Glossary LIVES - User contributions [en]

Causality

2020-10-09T16:10:38Z

Widmere:

Causality (here used synonymously with causation, cause and effect) has been a major scope of science for millennia, and any discussion of causality cannot be summarized by a couple of pages in a general glossary. The purpose here is to discuss how this concept may be understood and estimated differently in some disciplines studying “vulnerability” within LIVES. 
Broad philosophical discussions of causality include revealing underlying mechanisms behind observed or implied associations (e.g., between stimuli and responses, about genetics and epigenetics in human characteristics) and opposing free will and consciousness (e.g., nature vs. nurture in psychology, agency vs. structure in sociology). In modern science, one of the simplest definitions of causality is the relation of determination between a cause (entity A) and a consequence (entity B), such that “if A then B” and “if not A then not B.” Counterfactual arguments (“if A had not occurred, then B would not have occurred”) complemented the previous regularity definition (Lewis, 1973), but have never come to totally replace it. It is commonly agreed that the association be time-ordered, such that A occurs before B in time. 
Statistics has primarily focused on measuring and quantitatively estimating the effects of causes on their consequences, by following Hume’s analysis of causation and Popper’s principles of verification and falsifiability (Holland, 1986). This focus has percolated somewhat differently in different disciplines, ranging from simple linear regression models to nonlinear dynamic systems of multivariate equations. From a methodological perspective, most agree with the assertion that carefully planned double blind, randomized control trials (RCT) are the simplest and safest setting for estimating causality relations. Of course, in many research settings RCTs are simply not possible, thus forcing scholars to creatively and intelligently propose alternative settings that at best approximate the at-times unachievable and impossible standard of excellence represented by experimental settings (which, strictly speaking, are also imperfect, in that it is impossible to measure the same unit of observation under both the presence (e.g., treatment) and the absence (e.g., control) of the cause at the exact same time; this problem can however be dealt with by assuming untestable assumptions, such as time invariance of exposure effects. Here, again, counterfactual arguments become highly relevant). 
In economics, the work by Granger (1969) has set a useful framework for estimating causal inference (Heckman, 2008; Hoover, 2006). Put in very simple terms, the Granger causality test allows assessing whether one variable assessed earlier can forecast another assessed later, where both variables are measured by time series. Given the historical importance of time series data in economic research, this definition has served well to establishing causality relations. Nowadays, discussions about the possibility of estimating causality in economics do not revolve around time series analyses, but are centered on ingenious methods that are applicable to observational studies, and that ought to be used, whenever possible, in conjunction with RCTs. These include, but are not limited to, linear and discontinuity regression designs, differences-in-differences methods, use of instrumental variables, and propensity scores and other matching techniques, whose use has thrived in recent years (Angrist & Pischke, 2009; 2010). However, the debate around the utility of such methods in discussing causality is not resolved and remains well alive today (e.g., Banerjee, Duflo, & Kremer, 2016; Deaton & Cartwright, 2018). 
In psychology, the golden standards allowing estimating causality effects are forms of RCT, operationalized as carefully planned experiments, where the effects of a manipulated independent variable on a dependent variable are assessed, under strict methodological control. This setting requires that the researcher consider several psychometric issues, such as internal and external validity, construct validity, and generalizability. Again, the ideal RCT setting is a notoriously difficult methodological design to implement in many research settings (for practical or ethical reasons), so that psychologists also must very often rely on observational (a.k.a. as non-experimental) studies. Then, cautious methodological considerations allow approximating so-called quasi- or pseudo-experiments, thereby strengthening validity properties (Campbell, Stanley, & Gage, 1963). Despite, few psychologists would draw unambiguous conclusions about causality in such designs. It could be argued that to foster theoretical advancements, psychology would benefit from applying alternative methods, inspired by economics, to reinforce conclusions about causal mechanics, although such approaches often imply relying on untestable assumptions, 
In social sciences, the concept of causality is also closely linked to moderated, mediated, and spill-over effects. These proximal concepts allow for somewhat indirect estimations or what may be mechanisms of utmost importance in understanding causality in the social world by means of innovative research designs and statistical strategies (Hong, 2015). Another line of research present in sociology, narrative formalism or narrative positivism, stresses the description of whole trajectories as an alternative way to deal with causality (Abbott, 1992).
 
 
==References==
Abbott, A. (1992). From causes to events: Notes on narrative positivism. ''Sociological methods & research'', 20(4), 428-455.
Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J.-S. (2009). ''Mostly Harmless Econometrics''. Princeton University Press. 
Angrist, J., & Pischke, J.-S. (2010). The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design is Taking the Con out of Econometrics (Working Paper No. 15794; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w15794 
Banerjee, A. V., Duflo, E., & Kremer, M. (2016). The influence of randomized controlled trials on development economics research and on development policy. ''The State of Economics, The State of the World''. 
Campbell, D. T., Stanley, J. C., & Gage, N. L. (1963). ''Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research'' (pp. ix, 84). Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 
Deaton, A., & Cartwright, N. (2018). Understanding and misunderstanding randomized controlled trials. ''Social Science & Medicine'', 210, 2–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.12.005 
Granger, C. W. J. (1969). Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-spectral Methods. ''Econometrica'', 37(3), 424–438. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/1912791 
Heckman, J. J. (2008). Econometric Causality. ''International Statistical Review'', 76(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-5823.2007.00024.x 
Holland, P. W. (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference. ''Journal of the American Statistical Association'', 81(396), 945–960. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1986.10478354 
Hoover, K. D. (2006). Causality in Economics and Econometrics (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 930739). Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.930739 
Hong, G. (2015). ''Causality in a social world: Moderation, mediation and spill-over''. John Wiley & Sons. 
Lewis, D. K. (1973). Causation. ''Journal of Philosophy'', 70(17), 556–567. https://doi.org/10.2307/2025310

Causality

2020-10-09T16:09:07Z

Widmere:

Causality (here used synonymously with causation, cause and effect) has been a major scope of science for millennia, and any discussion of causality cannot be summarized by a couple of pages in a general glossary. The purpose here is to discuss how this concept may be understood and estimated differently in some disciplines studying “vulnerability” within LIVES. 
Broad philosophical discussions of causality include revealing underlying mechanisms behind observed or implied associations (e.g., between stimuli and responses, about genetics and epigenetics in human characteristics) and opposing free will and consciousness (e.g., nature vs. nurture in psychology, agency vs. structure in sociology). In modern science, one of the simplest definitions of causality is the relation of determination between a cause (entity A) and a consequence (entity B), such that “if A then B” and “if not A then not B.” Counterfactual arguments (“if A had not occurred, then B would not have occurred”) complemented the previous regularity definition (Lewis, 1973), but have never come to totally replace it. It is commonly agreed that the association be time-ordered, such that A occurs before B in time. 
Statistics has primarily focused on measuring and quantitatively estimating the effects of causes on their consequences, by following Hume’s analysis of causation and Popper’s principles of verification and falsifiability (Holland, 1986). This focus has percolated somewhat differently in different disciplines, ranging from simple linear regression models to nonlinear dynamic systems of multivariate equations. From a methodological perspective, most agree with the assertion that carefully planned double blind, randomized control trials (RCT) are the simplest and safest setting for estimating causality relations. Of course, in many research settings RCTs are simply not possible, thus forcing scholars to creatively and intelligently propose alternative settings that at best approximate the at-times unachievable and impossible standard of excellence represented by experimental settings (which, strictly speaking, are also imperfect, in that it is impossible to measure the same unit of observation under both the presence (e.g., treatment) and the absence (e.g., control) of the cause at the exact same time; this problem can however be dealt with by assuming untestable assumptions, such as time invariance of exposure effects. Here, again, counterfactual arguments become highly relevant). 
In economics, the work by Granger (1969) has set a useful framework for estimating causal inference (Heckman, 2008; Hoover, 2006). Put in very simple terms, the Granger causality test allows assessing whether one variable assessed earlier can forecast another assessed later, where both variables are measured by time series. Given the historical importance of time series data in economic research, this definition has served well to establishing causality relations. Nowadays, discussions about the possibility of estimating causality in economics do not revolve around time series analyses, but are centered on ingenious methods that are applicable to observational studies, and that ought to be used, whenever possible, in conjunction with RCTs. These include, but are not limited to, linear and discontinuity regression designs, differences-in-differences methods, use of instrumental variables, and propensity scores and other matching techniques, whose use has thrived in recent years (Angrist & Pischke, 2009; 2010). However, the debate around the utility of such methods in discussing causality is not resolved and remains well alive today (e.g., Banerjee, Duflo, & Kremer, 2016; Deaton & Cartwright, 2018). 
In psychology, the golden standards allowing estimating causality effects are forms of RCT, operationalized as carefully planned experiments, where the effects of a manipulated independent variable on a dependent variable are assessed, under strict methodological control. This setting requires that the researcher consider several psychometric issues, such as internal and external validity, construct validity, and generalizability. Again, the ideal RCT setting is a notoriously difficult methodological design to implement in many research settings (for practical or ethical reasons), so that psychologists also must very often rely on observational (a.k.a. as non-experimental) studies. Then, cautious methodological considerations allow approximating so-called quasi- or pseudo-experiments, thereby strengthening validity properties (Campbell, Stanley, & Gage, 1963). Despite, few psychologists would draw unambiguous conclusions about causality in such designs. It could be argued that to foster theoretical advancements, psychology would benefit from applying alternative methods, inspired by economics, to reinforce conclusions about causal mechanics, although such approaches often imply relying on untestable assumptions, 
In social sciences, the concept of causality is also closely linked to moderated, mediated, and spill-over effects. These proximal concepts allow for somewhat indirect estimations or what may be mechanisms of utmost importance in understanding causality in the social world by means of innovative research designs and statistical strategies (Hong, 2015). Another line of research present in sociology, narrative formalism or positivism, stresses the description of whole trajectories as an alternative way to deal with causality (Abbott, 1992).
 
