How organizational politics and subjective social status moderate job insecurity–silence relationships

Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory and self-determination theory, this study examines the subjective social status (SSS) of employees and how it moderates the two-way interaction effect of job insecurity and perceived organizational politics on the types of silence (i.e., acquiescent, and defensive silence [DS]). Using data of about 350 employees in South Korea, it was found that the relationship between job insecurity and employees' acquiescent silence (AS) was stronger for individuals who perceived their organizations as highly political. The results also indicated a three-way interaction between job insecurity, perceived organizational politics, and employees' SSS on employees' AS, such that in a highly political work environment, the relationship between job insecurity and employees' AS was stronger especially for employees with low social status. However, the same pattern did not exist between job insecurity and DS.

The Influencing Factors of Comprehensive Sexuality Education Capacity and Its Correlation with Subjective Social Status among Chinese Junior High School Students.

(1) Objective: Evidence suggests that comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) can protect and empower younger generations to advocate for their reproductive health and wellbeing. This survey aims to investigate the current status and influencing factors of CSE among Chinese junior high school students, and to evaluate its correlation with the learning experience of sex education and subjective social status (SSS) to provide evidence for the implementation of CSE in the future. (2) Methods: A total of 4109 participants aged 11 to 16 years were recruited using data from a cross-sectional survey among junior high school students in China in 2021. CSE knowledge, attitude, and skills were used to generate the CSE comprehensive capacity by a principal component analysis. One-way ANOVA was used to assess the different effects of school sex education and family sex education. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the association between CSE comprehensive capacity and SSS. (3) Results: The average score of CSE comprehensive capacity was 82.44 ± 8.60 (with a total score of 100 points) among participants. After the adjustment, subjective social status was positively related to CSE comprehensive capacity (B = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.20-0.36), and SSS (School) (beta = 0.62) had a higher impact on CSE comprehensive capacity compared to SSS (Family) (beta = -0.10). School sex education was associated with the CSE knowledge level with a larger magnitude compared to family sex education (mean deviation = -0.53, p = 0.031), whereas family sex education was related to the CSE skill level with a greater magnitude (mean deviation =1.14, p = 0.005). (4) Conclusions: These findings suggest that sex education at school and within the family might have a different impact on CSE capacity, which was positively associated with SSS among junior high school students.

Status loss due to COVID-19, traditional masculinity, and their association with recent suicide attempts and suicidal ideation

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing extensive job loss leading to a loss of social status in many men. Endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology may render some men particularly sensitive to status loss and thereby to an increased risk for suicidality. In this anonymous online survey conducted in German-speaking European countries, 490 men completed questionnaires regarding loss of social status due to the COVID-19 pandemic, past-month and lifetime suicide attempt and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology and prototypical and male-typical externalizing depression symptoms were measured. Out of a total of 490 men, 14.7% of men reported experiencing status loss due to the pandemic. These men were more than four times as likely to have attempted suicide in the past month (OR = 4.48, 95% CI [1.72, 11.67]) and more than twice as likely to report suicidal ideation during the past 2 weeks (OR = 2.47, 95% CI [1.42, 4.28]), than men not reporting status loss. Status loss, but not endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology, was associated with suicide outcomes. However, when male-typical externalizing depression symptoms and prototypical depression symptoms were included in the models, they exhibited the only direct associations with suicide outcomes (e.g., for past-month suicide attempt: male-typical externalizing depression symptoms OR = 2.18, 95% CI [1.31, 3.62], prototypical depression symptoms OR = 2.41, 95% CI [1.13, 5.12]). A significant interaction between status loss and endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology further suggests an enhancing moderating effect of traditional masculinity on the relationship between status loss and past-month suicide attempts (OR = 3.27, 95% CI [1.16, 9.27]). Status loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic emerges as risk factor for suicide in men. Men who experience status loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic while concomitantly exhibiting strong endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology have an additional increased risk of suicide. Public Significance Statement Status loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among men with strong endorsement of traditional masculinity ideologies, may play a critical role in understanding the elevated suicide rates in the aftermath of the most acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health care policy should specifically target men with experienced status loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic in suicide prevention programs and swiftly design mental health care campaigns tailored to the group of men with strong endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology.

A protective rung on the ladder? How past and current social status shaped changes in health during COVID-19.

An emerging body of work has started to document population health consequences of the social and economic transformations during the COVID-19 pandemic. We consider an individual's relative social position in the stratification system-subjective social status (SSS)-and assess how past (childhood) and current SSS predict change in self-rated health during the pandemic. Using two waves of data from the Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study, we follow respondents between the onset of lockdown measures in March and May of 2020 (N = 1886). Drawing from the life course perspective and stress process model, we find that lower current SSS predicts a greater likelihood of being in stable poor health and reporting declining health. Lower past SSS predicts a higher chance of being in stable poor health indirectly through current SSS. And lower cumulative SSS that sums both past and present SSS also predicts stable poor health, while perceived upward mobility over time is associated with stable good health. This robust relationship between SSS and health in such a short time period of two months at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic provides an important glimpse into the influence that SSS has on population health.

Digital Skills and Skills to Deal with COVID-19 Information: Sociodemographic Differences in a Cross-Sectional Study.

In the current COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of digital media as a source of information for health-related behavior is impressively demonstrated. Until now there has been a lack of national research on the influence of socioeconomic differences in digital literacy and in the use of COVID-19 information. This study aims to analyze the influence of educational status and subjective social status on digital literacy and on the ability in using COVID-19 information. Data from a cross-sectional online survey were used. The results indicate social differences in digital literacy and in the ability to critically evaluate COVID-19 information.

The Status Dynamics of Role Blurring in the Time of COVID-19.

Has the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic altered the status dynamics of role blurring? Although researchers typically investigate its conflictual aspects, the authors assess if the work-home interface might also be a source of status-and the relevance of schedule control in these processes. Analyzing data from nationally representative samples of workers in September 2019 and March 2020, the authors find that role blurring is associated with elevated status, but the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 weakens that effect. Likewise, schedule control enhances the status of role blurring, but its potency is also weakened during the pandemic. These findings align with the suggestion that role blurring signals a commitment to work and adherence to ideal worker norms. However, the pandemic changed that by intensifying role integration and possibly by reducing the degree of agency once associated with role blurring. The loss of choice around role blurring might have also diluted the distinctive status that it once carried.