Soziologie
New Paper by Moya, Sattler and Sauer on Double Standards in the Labor Market when Violating the Social Norm of Vaccination
Moya, C., Sattler, S., Taflinger, S., Sauer, C. (2024): Examining
double standards in layoff preferences and expectations for
gender, age, and ethnicity when violating the social norm of
vaccination. Scientific Reports
14: 39. [Link]
Abstract
Whether vaccination refusal is perceived as a social norm
violation that affects layoff decisions has not been tested.
Also unknown is whether ascribed low-status groups are subject
to double standards when they violate norms, experiencing
stronger sanctions in layoff preferences and expectations, and
whether work performance attenuates such sanctioning. Therefore,
we study layoff preferences and expectations using a discrete
choice experiment within a large representative online survey in
Germany (N=12,136). Respondents chose between two
employee profiles, each with information about ascribed
characteristics signaling different status groups (gender, age,
and ethnicity), work performance (work quality and quantity, and
social skills), and whether the employees refused to vaccinate
against COVID-19. We found that employees who refused
vaccination were more likely to be preferred and expected to be
laid off. Respondents also expected double standards regarding
layoffs due to vaccination refusal, hence, harsher treatment of
females and older employees. Nonetheless, their preferences did
not reflect such double standards. We found little support that
high work performance attenuates these sanctions and double
standards, opening questions about the conditions under which
social biases arise. Our results suggest detrimental
consequences of vaccination refusal for individuals, the labor
market, and acceptance of health policies.
New Paper by Sebastian Sattler on the How Terrorist Attacks Impact Drinking
Pradel, F., Sattler, S. (2023): Health Consequences of a Death Threat: How Terrorist Attacks Impact Drinking. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. [Link]
Terrorist attacks, war, violent acts, and their media coverage remind us of our own mortality, which may provoke stress and coping mechanisms. The terror management health model (TMHM) proposes that even subliminal thoughts about existential threats trigger worldview defense and self-esteem-related behaviors. Based on the TMHM, our field experiment (N=228) examines the impact of a terrorist attack on death-thought accessibility, the choice between alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and if the impact on this choice is moderated by the importance of alcohol to one's self-esteem (i.e., alcohol-based self-esteem), and the consciousness of the terrorist attack. Results show that thoughts about the terrorist attack increased death-thought accessibility. The salience of the terrorist attack had no main effect on beverage choice, but alcohol-based self-esteem predicted choosing an alcoholic beverage. However, in the unconscious thought condition, participants who had low alcohol-based self-esteem and were provoked with death-related thoughts about terrorism were more likely to choose an alcoholic beverage. In the conscious thought condition, participants who had high alcohol-based self-esteem were less likely to choose alcohol. This study suggests that thoughts about terrorism and, therefore, the threat of death, can be provoked in everyday situations and affect substance use behaviors with potentially adverse health consequences.