 
==References==
Abbott, A. (1992). From causes to events: Notes on narrative positivism. ''Sociological methods & research'', 20(4), 428-455.
Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J.-S. (2009). ''Mostly Harmless Econometrics''. Princeton University Press. 
Angrist, J., & Pischke, J.-S. (2010). The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design is Taking the Con out of Econometrics (Working Paper No. 15794; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w15794 
Banerjee, A. V., Duflo, E., & Kremer, M. (2016). The influence of randomized controlled trials on development economics research and on development policy. ''The State of Economics, The State of the World''. 
Campbell, D. T., Stanley, J. C., & Gage, N. L. (1963). ''Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research'' (pp. ix, 84). Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 
Deaton, A., & Cartwright, N. (2018). Understanding and misunderstanding randomized controlled trials. ''Social Science & Medicine'', 210, 2–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.12.005 
Granger, C. W. J. (1969). Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-spectral Methods. ''Econometrica'', 37(3), 424–438. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/1912791 
Heckman, J. J. (2008). Econometric Causality. ''International Statistical Review'', 76(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-5823.2007.00024.x 
Holland, P. W. (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference. ''Journal of the American Statistical Association'', 81(396), 945–960. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1986.10478354 
Hoover, K. D. (2006). Causality in Economics and Econometrics (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 930739). Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.930739 
Hong, G. (2015). ''Causality in a social world: Moderation, mediation and spill-over''. John Wiley & Sons. 
Lewis, D. K. (1973). Causation. ''Journal of Philosophy'', 70(17), 556–567. https://doi.org/10.2307/2025310

Reserves

2020-10-09T16:04:23Z

Widmere: /* Domains */

Initially developed in neuroscience, the reserves concept was use to study the level of protection against cognitive damage (see “cognitive reserve”, e.g., Stern, 2009). In its extended understanding proposed by Cullati, Widmer and Kliegel (2018), the reserves concept can refer to all areas of life and must allow to better grasp [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] processes across the life course. In this context, reserves are defined as « the means needed not for immediate use but rather accumulated in a sufficient manner. Such means help overcome shocks and adversity and delay or modify the processes of decline in well-being, health, wealth and social life during aging. » (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 551). In other words, reserves refer to the various means available to individuals to face distributive events or transitions during life course. With respect to « [[Resources|resources]] », the notion of reserves highlights the time-oriented dimension of the means available to individuals to avoid or deal with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] by stressing their dynamics of constitution through accumulation, their processes of activation across life course, but also their risk of depletion when facing a critical life event, and possible need for reconstitution after depletion. The thresholds under which reserves cannot be transform into effective [[Resources|resources]] to face [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] are another issue raised by the reserves concept that is important in understanding [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] dynamics.
 
 
==Constitution : passive and active==
The constitution of reserves may refer to passive or active process (Cullati et al., 2018). Passive process of reserves constitution refers initially, regarding its origin in neurosciences, to innate (i.e. genetically determined) and very early acquired (typically through family environment or with school education) inter-individual differences that impact trajectories of cognitive functioning. In a more social sciences perspective, passive process refers also to social inequalities or the impact of social background on further life course conditions. Conversely, Cullati and colleagues argue also for an active model of constitution, where initial reserves can be changed across individual trajectories. For instance, reserves for cognition may be enhance through stimulating activities (e.g. Ihle et al., 2018). The development of social ties (e.g. friendship, colleagues, partner) is another example of the opportunities to developpe important reserves across life-course. In the end, taking into account these two principles of reserves constitution – passive and active - seems to be crucial to understand [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] and reserves dynamics and to examine [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|cumulative processes of (dis)advantages]] and trajectories of resilience.
 
 
==Activation, depletion and reconstitution==
While supporting the “active” perspective on reserves, various principles stress the time-dynamic dimension of this concept. The first is the plasticity principle that refers to the “use it or lose it” notion or the fact that activities contribute to the maintenance of the ability to function (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 553). In other word, this implies that reserves need to be activated through life course to be effective when needed; for instance, stimulating activities help preserve cognitive reserve or regular exchange contribute to maintain relational reserves.
Another step of reserves dynamic refers to their depletion when facing a critical life event. Indeed, reserves can decrease after their use or become inadequate over life course exigences, involving the need for individual to reconstitute their reserves. 
These various principles can vary in intensity among reserves types: for instance, friendship ties have been showed as asking more individual investment in their maintenance (notably through the reciprocity principle)in contrast with [[Family ties|family ties]] whose functioning would be more guided by solidarity norms and involves more automaticity (Allan, 2008). Beyond, historical changes have also an impact of the importance of individual investment in reserves dynamics. Indeed, in western societies after WWII, the standardized life course and its institutions (education, family, retirement), include a relative stable and coherent model of reserves that secure individual life course. With changes toward more destanstandardized society, constitution and activation of reserves, e.g. education or [[Family ties|family ties]], focus more on individual agency – in other word are less linear, secured and automatic. The more frequent and numerous life transitions and disruptive events that tend to happen during life course increase the use of reserves but also the risk of their depletion and the need of their reconstitution (Baeriswyl et al., submitted). Such issues may relate to successful achievement in [[Employability|employability]] and [[Career development|career development]].
 
 
 

==Thresholds==
[[Resources|Resources]] must be accumulated in a sufficient manner to constitute effective reserves. Under a certain threshold, reserves do not allow individual to face adverse life event or life transition and to continue functioning according to societal standards (Cullati et al., 2018). Understanding reserve thresholds is a crucial issue for social and health policy in order to establish appropriate measures for compensating the lack of individual reserves.
 
 

==Domains==
The composition of reserves includes various [[Life domains|life domains]]: education, social and family relationships, psychological and mental health, income and wealth. Of course, reserves issues vary among domains (e.g. expected outcomes depending on life areas or inequalities and individual differences in constitution or activation). Moreover, the various types of reserves and their outcomes interact across life course in complex [[Causality|causality]] chain – where [[Resources|resources]] are both outcomes and means of reserves accumulation - that contribute thus to account for individual [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] trajectories (Cullati et al., 2018; Spini et al., 2017).
 
 

==References==
Allan, G. (2008). Flexibility, friendship, and family. ''Personal Relationships'', 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00181.x 
Baeriswyl, M., Widmer, E. D., & Oris, M. (submitted). A reserves perspective on education over recent historical time in Switzerland. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2, 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3 
Ihle, A., Ghisletta, P., Ballhausen, N., Fagot, D., Vallet, F., Baeriswyl, M., Sauter, J., Oris, M., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2018). The role of cognitive reserve accumulated in midlife for the relation between chronic diseases and cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal follow-up across six years. ''Neuropsychologia'', 121, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.013 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework for studying vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1268892 
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. ''Neuropsychologia'', 47(10), 2015–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004

Life domains

2020-10-09T16:01:27Z

Widmere:

Life domains are main fields of experience in which individual life course unfold. Family, education, work, health and leisure are often cited as a critical life domains.
 
 
In the life course literature, spillover effects occur when life domains influence each other. Decisions, events, and transitions in the work domain for instance may affect family configuration or health. We refer to crossover effects when the effects of life events and transitions go beyond, or cross, the life trajectory of the individual concerned and diffuse to related individuals such as members of his or her social network. For instance, temporary or permanent health problems of one member of the family may require various adaptation in the work and leisure activities of other family members.
 
 
The study of the determinants and consequences of life course transitions is challenging due to the several interdependencies across life domains and across related individuals. The Life Course Cube (Bernardi, Huinink and Settersten 2019) proposes a graphic representation of the complexity of the relationships that characterize the life of an individual. The axes of the cube represent three key dimensions: time, domains, and levels. The interconnection between those axes represent the individual behavior over time while interacting across levels (“micro”, “meso” and “macro”) and across life domains.
 
 
The interdependence across life domains means that decisions and events happened in one domain may have a strong influence into other life domains, creating spillover effects. For instance, the combined effect of family and working life on wellbeing (Comolli, Bernardi, and Voorpostel, 2020); the simultaneity of working and family life decisions across generations (Bolano and Bernardi, 2020); the link between working uncertainty and family formation decisions (Bolano and Vignoli, 2020); geographical mobility and professional and family careers (Semeraro, 2018); the difficulties of multiple goal pursuit (Freund, 2007). Spillover effects can also been seen as the resources generated or drained by one life domain that facilitate or hinder actions and well-being in another life domain (Bernardi, Bollmann, Potarca, and Rossier, 2017; Freund, Knecht, and Wiese, 2014). Negative spillovers may spread the consequences of hazards across life spheres (Pin and Spini, 2016; Widmer, Girardin, and Ludwig, 2017), whereas positive spillovers may trigger resilience or produce synergies (Ihle et al., 2016; Shane and Heckhausen, 2016). In the upcoming LIVES book, an entire section is dedicated to the interdependences across life domains.
 
 
The life course of an individual is characterized by interactions between levels (i.e., macro-meso-micro interaction) as well as within levels (e.g., across individuals). The interdependence across individuals indicates that changes in one person’s life patterns may lead to changes in other people’s lives as well, bringing to a dependence in the attitudes and behaviours of members of the same group or network (household, working place). These types of interactions are crossover effects. For example, studies have shown that fertility behaviour might spread across friends and generations (Bernardi, 2016). Studies have shown the mutual influences of couple’s member on fertility decisions (e.g., Hanappi et al. 2017; Testa and Bolano 2019), health (Lam and Bolano, 2018), migration and adaptaion (Ravasi, Salamin, and Davoine, 2015).
 
 
Resources and [[Reserves|reserves]] are associated with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] in specific life domains.

==References==
Bernardi, L., Bollmann, G., Potarca, G., & Rossier, J. (2017). Multidimensionality of well-being and spillover effects across life domains: How do parenthood and personality affect changes in domain-specific satisfaction? ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 26-51. 
Bolano, D., and Bernardi, L. (2020). Transition to Grandparenthood and Early Retirement: Interdependencies of Life Domains across Generations. Unpublished 
Bolano, D., and Vignoli, D., (2020). First Union Formation in Australia: Actual Constraints or Perceived Uncertainty? ''DISIA Working Paper'', 2020/07. 
Bernardi, L. (2016). The intergenerational transmission of fertility. In ''Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences'' (pp. 01-16). Hoboken US: John Wiley & Sons 10.1002/9781118900772.etrds0413 
Bernardi, L., Huinink, J., and Settersten Jr, R. A. (2019). The life course cube: A tool for studying lives. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 41. 
Comolli, C.L, Bernardi, L. and Voorpostel, M. (2020). Joint family and work trajectories and multidimensional wellbeing. Under review. 
Freund, A. M., Knecht, M., & Wiese, B. S. (2014). Multidomain engagement and self-reported psychosomatic symptoms in middle-aged women and men. ''Gerontology'', 60(3), 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1159/000358756 
Freund, A. M. (2007). Differentiating and integrating levels of goal representation: A life-span perspective. In ''B. R. Little, K. Salmela-Aro, & S. D. Phillips (Eds.), Personal project pursuit: Goals, action, and human flourishing'' (pp. 247–270). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. 
Hanappi, D., Ryser, V-A., Bernardi L., and Le Goff, J-M. (2017). Changes in Employment Uncertainty and the Fertility Intention–Realization Link: An Analysis Based on the Swiss Household Panel. ''European Journal of Population'', 33(3):381-407 DOI: 10.1007/s10680-016-9408-y 
Ihle, A., Grotz, C., Adam, S., Oris, M., Fagot, D., Gabriel, R., & Kliegel, M. (2016). The association of timing of retirement with cognitive performance in old age: The role of leisure activities after retirement. ''International Psychogeriatrics'', 28(10), 1659–1669. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610216000958 
Lam, J., and Bolano, D. (2018). Social and productive activities and health among partnered older adults: A couple-level analysis. ''Social Science & Medicine'', 229, 126-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.016 
Pin, S., & Spini, D. (2016). Impact of falling on social participation and social support trajectories in a middle-aged and elderly European sample. ''SSM - Population Health'', 2, 382–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2016.05.004 
Ravasi, C., Salamin, X., and Davoine, E. (2015). Cross-cultural adjustment of skilled migrants in a multicultural and multilingual environment: An explorative study of foreign employees and their spouses in the Swiss context. ''The International Journal of Human Resource Management'', 26(10), 1335-1359 
Semeraro, R. (2018). Migratory Life-Courses and Social Networks. Peruvian Men and Women in Switzerland. PhD thesis, University of Lausanne. 
Shane, J., & Heckhausen, J. (2016). Optimized Engagement Across Life Domains in Adult Development: Balancing Diversity and Interdomain Consequences. ''Research in Human Development'', 13(4), 280–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1234308 
Testa, M.R., and Bolano, D. (2019). Intentions and Childbearing in a cross-domain life course approach: the case of Australia. ''VID Working Papers'', 01/2019 
Widmer, E. D., Girardin, M., & Ludwig, C. (2017). Conflict Structures in Family Networks of Older Adults and Their Relationship With Health-Related Quality of Life. ''Journal of Family Issues'', 39(6), 1573-1597. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X17714507

Life domains

2020-10-09T14:41:55Z

Widmere:

Life domains are main fields of experience in which individual life course unfold. Family, education, work and leisure are often cited as a critical life domains.
 
