in Dutch neighbourhoods

BACKGROUND

Both social and physical neighbourhood factors may affect residents' health, but few studies have considered the combination of several exposures in relation to individual health status.

AIM

To assess a range of different potentially relevant physical and social environmental characteristics in a sample of small neighbourhoods in the Netherlands, to study their mutual correlations and to explore associations with morbidity of residents using routinely collected general practitioners' (GPs') data.

METHODS

For 135 neighbourhoods in 43 Dutch municipalities, we could assess area-level social cohesion and collective efficacy using external questionnaire data, urbanisation, amount of greenspace and water areas, land use diversity, air pollution (particulate matter (PM) with a diameter <10 μm (PM₁₀), PM <2.5 μm (PM_2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and noise (from road traffic and from railways). Health data of the year 2013 from GPs were available for 4450 residents living in these 135 neighbourhoods, that were representative for the entire country. Morbidity of 10 relevant physical or mental health groupings was considered. Individual-level socio-economic information was obtained from Statistics Netherlands. Associations between neighbourhood exposures and individual morbidity were quantified using multilevel mixed effects logistic regression analyses, adjusted for sex, age (continuous), household income and socio-economic status (individual level) and municipality and neighbourhood (group level).

RESULTS

Most physical exposures were strongly correlated with degree of urbanisation. Social cohesion and collective efficacy tended to be higher in less urbanised municipalities. Degree of urbanisation was associated with higher morbidity of all disease groupings. A higher social cohesion at the municipal level coincided with a lower prevalence of depression, migraine/severe headache and Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS). An increase in both natural and agricultural greenspace in the neighbourhood was weakly associated with less morbidity for all conditions. A high land use diversity was consistently associated with lower morbidities, in particular among non-occupationally active individuals.

CONCLUSION

A high diversity in land use of neighbourhoods may be beneficial for physical and mental health of the inhabitants. If confirmed, this may be incorporated into urban planning, in particular regarding the diversity of greenspace.

Families' Division of Labor and Social Networks in the 21st Century: Revisiting Elizabeth Bott's Classic Hypotheses

In 1957, Elizabeth Bott argued that the organization of family and social networks are intertwined and that the structure and composition of social networks are associated with the ways in which spouses divide household and paid labor. While this idea became a classic in the literature addressing the division of labor, societies have changed tremendously in the past 50 years, and it has become far more common for spouses to divide their labor more equally. In addition, the causal direction is not clear: Do networks affect the division of labor or vice versa? We inquired as to the causal relationship using a large-scale longitudinal data set, collected in 2009/2010 and 2011/2012 (n = 2477; PAIRFAM [Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics]). We found moderate support for the hypothesis that personal networks influence the division of labor in households, but there were stronger effects for the reverse-that is, that the division of labor affects network patterns, particularly for women.

Neighbourhood social and physical environment and general practitioner assessed morbidity

The aim of our study was to investigate the association between health enhancing and threatening, and social and physical aspects of the neighbourhood environment and general practitioner (GP) assessed morbidity of the people living there, in order to find out whether the effects of environmental characteristics add up or modify each other. We combined GP electronic health records with environmental data on neighbourhoods in the Netherlands. Cross-classified logistic multilevel models show the importance of taking into account several environmental characteristics and confounders, as social capital effects on the prevalence of morbidity disappear when other area characteristics are taken into account. Stratification by area socio-economic status, shows that the association between environmental characteristics and the prevalence of morbidity is stronger for people living in low SES areas. In low SES areas, green space seems to alleviate effects of air pollution on the prevalence of high blood pressure and diabetes, while the effects of green space and social capital reinforce each other.

Does income inequality have lasting effects on health and trust?

According to the income inequality hypothesis, income inequality is associated with poorer health. One important proposed mechanism for this effect is reduced trust. In this study, we argue that income inequality during a person's formative years (i.e., around age 16) may have lasting consequences for trust and health. Multilevel analyses of data from the combined World Values Survey and European Values Study that were collected between 1981 and 2014 support our prediction and show that income inequality is associated with ill health in young adults, in part because it reduces their social trust. The negative consequences of income inequality remain stable for a substantial period of life but eventually fade away and have no effect after age 36.

Romantic relationship formation, maintenance and changes in personal networks

According to the social withdrawal hypothesis, a personal network becomes smaller when a person starts dating, cohabitates and marries. This phenomenon is widely established in the literature. However, these studies were usually done with cross-sectional data. As a consequence, it is still unclear whether or how personal networks actually change after the formation of a romantic relationship (i.e. dating), after starting cohabitation and after getting married. It is also unclear how long and to what extent social withdrawal continues. To overcome these shortcomings, we examine how the size and composition of personal networks change after relationship formation. We use two waves of the PAIRFAM dataset (2008 and 2011), which include information about 6640 Germans who were between 16 and 39 years of age at the time of the second interview in 2008. Results from fixed effects regression models underscore that the association between romantic relationships and changes in personal networks is more dynamic than previous studies suggested. For example, after the formation of a romantic relationship people show a decrease in non-kin contacts, while an increase in non-kin contacts is observed after two years of dating, as well as after two years of cohabitation. These network changes suggest that people adapt their social networks to the demands and constraints of each phase of a romantic relationship. Because the decline in network size after dating is not stable, there is no need to be afraid that those who have a romantic partner remain isolated from other relationships.

Complications of prophylactic argon laser treatment of retinal breaks and degenerations in 2,000 eyes

The decision to treat retinal breaks and degenerations prophylactically should be made with an awareness of the incidence of complications associated with argon laser photocoagulation (ALP). We evaluated retrospectively 2,000 eyes with retinal breaks and degenerations treated with ALP, with follow-up from 6 to 84 months (mean 46 months). The only complications during photocoagulation were petectal intra- and preretinal hemorrhages, which absorbed after a few days. Complications after treatment were limited to epiretinal membrane formation in the macular area in four eyes (0.2%). The applied laser energy in three of these four eyes was significantly greater (mean 34.4 mJ) than in the total 2,000 eyes (mean 7.2 mJ). This finding supports the observation by other authors that extensive photocoagulation is associated with an increased incidence of epiretinal membrane formation.