We propose a refined theory of basic individual values intended to provide greater heuristic and explanatory power than the original theory of 10 values (Schwartz, 1992). The refined theory more accurately expresses the central assumption of the original theory that research has largely ignored: Values form a circular motivational continuum. The theory defines and orders 19 values on the continuum based on their compatible and conflicting motivations, expression of self-protection versus growth, and personal versus social focus. We assess the theory with a new instrument in 15 samples from 10 countries (N = 6,059). Confirmatory factor and multidimensional scaling analyses support discrimination of the 19 values, confirming the refined theory. Multidimensional scaling analyses largely support the predicted motivational order of the values. Analyses of predictive validity demonstrate that the refined values theory provides greater and more precise insight into the value underpinnings of beliefs. Each value correlates uniquely with external variables.

Successful campaigns to combat the COVID-19 pandemic depend, in part, on people's willingness to be vaccinated. It is therefore critical to understand the factors that determine people's vaccination intentions. We applied a reasoned action approach - the theory of planned behavior - to explore these factors. We used data from an online survey of adults (18–74 years; n = 5044) conducted in Germany between April 9 and April 28, 2021 and found that attitudes toward getting vaccinated predicted vaccination intentions, while normative and control beliefs did not. In turn, positive attitudes toward getting vaccinated were supported by trust in science and fear of COVID-19 whereas negative attitudes were associated with acceptance of conspiracy theories and skepticism regarding vaccines in general. We advise policymakers, physicians, and health care providers to address vaccination hesitancy by emphasizing factors that support positive attitudes toward getting vaccinated, such as prevention of serious illness, death, and long-term health detriments, as opposed to exerting social pressure or pointing to the ease of getting vaccinated.

The current study examines the following questions: (1) the extent to which individual basic human values are linked with attitudes towards immigration; (2) whether symbolic threat by immigration mediates this relation; and (3) whether cultural values moderate the relations between individual values, threat, and attitudes towards immigration. The empirical analysis relies on the 2014/2015 data from the immigration module of the European Social Survey (ESS) for West and East European countries. We find that universalistic individuals expressed lower threat due to immigration and higher support of immigration while conservative individuals displayed the opposite pattern. Symbolic threat mediated the association between values and immigration attitudes, but in most countries the mediation was partial. The associations between values, symbolic threat, and attitudes towards immigration were stronger in countries characterised by higher levels of intellectual and affective autonomy and weaker in countries characterised by higher levels of cultural embeddedness. The findings provide support for the centrality of human values in the formation of threat and attitudes towards immigration.

Explaining negative attitudes towards immigration in general and threat due to immigration, in particular, has been a major topic of study in recent decades. While intergroup contact has received considerable attention in explaining ethnic threat, group relative deprivation (GRD), that is, feelings that one’s group is unfairly deprived of desirable goods in comparison to relevant out-groups, has been largely ignored in cross-national research. Nevertheless, various smaller-scale studies have demonstrated that GRD can have a decisive impact on prejudice. In the current study, we examine the association between GRD and ethnic threat systematically across 20 European countries, thereby controlling for intergroup contact and value priorities. The 7th round of the European Social Survey (ESS) includes questions assessing respondents’ feelings of group deprivation compared to immigrants and offers for the first time an opportunity to contextualise the threat-inducing effect of GRD across Europe. A multilevel structural equation model (MLSEM) demonstrates a considerable association between GRD and ethnic threat both on the individual and country levels. The results indicate that GRD is not only an important mediating factor between social structural positions and perceived threat, but also fully mediates the relation between contextual economic indicators and ethnic threat.

Several structural equation modeling (SEM) strategies were developed for assessing measurement invariance (MI) across groups relaxing the assumptions of strict MI to partial, approximate, and partial approximate MI. Nonetheless, applied researchers still do not know if and under what conditions these strategies might provide results that allow for valid comparisons across groups in large-scale comparative surveys. We perform a comprehensive Monte Carlo simulation study to assess the conditions under which various SEM methods are appropriate to estimate latent means and path coefficients and their differences across groups. We find that while SEM path coefficients are relatively robust to violations of full MI and can be rather effectively recovered, recovering latent means and their group rankings might be difficult. Our results suggest that, contrary to some previous recommendations, partial invariance may rather effectively recover both path coefficients and latent means even when the majority of items are noninvariant. Although it is more difficult to recover latent means using approximate and partial approximate MI methods, it is possible under specific conditions and using appropriate models. These models also have the advantage of providing accurate standard errors. Alignment is recommended for recovering latent means in cases where there are only a few noninvariant parameters across groups.

Mass immigration has become an enduring feature of open, integrated and dynamic economies, with most wealthy post-industrial societies experiencing large migration inflows in recent years (OECD 201...