 
In the life course literature, spillover effects occur when life domains influence each other. Decisions, events, and transitions in the work domain for instance may affect family configuration or health. We refer to crossover effects when the effects of life events and transitions go beyond, or cross, the life trajectory of the individual concerned and diffuse to related individuals such as members of his or her social network. For instance, temporary or permanent health problems of one member of the family may require various adaptation in the work and leisure activities of other family members.
 
 
The study of the determinants and consequences of life course transitions is challenging due to the several interdependencies across life domains and across related individuals. The Life Course Cube (Bernardi, Huinink and Settersten 2019) proposes a graphic representation of the complexity of the relationships that characterize the life of an individual. The axes of the cube represent three key dimensions: time, domains, and levels. The interconnection between those axes represent the individual behavior over time while interacting across levels (“micro”, “meso” and “macro”) and across life domains.
 
 
The interdependence across life domains means that decisions and events happened in one domain may have a strong influence into other life domains, creating spillover effects. For instance, the combined effect of family and working life on wellbeing (Comolli, Bernardi, and Voorpostel, 2020); the simultaneity of working and family life decisions across generations (Bolano and Bernardi, 2020); the link between working uncertainty and family formation decisions (Bolano and Vignoli, 2020); geographical mobility and professional and family careers (Semeraro, 2018); the difficulties of multiple goal pursuit (Freund, 2007). Spillover effects can also been seen as the resources generated or drained by one life domain that facilitate or hinder actions and well-being in another life domain (Bernardi, Bollmann, Potarca, and Rossier, 2017; Freund, Knecht, and Wiese, 2014). Negative spillovers may spread the consequences of hazards across life spheres (Pin and Spini, 2016; Widmer, Girardin, and Ludwig, 2017), whereas positive spillovers may trigger resilience or produce synergies (Ihle et al., 2016; Shane and Heckhausen, 2016). In the upcoming LIVES book, an entire section is dedicated to the interdependences across life domains.
 
 
The life course of an individual is characterized by interactions between levels (i.e., macro-meso-micro interaction) as well as within levels (e.g., across individuals). The interdependence across individuals indicates that changes in one person’s life patterns may lead to changes in other people’s lives as well, bringing to a dependence in the attitudes and behaviours of members of the same group or network (household, working place). These types of interactions are crossover effects. For example, studies have shown that fertility behaviour might spread across friends and generations (Bernardi, 2016). Studies have shown the mutual influences of couple’s member on fertility decisions (e.g., Hanappi et al. 2017; Testa and Bolano 2019), health (Lam and Bolano, 2018), migration and adaptaion (Ravasi, Salamin, and Davoine, 2015).
 
 
Resources and [[Reserves|reserves]] are associated with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] in specific life domains.

==References==
Bernardi, L., Bollmann, G., Potarca, G., & Rossier, J. (2017). Multidimensionality of well-being and spillover effects across life domains: How do parenthood and personality affect changes in domain-specific satisfaction? ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 26-51. 
Bolano, D., and Bernardi, L. (2020). Transition to Grandparenthood and Early Retirement: Interdependencies of Life Domains across Generations. Unpublished 
Bolano, D., and Vignoli, D., (2020). First Union Formation in Australia: Actual Constraints or Perceived Uncertainty? ''DISIA Working Paper'', 2020/07. 
Bernardi, L. (2016). The intergenerational transmission of fertility. In ''Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences'' (pp. 01-16). Hoboken US: John Wiley & Sons 10.1002/9781118900772.etrds0413 
Bernardi, L., Huinink, J., and Settersten Jr, R. A. (2019). The life course cube: A tool for studying lives. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 41. 
Comolli, C.L, Bernardi, L. and Voorpostel, M. (2020). Joint family and work trajectories and multidimensional wellbeing. Under review. 
Freund, A. M., Knecht, M., & Wiese, B. S. (2014). Multidomain engagement and self-reported psychosomatic symptoms in middle-aged women and men. ''Gerontology'', 60(3), 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1159/000358756 
Freund, A. M. (2007). Differentiating and integrating levels of goal representation: A life-span perspective. In ''B. R. Little, K. Salmela-Aro, & S. D. Phillips (Eds.), Personal project pursuit: Goals, action, and human flourishing'' (pp. 247–270). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. 
Hanappi, D., Ryser, V-A., Bernardi L., and Le Goff, J-M. (2017). Changes in Employment Uncertainty and the Fertility Intention–Realization Link: An Analysis Based on the Swiss Household Panel. ''European Journal of Population'', 33(3):381-407 DOI: 10.1007/s10680-016-9408-y 
Ihle, A., Grotz, C., Adam, S., Oris, M., Fagot, D., Gabriel, R., & Kliegel, M. (2016). The association of timing of retirement with cognitive performance in old age: The role of leisure activities after retirement. ''International Psychogeriatrics'', 28(10), 1659–1669. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610216000958 
Lam, J., and Bolano, D. (2018). Social and productive activities and health among partnered older adults: A couple-level analysis. ''Social Science & Medicine'', 229, 126-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.016 
Pin, S., & Spini, D. (2016). Impact of falling on social participation and social support trajectories in a middle-aged and elderly European sample. ''SSM - Population Health'', 2, 382–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2016.05.004 
Ravasi, C., Salamin, X., and Davoine, E. (2015). Cross-cultural adjustment of skilled migrants in a multicultural and multilingual environment: An explorative study of foreign employees and their spouses in the Swiss context. ''The International Journal of Human Resource Management'', 26(10), 1335-1359 
Semeraro, R. (2018). Migratory Life-Courses and Social Networks. Peruvian Men and Women in Switzerland. PhD thesis, University of Lausanne. 
Shane, J., & Heckhausen, J. (2016). Optimized Engagement Across Life Domains in Adult Development: Balancing Diversity and Interdomain Consequences. ''Research in Human Development'', 13(4), 280–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1234308 
Testa, M.R., and Bolano, D. (2019). Intentions and Childbearing in a cross-domain life course approach: the case of Australia. ''VID Working Papers'', 01/2019 
Widmer, E. D., Girardin, M., & Ludwig, C. (2017). Conflict Structures in Family Networks of Older Adults and Their Relationship With Health-Related Quality of Life. ''Journal of Family Issues'', 39(6), 1573-1597. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X17714507

Reserves

2020-10-08T20:46:18Z

Widmere: /* Thresholds */

Initially developed in neuroscience, the reserves concept was use to study the level of protection against cognitive damage (see “cognitive reserve”, e.g., Stern, 2009). In its extended understanding proposed by Cullati, Widmer and Kliegel (2018), the reserves concept can refer to all areas of life and must allow to better grasp [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] processes across the life course. In this context, reserves are defined as « the means needed not for immediate use but rather accumulated in a sufficient manner. Such means help overcome shocks and adversity and delay or modify the processes of decline in well-being, health, wealth and social life during aging. » (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 551). In other words, reserves refer to the various means available to individuals to face distributive events or transitions during life course. With respect to « [[Resources|resources]] », the notion of reserves highlights the time-oriented dimension of the means available to individuals to avoid or deal with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] by stressing their dynamics of constitution through accumulation, their processes of activation across life course, but also their risk of depletion when facing a critical life event, and possible need for reconstitution after depletion. The thresholds under which reserves cannot be transform into effective [[Resources|resources]] to face [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] are another issue raised by the reserves concept that is important in understanding [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] dynamics.
 
 
==Constitution : passive and active==
The constitution of reserves may refer to passive or active process (Cullati et al., 2018). Passive process of reserves constitution refers initially, regarding its origin in neurosciences, to innate (i.e. genetically determined) and very early acquired (typically through family environment or with school education) inter-individual differences that impact trajectories of cognitive functioning. In a more social sciences perspective, passive process refers also to social inequalities or the impact of social background on further life course conditions. Conversely, Cullati and colleagues argue also for an active model of constitution, where initial reserves can be changed across individual trajectories. For instance, reserves for cognition may be enhance through stimulating activities (e.g. Ihle et al., 2018). The development of social ties (e.g. friendship, colleagues, partner) is another example of the opportunities to developpe important reserves across life-course. In the end, taking into account these two principles of reserves constitution – passive and active - seems to be crucial to understand [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] and reserves dynamics and to examine [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|cumulative processes of (dis)advantages]] and trajectories of resilience.
 
 
==Activation, depletion and reconstitution==
While supporting the “active” perspective on reserves, various principles stress the time-dynamic dimension of this concept. The first is the plasticity principle that refers to the “use it or lose it” notion or the fact that activities contribute to the maintenance of the ability to function (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 553). In other word, this implies that reserves need to be activated through life course to be effective when needed; for instance, stimulating activities help preserve cognitive reserve or regular exchange contribute to maintain relational reserves.
Another step of reserves dynamic refers to their depletion when facing a critical life event. Indeed, reserves can decrease after their use or become inadequate over life course exigences, involving the need for individual to reconstitute their reserves. 
These various principles can vary in intensity among reserves types: for instance, friendship ties have been showed as asking more individual investment in their maintenance (notably through the reciprocity principle)in contrast with [[Family ties|family ties]] whose functioning would be more guided by solidarity norms and involves more automaticity (Allan, 2008). Beyond, historical changes have also an impact of the importance of individual investment in reserves dynamics. Indeed, in western societies after WWII, the standardized life course and its institutions (education, family, retirement), include a relative stable and coherent model of reserves that secure individual life course. With changes toward more destanstandardized society, constitution and activation of reserves, e.g. education or [[Family ties|family ties]], focus more on individual agency – in other word are less linear, secured and automatic. The more frequent and numerous life transitions and disruptive events that tend to happen during life course increase the use of reserves but also the risk of their depletion and the need of their reconstitution (Baeriswyl et al., submitted). Such issues may relate to successful achievement in [[Employability|employability]] and [[Career development|career development]].
 
 
 

==Thresholds==
[[Resources|Resources]] must be accumulated in a sufficient manner to constitute effective reserves. Under a certain threshold, reserves do not allow individual to face adverse life event or life transition and to continue functioning according to societal standards (Cullati et al., 2018). Understanding reserve thresholds is a crucial issue for social and health policy in order to establish appropriate measures for compensating the lack of individual reserves.
 
 

==Domains==
The composition of reserves includes various [[Life domains|life domains]]: education, social and family relationships, psychological and mental health, income and wealth. Of course, reserves issues vary among its various domain (e.g. expected outcomes depending on life areas or inequalities and individual differences in constitution or activation). Beyond, the various types of reserves and their outcomes interact across life course in complex [[Causality|causality]] chain – where [[Resources|resources]] are both outcomes and means of reserves accumulation - that contribute thus to explain individual [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] trajectories (Cullati et al., 2018; Spini et al., 2017).
 
 

==References==
Allan, G. (2008). Flexibility, friendship, and family. ''Personal Relationships'', 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00181.x 
Baeriswyl, M., Widmer, E. D., & Oris, M. (submitted). A reserves perspective on education over recent historical time in Switzerland. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2, 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3 
Ihle, A., Ghisletta, P., Ballhausen, N., Fagot, D., Vallet, F., Baeriswyl, M., Sauter, J., Oris, M., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2018). The role of cognitive reserve accumulated in midlife for the relation between chronic diseases and cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal follow-up across six years. ''Neuropsychologia'', 121, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.013 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework for studying vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1268892 
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. ''Neuropsychologia'', 47(10), 2015–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004

Reserves

2020-10-08T20:45:40Z

Widmere:

Initially developed in neuroscience, the reserves concept was use to study the level of protection against cognitive damage (see “cognitive reserve”, e.g., Stern, 2009). In its extended understanding proposed by Cullati, Widmer and Kliegel (2018), the reserves concept can refer to all areas of life and must allow to better grasp [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] processes across the life course. In this context, reserves are defined as « the means needed not for immediate use but rather accumulated in a sufficient manner. Such means help overcome shocks and adversity and delay or modify the processes of decline in well-being, health, wealth and social life during aging. » (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 551). In other words, reserves refer to the various means available to individuals to face distributive events or transitions during life course. With respect to « [[Resources|resources]] », the notion of reserves highlights the time-oriented dimension of the means available to individuals to avoid or deal with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] by stressing their dynamics of constitution through accumulation, their processes of activation across life course, but also their risk of depletion when facing a critical life event, and possible need for reconstitution after depletion. The thresholds under which reserves cannot be transform into effective [[Resources|resources]] to face [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] are another issue raised by the reserves concept that is important in understanding [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] dynamics.
 
 
==Constitution : passive and active==
The constitution of reserves may refer to passive or active process (Cullati et al., 2018). Passive process of reserves constitution refers initially, regarding its origin in neurosciences, to innate (i.e. genetically determined) and very early acquired (typically through family environment or with school education) inter-individual differences that impact trajectories of cognitive functioning. In a more social sciences perspective, passive process refers also to social inequalities or the impact of social background on further life course conditions. Conversely, Cullati and colleagues argue also for an active model of constitution, where initial reserves can be changed across individual trajectories. For instance, reserves for cognition may be enhance through stimulating activities (e.g. Ihle et al., 2018). The development of social ties (e.g. friendship, colleagues, partner) is another example of the opportunities to developpe important reserves across life-course. In the end, taking into account these two principles of reserves constitution – passive and active - seems to be crucial to understand [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] and reserves dynamics and to examine [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|cumulative processes of (dis)advantages]] and trajectories of resilience.
 
 
==Activation, depletion and reconstitution==
While supporting the “active” perspective on reserves, various principles stress the time-dynamic dimension of this concept. The first is the plasticity principle that refers to the “use it or lose it” notion or the fact that activities contribute to the maintenance of the ability to function (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 553). In other word, this implies that reserves need to be activated through life course to be effective when needed; for instance, stimulating activities help preserve cognitive reserve or regular exchange contribute to maintain relational reserves.
Another step of reserves dynamic refers to their depletion when facing a critical life event. Indeed, reserves can decrease after their use or become inadequate over life course exigences, involving the need for individual to reconstitute their reserves. 
These various principles can vary in intensity among reserves types: for instance, friendship ties have been showed as asking more individual investment in their maintenance (notably through the reciprocity principle)in contrast with [[Family ties|family ties]] whose functioning would be more guided by solidarity norms and involves more automaticity (Allan, 2008). Beyond, historical changes have also an impact of the importance of individual investment in reserves dynamics. Indeed, in western societies after WWII, the standardized life course and its institutions (education, family, retirement), include a relative stable and coherent model of reserves that secure individual life course. With changes toward more destanstandardized society, constitution and activation of reserves, e.g. education or [[Family ties|family ties]], focus more on individual agency – in other word are less linear, secured and automatic. The more frequent and numerous life transitions and disruptive events that tend to happen during life course increase the use of reserves but also the risk of their depletion and the need of their reconstitution (Baeriswyl et al., submitted). Such issues may relate to successful achievement in [[Employability|employability]] and [[Career development|career development]].
 
 
 

==Thresholds==
[[Resources|Resources]] must be accumulated in a sufficient manner to constitute effective reserves. Under a certain threshold, reserves do not allow individual to face adverse life event or life transition and to continue functioning according to societal standards (Cullati et al., 2018). Understanding reserves threshold is a crucial issue for social and health policy in order to establish appropriate measures for compensating the lack of individual reserves.
 
 
==Domains==
The composition of reserves includes various [[Life domains|life domains]]: education, social and family relationships, psychological and mental health, income and wealth. Of course, reserves issues vary among its various domain (e.g. expected outcomes depending on life areas or inequalities and individual differences in constitution or activation). Beyond, the various types of reserves and their outcomes interact across life course in complex [[Causality|causality]] chain – where [[Resources|resources]] are both outcomes and means of reserves accumulation - that contribute thus to explain individual [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] trajectories (Cullati et al., 2018; Spini et al., 2017).
 
 

==References==
Allan, G. (2008). Flexibility, friendship, and family. ''Personal Relationships'', 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00181.x 
Baeriswyl, M., Widmer, E. D., & Oris, M. (submitted). A reserves perspective on education over recent historical time in Switzerland. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2, 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3 
Ihle, A., Ghisletta, P., Ballhausen, N., Fagot, D., Vallet, F., Baeriswyl, M., Sauter, J., Oris, M., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2018). The role of cognitive reserve accumulated in midlife for the relation between chronic diseases and cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal follow-up across six years. ''Neuropsychologia'', 121, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.013 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework for studying vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1268892 
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. ''Neuropsychologia'', 47(10), 2015–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004

Meso level

2020-10-08T20:40:21Z

Widmere: /* Network perspectives */

The macro-micro divide has been on the foreground of the social science debate since its inception. While the macro-level identifies societal structures characterizing institutional and normative settings, the micro-level captures behavioral, cognitive, and emotional processes at the individual level. In this sense, the macro-level is synonymous of «global», «system» or «structure», opposed to the microscopic insight on the «actors», their «behaviors» or «agency» (Alexander, 1987). Emerging from this debate, more recently social scientists have proposed to differentiate between three interdependent micro-, meso- and macro-levels to improve understanding of an increasingly complex social world (Levy, 2012). In this framework, the term “meso” has been used to define intermediate units of analysis among economists, anthropologists, sociologists, criminologists or social psychologists. Although many epistemic differences emerge from this literature, network analysts seem to provide a consistent attempt to operationalize this notion for an interdisciplinary audience (Lazega & Snijders, 2015).
 
 
==Definition and use across disciplines==
What ‘in between’ means thus reflects differences across disciplines and approaches. Nevertheless, what social scientists who use this notion have most in common is their research of the processes where the interaction between micro and macro can be observed (Vacchiano & Spini, 2020). In this respect, Lazega and Snijders (2015) claim that network analysis has provided the most consistent attempt to address this issue. The reason is that by conceptualizing the emergence of social interactions as different types of networks, scholars can streamline the opportunities and constraints arising from social relationships as a juncture within the micro-macro gap. The reason is that one of the main assumptions of network theory is that social relationships can be studied as social contexts: that is, personal networks can be seen as aggregate units of analysis located at a level of social reality higher than individuals (Van Duijn, Van Busschbach & Snijders, 2009). Although individuals are constantly interwoven with other people during the flux of social life, networks are different from face-to face encounters, because they are constituted by a (more and less) stable set of participants. This means that networks follow a hierarchical structure, and thus, individuals are nested within enduring forms of social relationships that provide structural opportunities and constraints (Emirbayer, 1997; Bourdieu, 1986).
 
 
==Network perspectives==
What ‘in between’ means reflects differences across disciplines and approaches. Nevertheless, what social scientists who use this notion have most in common is their emphasis on considering contexts that are more proximate than macro-social ones, thus addressing individuals’ opportunities and constraints more concretely. In this respect, Lazega and Snijders (2015) claim that network analysis has provided the most consistent attempt to address this issue. The reason is that by conceptualizing the emergence of interactions as different types of networks, scholars can streamline the opportunities and constraints arising from social relationships as a juncture within the micro-macro gap. The reason is that one of the main assumptions of network theory is that social relationships can be studied as social contexts: ego, personal networks can be seen as aggregate units of analysis located at a level of social reality higher than individuals (Van Duijn, Van Busschbach and Snijders, 2009). Although individuals are constantly interwoven with other people during the flux of social life, networks are different from face-to face encounters, because they are constituted by a (more and less) stable set of participants. This means that networks follow a hierarchical structure, and thus, individuals are nested within enduring forms of relational opportunities and constraints at the meso-level (Emirbayer, 1997; Bourdieu, 1986) that potentially shape individual [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] .
 
 

==References==
Alexander, J. (1987). ''The Micro-Macro Link''. Berkeley. California: University of California Press. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In''J. G. Richardson (eds), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'', New York: Greenwood. 
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Recent advances in research on the ecology of human development. In ''Development as action in context'' (pp. 287-309). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. 
De Munck, V. (1994). A Micro-, Meso-, and Macro-level Descriptive Analysis of Disputes within a Social Network. A Study of Household Relations in a Sri Lankan Community. ''Anthropos'', 89, 85-94. 
Dopfer, K., Foster, J. & Poots, J. (2004) Micro–Meso–Macro. ''Journal of Evolutionary Economics'', 14, 263–279. 
Emirbayer, M. (1997). Manifesto for a relational sociology. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 103(2), 281–317. 
Giuliani, E. & Bell, M. (2005). The micro-determinants of meso-level learning and innovation: evidence from a Chilean wine cluster. ''Research Policy'', 34, 47-68 
Jaspal, R., Carriere, K.R. & Moghaddam, F. M. (2015). Bridging Micro, Meso, and Macro Processes in Social Psychology. In ''J Valsiner et al. (eds.), Psychology as the Science of Human Being''. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. 
Kristjanson P., Radeny, M,, Baltenweck, I., Ogutu, J. & Notenbaert, A. (2005). Livelihood mapping and poverty correlates at a meso-level in Kenya. ''Food Policy'', 30, 568– 583. 
Lazega, E. &. Snijders, T. (2015). ''Multilevel Network Analysis for the Social Sciences: Theory, Methods and Applications''. Oxford: Springer.
Levy, R. (2002). Meso-social Structures and Stratification Analysis - a Missing Link?. ''Swiss Journal of Sociology'', 28(2), 193-216. 
McCarthy, T. (eds) (2011). ''Ethnography and language policy''. London: Routledge. 
Reid, L., Sutton, P., & Hunter, C. (2009). Theorizing the meso level: the household as a crucible of pro-environmental behaviour. ''Progress in Human Geography'', 34(3), 309–327. 
Vacchiano, M. & Spini, D. (2020). Networked Lives. ''LIVES Working Papers''. In press. 
Van Duijn, M., Van Busschbach, J. & Snijders, T. (1999). Multilevel Analysis of Personal Networks as Dependent Variables. ''Social Networks'', 21(2), 187-210.

Meso level

2020-10-08T20:38:04Z

Widmere: /* Network perspectives */

The macro-micro divide has been on the foreground of the social science debate since its inception. While the macro-level identifies societal structures characterizing institutional and normative settings, the micro-level captures behavioral, cognitive, and emotional processes at the individual level. In this sense, the macro-level is synonymous of «global», «system» or «structure», opposed to the microscopic insight on the «actors», their «behaviors» or «agency» (Alexander, 1987). Emerging from this debate, more recently social scientists have proposed to differentiate between three interdependent micro-, meso- and macro-levels to improve understanding of an increasingly complex social world (Levy, 2012). In this framework, the term “meso” has been used to define intermediate units of analysis among economists, anthropologists, sociologists, criminologists or social psychologists. Although many epistemic differences emerge from this literature, network analysts seem to provide a consistent attempt to operationalize this notion for an interdisciplinary audience (Lazega & Snijders, 2015).
 
 
==Definition and use across disciplines==
What ‘in between’ means thus reflects differences across disciplines and approaches. Nevertheless, what social scientists who use this notion have most in common is their research of the processes where the interaction between micro and macro can be observed (Vacchiano & Spini, 2020). In this respect, Lazega and Snijders (2015) claim that network analysis has provided the most consistent attempt to address this issue. The reason is that by conceptualizing the emergence of social interactions as different types of networks, scholars can streamline the opportunities and constraints arising from social relationships as a juncture within the micro-macro gap. The reason is that one of the main assumptions of network theory is that social relationships can be studied as social contexts: that is, personal networks can be seen as aggregate units of analysis located at a level of social reality higher than individuals (Van Duijn, Van Busschbach & Snijders, 2009). Although individuals are constantly interwoven with other people during the flux of social life, networks are different from face-to face encounters, because they are constituted by a (more and less) stable set of participants. This means that networks follow a hierarchical structure, and thus, individuals are nested within enduring forms of social relationships that provide structural opportunities and constraints (Emirbayer, 1997; Bourdieu, 1986).
 
 
==Network perspectives==
What ‘in between’ means reflects differences across disciplines and approaches. Nevertheless, what social scientists who use this notion have most in common is their emphasis on considering contexts that are more proximate than macro-social ones, thus addressing individuals’ opportunities and constraints more concretely. In this respect, Lazega and Snijders (2015) claim that network analysis has provided the most consistent attempt to address this issue. The reason is that by conceptualizing the emergence of interactions as different types of networks, scholars can streamline the opportunities and constraints arising from social relationships as a juncture within the micro-macro gap. The reason is that one of the main assumptions of network theory is that social relationships can be studied as social contexts: ego, personal networks can be seen as aggregate units of analysis located at a level of social reality higher than individuals (Van Duijn, Van Busschbach and Snijders, 2009). Although individuals are constantly interwoven with other people during the flux of social life, networks are different from face-to face encounters, because they are constituted by a (more and less) stable set of participants. This means that networks follow a hierarchical structure, and thus, individuals are nested within enduring forms of social relationships that provide the meso-level opportunities and constraints (Emirbayer, 1997; Bourdieu, 1986) that shape individual vulnerability.
 
 

==References==
Alexander, J. (1987). ''The Micro-Macro Link''. Berkeley. California: University of California Press. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In''J. G. Richardson (eds), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'', New York: Greenwood. 
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Recent advances in research on the ecology of human development. In ''Development as action in context'' (pp. 287-309). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. 
De Munck, V. (1994). A Micro-, Meso-, and Macro-level Descriptive Analysis of Disputes within a Social Network. A Study of Household Relations in a Sri Lankan Community. ''Anthropos'', 89, 85-94. 
Dopfer, K., Foster, J. & Poots, J. (2004) Micro–Meso–Macro. ''Journal of Evolutionary Economics'', 14, 263–279. 
Emirbayer, M. (1997). Manifesto for a relational sociology. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 103(2), 281–317. 
Giuliani, E. & Bell, M. (2005). The micro-determinants of meso-level learning and innovation: evidence from a Chilean wine cluster. ''Research Policy'', 34, 47-68 
Jaspal, R., Carriere, K.R. & Moghaddam, F. M. (2015). Bridging Micro, Meso, and Macro Processes in Social Psychology. In ''J Valsiner et al. (eds.), Psychology as the Science of Human Being''. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. 
Kristjanson P., Radeny, M,, Baltenweck, I., Ogutu, J. & Notenbaert, A. (2005). Livelihood mapping and poverty correlates at a meso-level in Kenya. ''Food Policy'', 30, 568– 583. 
Lazega, E. &. Snijders, T. (2015). ''Multilevel Network Analysis for the Social Sciences: Theory, Methods and Applications''. Oxford: Springer.
Levy, R. (2002). Meso-social Structures and Stratification Analysis - a Missing Link?. ''Swiss Journal of Sociology'', 28(2), 193-216. 
McCarthy, T. (eds) (2011). ''Ethnography and language policy''. London: Routledge. 
Reid, L., Sutton, P., & Hunter, C. (2009). Theorizing the meso level: the household as a crucible of pro-environmental behaviour. ''Progress in Human Geography'', 34(3), 309–327. 
Vacchiano, M. & Spini, D. (2020). Networked Lives. ''LIVES Working Papers''. In press. 
Van Duijn, M., Van Busschbach, J. & Snijders, T. (1999). Multilevel Analysis of Personal Networks as Dependent Variables. ''Social Networks'', 21(2), 187-210.

Social capital

2020-10-08T20:36:07Z

Widmere: /* References */

The notion of social capital expresses the idea that networks of relationships, in their multiple forms, have an intrinsic value that is beneficial for individual and collective action. Since the appearance of this concept in the academic field, studies on social capital have grown exponentially in different body of literature, thus constituting a vast and heterogeneous production. Although the positive effect of networks is a classic issue in social sciences—e.g., a subject already addressed by Tönnies' Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft debate or in the Durkheimian concept of anomie—the conceptualization of social capital provided new vitality to the study of social relationships starting from the late 80's. In addition, the exponential growth of social capital analyses made this concept goes beyond the academic barriers, capturing the interest of the institutional discourse and the political agenda (Portes, 1998).
 
 
==Origin of the concept==
Three authors are considered the main contributors to the initial disclosure of the concept of social capital: Robert Putnam, James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu. For Putnam (2000) social capital is an expression of societal virtues. Communities with fruitful webs of connections, Putnam (2000) argues, generate a "stock" of social [[Resources (personal, social, economic, etc.)|resources]] that facilitate the societal coordination, and that can also help individuals to achieve their purposes. Similarly, for Coleman (1988) the relationships within a community have a specific function: they facilitate agents’ actions to accomplish goals and needs. Compared to these perspectives, Bourdieu's vision on social capital put major emphasis on this notion as individual good. The reason is that in Bourdieu (1986) social capital is linked to the possession of an enduring network of relationship that provide potential resources, such as information, influence, knowledge or social support. These resources represent thus a social capital that can be measured by looking the number of individual's connections, and also the volume of economic, cultural or symbolic capital possessed by each individual's ties (Bourdieu, 1986). Bourdieu's definition is what most is linked with Social Network Analysis (SNA) perspective (Wasserman and Faust, 2001).
 
 
==Current issues==
Many research areas on social capital have thus grown in the last three decades, such as labour market (Lin, 2001; Smith and Young, 2017) and [[Family ties|family]] studies (Widmer, 2006), epidemiology (Valente, 2010), physical and mental health issues (Kawachi and Berkman, 2014; Ehsan et al., 2019). Theoretical and methodological advances have led to the conceptualization of different forms of bonding, bridging or linking social capital to understand the transmission of support (Rostila, 2011) or information (Granovetter, 1985) and how contacts link individuals to authorities (Szreter and Woolcock, 2004). SNA has contributed substantially to the conceptualization of these mechanisms (Burt, 2010), and it has now been considered a roadmap to strengthen links with the life course perspective (Alwin et al., 2018) and to extend inquiries on social capital to the digital world (Lu and Hampton, 2017). In addition, there is increasing emphasis among scholars on extending the analysis of what is called the 'dark side of social capital', and how networks can be a source of vulnerability through conflicts and barriers to resources (Everett and Borgatti, 2014).
 
 
Recent Lives work has proposed to conceptualize social capital as [[Reserves|reserves]] (Cullati et al., 2018).
 

==References==
Alwin, Duane F., Diane H. Felmlee, and Derek A. Kreager. 2018. ''Social Networks and the Life Course. Integrating the Development of Human Lives and Social Relational Networks''. Basel: Springer International Publishing. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In ''Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'' , edited by J. G. Richardson (pp. 241-58). New York : Greenwood. 
Burt, R. S. (2010). ''Neighbor Networks''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
Burt, R. S. (1992). ''Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition''. Cambridge:Harvard Univesrity Press. 
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 94, S95-120. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. Nature Human Behaviour, 2, 551–558. 
Ehsan, A., Klaas, H. S., Bastianen, A., & Spini, D. (2019). Social capital and health: A systematic review of systematic reviews. ''SSM-population health'', 100425 
Everett, M., & Borgatti, S. (2014). Networks containing negative ties. ''Social Networks'', 38(1): 111–120. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2014.03.005 
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 91(3):481-510. 
Lin, N. (2001). ''Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action''. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. 
Lu,W., & Hampton, K. N. (2017). Beyond the power of networks. ''New Media & Society'', 19(6), 861–879. doi:10.1177/1461444815621514 
Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2014). Social capital, social cohesion, and health. ''Social Epidemiology'', 2, 290–319. 
Putnam, R. D. (2000). ''Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of AmericanCommunity''. New York: Touchstone. 
Rostila (2011). The facets of social capital. ''J. Theory Soc. Behav.'', 41 (3), 308- 326. 
Smith, S. S., & Young, K. A. (2017). Want, need, fit: The cultural logics of job-matching assistance. ''Work and Occupations'', 44(2), 171–209. 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L. & Oris, M. (2017). Vulnerability Across the LifeCourse. ''Research in Human Development'', 14:1, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2016.1268891 
Szreter, S. and Woolcock, M. (2004). Health by Association? Social Capital, Social Theory, and the Political Economy of Public Health.''International Journal of Epidemiology'' 33(4), 650–667. 
Wasserman, S., and Katherine F. (1994). ''Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 
Widmer, E. (2006). Who are my family members? Bridging and binding social capital in family configurations. ''J. Soc. Pers. Relatsh.'' 23, 979–998.

Social capital

2020-10-08T20:35:41Z

Widmere: /* References */

The notion of social capital expresses the idea that networks of relationships, in their multiple forms, have an intrinsic value that is beneficial for individual and collective action. Since the appearance of this concept in the academic field, studies on social capital have grown exponentially in different body of literature, thus constituting a vast and heterogeneous production. Although the positive effect of networks is a classic issue in social sciences—e.g., a subject already addressed by Tönnies' Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft debate or in the Durkheimian concept of anomie—the conceptualization of social capital provided new vitality to the study of social relationships starting from the late 80's. In addition, the exponential growth of social capital analyses made this concept goes beyond the academic barriers, capturing the interest of the institutional discourse and the political agenda (Portes, 1998).
 
 
==Origin of the concept==
Three authors are considered the main contributors to the initial disclosure of the concept of social capital: Robert Putnam, James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu. For Putnam (2000) social capital is an expression of societal virtues. Communities with fruitful webs of connections, Putnam (2000) argues, generate a "stock" of social [[Resources (personal, social, economic, etc.)|resources]] that facilitate the societal coordination, and that can also help individuals to achieve their purposes. Similarly, for Coleman (1988) the relationships within a community have a specific function: they facilitate agents’ actions to accomplish goals and needs. Compared to these perspectives, Bourdieu's vision on social capital put major emphasis on this notion as individual good. The reason is that in Bourdieu (1986) social capital is linked to the possession of an enduring network of relationship that provide potential resources, such as information, influence, knowledge or social support. These resources represent thus a social capital that can be measured by looking the number of individual's connections, and also the volume of economic, cultural or symbolic capital possessed by each individual's ties (Bourdieu, 1986). Bourdieu's definition is what most is linked with Social Network Analysis (SNA) perspective (Wasserman and Faust, 2001).
 
 
==Current issues==
Many research areas on social capital have thus grown in the last three decades, such as labour market (Lin, 2001; Smith and Young, 2017) and [[Family ties|family]] studies (Widmer, 2006), epidemiology (Valente, 2010), physical and mental health issues (Kawachi and Berkman, 2014; Ehsan et al., 2019). Theoretical and methodological advances have led to the conceptualization of different forms of bonding, bridging or linking social capital to understand the transmission of support (Rostila, 2011) or information (Granovetter, 1985) and how contacts link individuals to authorities (Szreter and Woolcock, 2004). SNA has contributed substantially to the conceptualization of these mechanisms (Burt, 2010), and it has now been considered a roadmap to strengthen links with the life course perspective (Alwin et al., 2018) and to extend inquiries on social capital to the digital world (Lu and Hampton, 2017). In addition, there is increasing emphasis among scholars on extending the analysis of what is called the 'dark side of social capital', and how networks can be a source of vulnerability through conflicts and barriers to resources (Everett and Borgatti, 2014).
 
 
Recent Lives work has proposed to conceptualize social capital as [[Reserves|reserves]] (Cullati et al., 2018).
 

==References==
Alwin, Duane F., Diane H. Felmlee, and Derek A. Kreager. 2018. ''Social Networks and the Life Course. Integrating the Development of Human Lives and Social Relational Networks''. Basel: Springer International Publishing. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In ''Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'' , edited by J. G. Richardson (pp. 241-58). New York : Greenwood. 
Burt, R. S. (2010). ''Neighbor Networks''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
Burt, R. S. (1992). ''Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition''. Cambridge:Harvard Univesrity Press. 
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 94, S95-120. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. Nature Human Behaviour, 2, 551–558.
Ehsan, A., Klaas, H. S., Bastianen, A., & Spini, D. (2019). Social capital and health: A systematic review of systematic reviews. ''SSM-population health'', 100425 
Everett, M., & Borgatti, S. (2014). Networks containing negative ties. ''Social Networks'', 38(1): 111–120. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2014.03.005 
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 91(3):481-510. 
Lin, N. (2001). ''Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action''. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. 
Lu,W., & Hampton, K. N. (2017). Beyond the power of networks. ''New Media & Society'', 19(6), 861–879. doi:10.1177/1461444815621514 
Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2014). Social capital, social cohesion, and health. ''Social Epidemiology'', 2, 290–319. 
Putnam, R. D. (2000). ''Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of AmericanCommunity''. New York: Touchstone. 
Rostila (2011). The facets of social capital. ''J. Theory Soc. Behav.'', 41 (3), 308- 326. 
Smith, S. S., & Young, K. A. (2017). Want, need, fit: The cultural logics of job-matching assistance. ''Work and Occupations'', 44(2), 171–209. 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L. & Oris, M. (2017). Vulnerability Across the LifeCourse. ''Research in Human Development'', 14:1, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2016.1268891 
Szreter, S. and Woolcock, M. (2004). Health by Association? Social Capital, Social Theory, and the Political Economy of Public Health.''International Journal of Epidemiology'' 33(4), 650–667. 
Wasserman, S., and Katherine F. (1994). ''Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 
Widmer, E. (2006). Who are my family members? Bridging and binding social capital in family configurations. ''J. Soc. Pers. Relatsh.'' 23, 979–998.

Social capital

2020-10-08T20:34:20Z

Widmere: /* Current issues */

The notion of social capital expresses the idea that networks of relationships, in their multiple forms, have an intrinsic value that is beneficial for individual and collective action. Since the appearance of this concept in the academic field, studies on social capital have grown exponentially in different body of literature, thus constituting a vast and heterogeneous production. Although the positive effect of networks is a classic issue in social sciences—e.g., a subject already addressed by Tönnies' Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft debate or in the Durkheimian concept of anomie—the conceptualization of social capital provided new vitality to the study of social relationships starting from the late 80's. In addition, the exponential growth of social capital analyses made this concept goes beyond the academic barriers, capturing the interest of the institutional discourse and the political agenda (Portes, 1998).
 
 
==Origin of the concept==
Three authors are considered the main contributors to the initial disclosure of the concept of social capital: Robert Putnam, James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu. For Putnam (2000) social capital is an expression of societal virtues. Communities with fruitful webs of connections, Putnam (2000) argues, generate a "stock" of social [[Resources (personal, social, economic, etc.)|resources]] that facilitate the societal coordination, and that can also help individuals to achieve their purposes. Similarly, for Coleman (1988) the relationships within a community have a specific function: they facilitate agents’ actions to accomplish goals and needs. Compared to these perspectives, Bourdieu's vision on social capital put major emphasis on this notion as individual good. The reason is that in Bourdieu (1986) social capital is linked to the possession of an enduring network of relationship that provide potential resources, such as information, influence, knowledge or social support. These resources represent thus a social capital that can be measured by looking the number of individual's connections, and also the volume of economic, cultural or symbolic capital possessed by each individual's ties (Bourdieu, 1986). Bourdieu's definition is what most is linked with Social Network Analysis (SNA) perspective (Wasserman and Faust, 2001).
 
 
==Current issues==
Many research areas on social capital have thus grown in the last three decades, such as labour market (Lin, 2001; Smith and Young, 2017) and [[Family ties|family]] studies (Widmer, 2006), epidemiology (Valente, 2010), physical and mental health issues (Kawachi and Berkman, 2014; Ehsan et al., 2019). Theoretical and methodological advances have led to the conceptualization of different forms of bonding, bridging or linking social capital to understand the transmission of support (Rostila, 2011) or information (Granovetter, 1985) and how contacts link individuals to authorities (Szreter and Woolcock, 2004). SNA has contributed substantially to the conceptualization of these mechanisms (Burt, 2010), and it has now been considered a roadmap to strengthen links with the life course perspective (Alwin et al., 2018) and to extend inquiries on social capital to the digital world (Lu and Hampton, 2017). In addition, there is increasing emphasis among scholars on extending the analysis of what is called the 'dark side of social capital', and how networks can be a source of vulnerability through conflicts and barriers to resources (Everett and Borgatti, 2014).
 
 
Recent Lives work has proposed to conceptualize social capital as [[Reserves|reserves]] (Cullati et al., 2018).
 

==References==
Alwin, Duane F., Diane H. Felmlee, and Derek A. Kreager. 2018. ''Social Networks and the Life Course. Integrating the Development of Human Lives and Social Relational Networks''. Basel: Springer International Publishing. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In ''Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'' , edited by J. G. Richardson (pp. 241-58). New York : Greenwood. 
Burt, R. S. (2010). ''Neighbor Networks''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
Burt, R. S. (1992). ''Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition''. Cambridge:Harvard Univesrity Press. 
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 94, S95-120. 
Ehsan, A., Klaas, H. S., Bastianen, A., & Spini, D. (2019). Social capital and health: A systematic review of systematic reviews. ''SSM-population health'', 100425 
Everett, M., & Borgatti, S. (2014). Networks containing negative ties. ''Social Networks'', 38(1): 111–120. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2014.03.005 
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 91(3):481-510. 
Lin, N. (2001). ''Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action''. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. 
Lu,W., & Hampton, K. N. (2017). Beyond the power of networks. ''New Media & Society'', 19(6), 861–879. doi:10.1177/1461444815621514 
Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2014). Social capital, social cohesion, and health. ''Social Epidemiology'', 2, 290–319. 
Putnam, R. D. (2000). ''Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of AmericanCommunity''. New York: Touchstone. 
Rostila (2011). The facets of social capital. ''J. Theory Soc. Behav.'', 41 (3), 308- 326. 
Smith, S. S., & Young, K. A. (2017). Want, need, fit: The cultural logics of job-matching assistance. ''Work and Occupations'', 44(2), 171–209. 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L. & Oris, M. (2017). Vulnerability Across the LifeCourse. ''Research in Human Development'', 14:1, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2016.1268891 
Szreter, S. and Woolcock, M. (2004). Health by Association? Social Capital, Social Theory, and the Political Economy of Public Health.''International Journal of Epidemiology'' 33(4), 650–667. 
Wasserman, S., and Katherine F. (1994). ''Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 
Widmer, E. (2006). Who are my family members? Bridging and binding social capital in family configurations. ''J. Soc. Pers. Relatsh.'' 23, 979–998.

Reserves

2020-10-08T20:26:26Z

Widmere: /* Domains */

Initially developed in neuroscience, the reserves concept was use to study the level of protection against cognitive damage (see “cognitive reserve”, e.g., Stern, 2009). In its extended understanding proposed by Cullati, Widmer and Kliegel (2018), the reserves concept can refer to all areas of life and must allow to better grasp [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] processes across the life course. In this context, reserves are defined as « the means needed not for immediate use but rather accumulated in a sufficient manner. Such means help overcome shocks and adversity and delay or modify the processes of decline in well-being, health, wealth and social life during aging. » (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 551). In other words, reserves refer to the various means available to individuals to face distributive events or transitions during life course. With respect to « [[Resources|resources]] », the notion of reserves highlights the time-oriented dimension of the means available to individuals to avoid or deal with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] by stressing their dynamics of constitution through accumulation, their processes of activation across life course, but also their risk of depletion when facing a critical life event, and possible need for reconstitution after depletion. The thresholds under which reserves cannot be transform into effective [[Resources|resources]] to face [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] are another issue raised by the reserves concept that is important in understanding [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] dynamics.
 
 
==Constitution : passive and active==
The constitution of reserves may refer to passive or active process (Cullati et al., 2018). Passive process of reserves constitution refers initially, regarding its origin in neurosciences, to innate (i.e. genetically determined) and very early acquired (typically through family environment or with school education) inter-individual differences that impact trajectories of cognitive functioning. In a more social sciences perspective, passive process refers also to social inequalities or the impact of social background on further life course conditions. Conversely, Cullati and colleagues argue also for an active model of constitution, where initial reserves can be changed across individual trajectories. For instance, reserves for cognition may be enhance through stimulating activities (e.g. Ihle et al., 2018). The development of social ties (e.g. friendship, colleagues, partner) is another example of the opportunities to developpe important reserves across life-course. In the end, taking into account these two principles of reserves constitution – passive and active - seems to be crucial to understand [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] and reserves dynamics and to examine [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|cumulative processes of (dis)advantages]] and trajectories of resilience.
 
 
==Activation, depletion and reconstitution==
While supporting the “active” perspective on reserves, various principles stress the time-dynamic dimension of this concept. The first is the plasticity principle that refers to the “use it or lose it” notion or the fact that activities contribute to the maintenance of the ability to function (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 553). In other word, this implies that reserves need to be activated through life course to be effective when needed; for instance, stimulating activities help preserve cognitive reserve or regular exchange contribute to maintain relational reserves.
Another step of reserves dynamic refers to their depletion when facing a critical life event. Indeed, reserves can decrease after their use or become inadequate over life course exigences, involving the need for individual to reconstitute their reserves. 
These various principles can vary in intensity among reserves types: for instance, friendship ties have been showed as asking more individual investment in their maintenance (notably through the reciprocity principle)in contrast with [[Family ties|family ties]] whose functioning would be more guided by solidarity norms and involves more automaticity (Allan, 2008). Beyond, historical changes have also an impact of the importance of individual investment in reserves dynamics. Indeed, in western societies after WWII, the standardized life course and its institutions (education, family, retirement), include a relative stable and coherent model of reserves that secure individual life course. With changes toward more destanstandardized society, constitution and activation of reserves, e.g. education or [[Family ties|family ties]], focus more on individual agency – in other word are less linear, secured and automatic. The more frequent and numerous life transitions and disruptive events that tend to happen during life course increase the use of reserves but also the risk of their depletion and the need of their reconstitution (Baeriswyl et al., submitted). Such issues may relate to successful achievement in [[Employability|employability]] and [[Career development|career development]].
 
 
 

==Threshold==
[[Resources|Resources]] must be accumulated in a sufficient manner to constitute effective reserves. Under a certain threshold, reserves do not allow individual to face adverse life event or life transition and to continue functioning according to societal standards (Cullati et al., 2018). Understanding reserves threshold is a crucial issue for social and health policy in order to establish appropriate measures for compensating the lack of individual reserves.
 
 
==Domains==
The composition of reserves includes various [[Life domains|life domains]]: education, social and family relationships, psychological and mental health, income and wealth. Of course, reserves issues vary among its various domain (e.g. expected outcomes depending on life areas or inequalities and individual differences in constitution or activation). Beyond, the various types of reserves and their outcomes interact across life course in complex [[Causality|causality]] chain – where [[Resources|resources]] are both outcomes and means of reserves accumulation - that contribute thus to explain individual [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] trajectories (Cullati et al., 2018; Spini et al., 2017).
 
 

==References==
Allan, G. (2008). Flexibility, friendship, and family. ''Personal Relationships'', 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00181.x 
Baeriswyl, M., Widmer, E. D., & Oris, M. (submitted). A reserves perspective on education over recent historical time in Switzerland. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2, 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3 
Ihle, A., Ghisletta, P., Ballhausen, N., Fagot, D., Vallet, F., Baeriswyl, M., Sauter, J., Oris, M., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2018). The role of cognitive reserve accumulated in midlife for the relation between chronic diseases and cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal follow-up across six years. ''Neuropsychologia'', 121, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.013 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework for studying vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1268892 
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. ''Neuropsychologia'', 47(10), 2015–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004

Reserves

2020-10-08T20:25:44Z

Widmere: /* Domains */

Initially developed in neuroscience, the reserves concept was use to study the level of protection against cognitive damage (see “cognitive reserve”, e.g., Stern, 2009). In its extended understanding proposed by Cullati, Widmer and Kliegel (2018), the reserves concept can refer to all areas of life and must allow to better grasp [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] processes across the life course. In this context, reserves are defined as « the means needed not for immediate use but rather accumulated in a sufficient manner. Such means help overcome shocks and adversity and delay or modify the processes of decline in well-being, health, wealth and social life during aging. » (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 551). In other words, reserves refer to the various means available to individuals to face distributive events or transitions during life course. With respect to « [[Resources|resources]] », the notion of reserves highlights the time-oriented dimension of the means available to individuals to avoid or deal with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] by stressing their dynamics of constitution through accumulation, their processes of activation across life course, but also their risk of depletion when facing a critical life event, and possible need for reconstitution after depletion. The thresholds under which reserves cannot be transform into effective [[Resources|resources]] to face [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] are another issue raised by the reserves concept that is important in understanding [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] dynamics.
 
 
==Constitution : passive and active==
The constitution of reserves may refer to passive or active process (Cullati et al., 2018). Passive process of reserves constitution refers initially, regarding its origin in neurosciences, to innate (i.e. genetically determined) and very early acquired (typically through family environment or with school education) inter-individual differences that impact trajectories of cognitive functioning. In a more social sciences perspective, passive process refers also to social inequalities or the impact of social background on further life course conditions. Conversely, Cullati and colleagues argue also for an active model of constitution, where initial reserves can be changed across individual trajectories. For instance, reserves for cognition may be enhance through stimulating activities (e.g. Ihle et al., 2018). The development of social ties (e.g. friendship, colleagues, partner) is another example of the opportunities to developpe important reserves across life-course. In the end, taking into account these two principles of reserves constitution – passive and active - seems to be crucial to understand [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] and reserves dynamics and to examine [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|cumulative processes of (dis)advantages]] and trajectories of resilience.
 
 
==Activation, depletion and reconstitution==
While supporting the “active” perspective on reserves, various principles stress the time-dynamic dimension of this concept. The first is the plasticity principle that refers to the “use it or lose it” notion or the fact that activities contribute to the maintenance of the ability to function (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 553). In other word, this implies that reserves need to be activated through life course to be effective when needed; for instance, stimulating activities help preserve cognitive reserve or regular exchange contribute to maintain relational reserves.
Another step of reserves dynamic refers to their depletion when facing a critical life event. Indeed, reserves can decrease after their use or become inadequate over life course exigences, involving the need for individual to reconstitute their reserves. 
These various principles can vary in intensity among reserves types: for instance, friendship ties have been showed as asking more individual investment in their maintenance (notably through the reciprocity principle)in contrast with [[Family ties|family ties]] whose functioning would be more guided by solidarity norms and involves more automaticity (Allan, 2008). Beyond, historical changes have also an impact of the importance of individual investment in reserves dynamics. Indeed, in western societies after WWII, the standardized life course and its institutions (education, family, retirement), include a relative stable and coherent model of reserves that secure individual life course. With changes toward more destanstandardized society, constitution and activation of reserves, e.g. education or [[Family ties|family ties]], focus more on individual agency – in other word are less linear, secured and automatic. The more frequent and numerous life transitions and disruptive events that tend to happen during life course increase the use of reserves but also the risk of their depletion and the need of their reconstitution (Baeriswyl et al., submitted). Such issues may relate to successful achievement in [[Employability|employability]] and [[Career development|career development]].
 
 
 

==Threshold==
[[Resources|Resources]] must be accumulated in a sufficient manner to constitute effective reserves. Under a certain threshold, reserves do not allow individual to face adverse life event or life transition and to continue functioning according to societal standards (Cullati et al., 2018). Understanding reserves threshold is a crucial issue for social and health policy in order to establish appropriate measures for compensating the lack of individual reserves.
 
 
==Domains==
The composition of reserves includes various [[Domains|domains]]: education, social and family relationships, psychological and mental health, income and wealth. Of course, reserves issues vary among its various domain (e.g. expected outcomes depending on life areas or inequalities and individual differences in constitution or activation). Beyond, the various types of reserves and their outcomes interact across life course in complex [[Causality|causality]] chain – where [[Resources|resources]] are both outcomes and means of reserves accumulation - that contribute thus to explain individual [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] trajectories (Cullati et al., 2018; Spini et al., 2017).
 
 

==References==
Allan, G. (2008). Flexibility, friendship, and family. ''Personal Relationships'', 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00181.x 
Baeriswyl, M., Widmer, E. D., & Oris, M. (submitted). A reserves perspective on education over recent historical time in Switzerland. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2, 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3 
Ihle, A., Ghisletta, P., Ballhausen, N., Fagot, D., Vallet, F., Baeriswyl, M., Sauter, J., Oris, M., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2018). The role of cognitive reserve accumulated in midlife for the relation between chronic diseases and cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal follow-up across six years. ''Neuropsychologia'', 121, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.013 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework for studying vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1268892 
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. ''Neuropsychologia'', 47(10), 2015–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004

Reserves

2020-10-08T20:24:11Z

Widmere: /* Activation, depletion and reconstitution */

Initially developed in neuroscience, the reserves concept was use to study the level of protection against cognitive damage (see “cognitive reserve”, e.g., Stern, 2009). In its extended understanding proposed by Cullati, Widmer and Kliegel (2018), the reserves concept can refer to all areas of life and must allow to better grasp [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] processes across the life course. In this context, reserves are defined as « the means needed not for immediate use but rather accumulated in a sufficient manner. Such means help overcome shocks and adversity and delay or modify the processes of decline in well-being, health, wealth and social life during aging. » (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 551). In other words, reserves refer to the various means available to individuals to face distributive events or transitions during life course. With respect to « [[Resources|resources]] », the notion of reserves highlights the time-oriented dimension of the means available to individuals to avoid or deal with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] by stressing their dynamics of constitution through accumulation, their processes of activation across life course, but also their risk of depletion when facing a critical life event, and possible need for reconstitution after depletion. The thresholds under which reserves cannot be transform into effective [[Resources|resources]] to face [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] are another issue raised by the reserves concept that is important in understanding [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] dynamics.
 
 
==Constitution : passive and active==
The constitution of reserves may refer to passive or active process (Cullati et al., 2018). Passive process of reserves constitution refers initially, regarding its origin in neurosciences, to innate (i.e. genetically determined) and very early acquired (typically through family environment or with school education) inter-individual differences that impact trajectories of cognitive functioning. In a more social sciences perspective, passive process refers also to social inequalities or the impact of social background on further life course conditions. Conversely, Cullati and colleagues argue also for an active model of constitution, where initial reserves can be changed across individual trajectories. For instance, reserves for cognition may be enhance through stimulating activities (e.g. Ihle et al., 2018). The development of social ties (e.g. friendship, colleagues, partner) is another example of the opportunities to developpe important reserves across life-course. In the end, taking into account these two principles of reserves constitution – passive and active - seems to be crucial to understand [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] and reserves dynamics and to examine [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|cumulative processes of (dis)advantages]] and trajectories of resilience.
 
 
==Activation, depletion and reconstitution==
While supporting the “active” perspective on reserves, various principles stress the time-dynamic dimension of this concept. The first is the plasticity principle that refers to the “use it or lose it” notion or the fact that activities contribute to the maintenance of the ability to function (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 553). In other word, this implies that reserves need to be activated through life course to be effective when needed; for instance, stimulating activities help preserve cognitive reserve or regular exchange contribute to maintain relational reserves.
Another step of reserves dynamic refers to their depletion when facing a critical life event. Indeed, reserves can decrease after their use or become inadequate over life course exigences, involving the need for individual to reconstitute their reserves. 
These various principles can vary in intensity among reserves types: for instance, friendship ties have been showed as asking more individual investment in their maintenance (notably through the reciprocity principle)in contrast with [[Family ties|family ties]] whose functioning would be more guided by solidarity norms and involves more automaticity (Allan, 2008). Beyond, historical changes have also an impact of the importance of individual investment in reserves dynamics. Indeed, in western societies after WWII, the standardized life course and its institutions (education, family, retirement), include a relative stable and coherent model of reserves that secure individual life course. With changes toward more destanstandardized society, constitution and activation of reserves, e.g. education or [[Family ties|family ties]], focus more on individual agency – in other word are less linear, secured and automatic. The more frequent and numerous life transitions and disruptive events that tend to happen during life course increase the use of reserves but also the risk of their depletion and the need of their reconstitution (Baeriswyl et al., submitted). Such issues may relate to successful achievement in [[Employability|employability]] and [[Career development|career development]].
 
 
 

==Threshold==
[[Resources|Resources]] must be accumulated in a sufficient manner to constitute effective reserves. Under a certain threshold, reserves do not allow individual to face adverse life event or life transition and to continue functioning according to societal standards (Cullati et al., 2018). Understanding reserves threshold is a crucial issue for social and health policy in order to establish appropriate measures for compensating the lack of individual reserves.
 
 
==Domains==
The composition of reserves includes various domains : education, social and family relationships, psychological and mental health, income and wealth. Of course, reserves issues vary among its various domain (e.g. expected outcomes depending on life areas or inequalities and individual differences in constitution or activation). Beyond, the various types of reserves and their outcomes interact across life course in complex [[Causality|causality]] chain – where [[Resources|resources]] are both outcomes and means of reserves accumulation - that contribute thus to explain individual [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] trajectories (Cullati et al., 2018; Spini et al., 2017).
 
 
==References==
Allan, G. (2008). Flexibility, friendship, and family. ''Personal Relationships'', 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00181.x 
Baeriswyl, M., Widmer, E. D., & Oris, M. (submitted). A reserves perspective on education over recent historical time in Switzerland. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2, 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3 
Ihle, A., Ghisletta, P., Ballhausen, N., Fagot, D., Vallet, F., Baeriswyl, M., Sauter, J., Oris, M., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2018). The role of cognitive reserve accumulated in midlife for the relation between chronic diseases and cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal follow-up across six years. ''Neuropsychologia'', 121, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.013 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework for studying vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1268892 
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. ''Neuropsychologia'', 47(10), 2015–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004

Reserves

2020-10-08T20:21:53Z

Widmere: /* Activation, depletion and reconstitution */

Initially developed in neuroscience, the reserves concept was use to study the level of protection against cognitive damage (see “cognitive reserve”, e.g., Stern, 2009). In its extended understanding proposed by Cullati, Widmer and Kliegel (2018), the reserves concept can refer to all areas of life and must allow to better grasp [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] processes across the life course. In this context, reserves are defined as « the means needed not for immediate use but rather accumulated in a sufficient manner. Such means help overcome shocks and adversity and delay or modify the processes of decline in well-being, health, wealth and social life during aging. » (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 551). In other words, reserves refer to the various means available to individuals to face distributive events or transitions during life course. With respect to « [[Resources|resources]] », the notion of reserves highlights the time-oriented dimension of the means available to individuals to avoid or deal with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] by stressing their dynamics of constitution through accumulation, their processes of activation across life course, but also their risk of depletion when facing a critical life event, and possible need for reconstitution after depletion. The thresholds under which reserves cannot be transform into effective [[Resources|resources]] to face [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] are another issue raised by the reserves concept that is important in understanding [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] dynamics.
 
 
==Constitution : passive and active==
The constitution of reserves may refer to passive or active process (Cullati et al., 2018). Passive process of reserves constitution refers initially, regarding its origin in neurosciences, to innate (i.e. genetically determined) and very early acquired (typically through family environment or with school education) inter-individual differences that impact trajectories of cognitive functioning. In a more social sciences perspective, passive process refers also to social inequalities or the impact of social background on further life course conditions. Conversely, Cullati and colleagues argue also for an active model of constitution, where initial reserves can be changed across individual trajectories. For instance, reserves for cognition may be enhance through stimulating activities (e.g. Ihle et al., 2018). The development of social ties (e.g. friendship, colleagues, partner) is another example of the opportunities to developpe important reserves across life-course. In the end, taking into account these two principles of reserves constitution – passive and active - seems to be crucial to understand [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] and reserves dynamics and to examine [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|cumulative processes of (dis)advantages]] and trajectories of resilience.
 
 
==Activation, depletion and reconstitution==
While supporting the “active” perspective on reserves, various principles stress the time-dynamic dimension of this concept. The first is the plasticity principle that refers to the “use it or lose it” notion or the fact that activities contribute to the maintenance of the ability to function (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 553). In other word, this implies that reserves need to be activated through life course to be effective when needed; for instance, stimulating activities help preserve cognitive reserve or regular exchange contribute to maintain relational reserves.
Another step of reserves dynamic refers to their depletion when facing a critical life event. Indeed, reserves can decrease after their use or become inadequate over life course exigences, involving the need for individual to reconstitute their reserves. 
These various principles can vary in intensity among reserves types: for instance, friendship ties have been showed as asking more individual investment in their maintenance (notably through the reciprocity principle)in contrast with [[Family ties|family ties]] whose functioning would be more guided by solidarity norms and involves more automaticity (Allan, 2008). Beyond, historical changes have also an impact of the importance of individual investment in reserves dynamics. Indeed, in western societies after WWII, the standardized life course and its institutions (education, family, retirement), include a relative stable and coherent model of reserves that secure individual life course. With changes toward more destanstandardized society, constitution and activation of reserves, e.g. education or [[Family ties|family ties]], focus more on individual agency – in other word are less linear, secured and automatic. The more frequent and numerous life transitions and disruptive events that tend to happen during life course increase the use of reserves but also the risk of their depletion and the need of their reconstitution (Baeriswyl et al., submitted). Such issues relate to successful achievements in a variety of [[Domains|life domains]] such as [[Employability|employability]] and [[Career development|career development]].
 
 
 

==Threshold==
[[Resources|Resources]] must be accumulated in a sufficient manner to constitute effective reserves. Under a certain threshold, reserves do not allow individual to face adverse life event or life transition and to continue functioning according to societal standards (Cullati et al., 2018). Understanding reserves threshold is a crucial issue for social and health policy in order to establish appropriate measures for compensating the lack of individual reserves.
 
 
==Domains==
The composition of reserves includes various domains : education, social and family relationships, psychological and mental health, income and wealth. Of course, reserves issues vary among its various domain (e.g. expected outcomes depending on life areas or inequalities and individual differences in constitution or activation). Beyond, the various types of reserves and their outcomes interact across life course in complex [[Causality|causality]] chain – where [[Resources|resources]] are both outcomes and means of reserves accumulation - that contribute thus to explain individual [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] trajectories (Cullati et al., 2018; Spini et al., 2017).
 
 
==References==
Allan, G. (2008). Flexibility, friendship, and family. ''Personal Relationships'', 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00181.x 
Baeriswyl, M., Widmer, E. D., & Oris, M. (submitted). A reserves perspective on education over recent historical time in Switzerland. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2, 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3 
Ihle, A., Ghisletta, P., Ballhausen, N., Fagot, D., Vallet, F., Baeriswyl, M., Sauter, J., Oris, M., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2018). The role of cognitive reserve accumulated in midlife for the relation between chronic diseases and cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal follow-up across six years. ''Neuropsychologia'', 121, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.013 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework for studying vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1268892 
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. ''Neuropsychologia'', 47(10), 2015–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004

Social capital

2020-10-08T20:17:25Z

Widmere:

The notion of social capital expresses the idea that networks of relationships, in their multiple forms, have an intrinsic value that is beneficial for individual and collective action. Since the appearance of this concept in the academic field, studies on social capital have grown exponentially in different body of literature, thus constituting a vast and heterogeneous production. Although the positive effect of networks is a classic issue in social sciences—e.g., a subject already addressed by Tönnies' Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft debate or in the Durkheimian concept of anomie—the conceptualization of social capital provided new vitality to the study of social relationships starting from the late 80's. In addition, the exponential growth of social capital analyses made this concept goes beyond the academic barriers, capturing the interest of the institutional discourse and the political agenda (Portes, 1998).
 
 
==Origin of the concept==
Three authors are considered the main contributors to the initial disclosure of the concept of social capital: Robert Putnam, James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu. For Putnam (2000) social capital is an expression of societal virtues. Communities with fruitful webs of connections, Putnam (2000) argues, generate a "stock" of social [[Resources (personal, social, economic, etc.)|resources]] that facilitate the societal coordination, and that can also help individuals to achieve their purposes. Similarly, for Coleman (1988) the relationships within a community have a specific function: they facilitate agents’ actions to accomplish goals and needs. Compared to these perspectives, Bourdieu's vision on social capital put major emphasis on this notion as individual good. The reason is that in Bourdieu (1986) social capital is linked to the possession of an enduring network of relationship that provide potential resources, such as information, influence, knowledge or social support. These resources represent thus a social capital that can be measured by looking the number of individual's connections, and also the volume of economic, cultural or symbolic capital possessed by each individual's ties (Bourdieu, 1986). Bourdieu's definition is what most is linked with Social Network Analysis (SNA) perspective (Wasserman and Faust, 2001).
 
 
==Current issues==
Many research areas on social capital have thus grown in the last three decades, such as labour market (Lin, 2001; Smith and Young, 2017) and [[Family ties|family]] studies (Widmer, 2006), epidemiology (Valente, 2010), physical and mental health issues (Kawachi and Berkman, 2014; Ehsan et al., 2019). Theoretical and methodological advances have led to the conceptualization of different forms of bonding, bridging or linking social capital to understand the transmission of support (Rostila, 2011) or information (Granovetter, 1985) and how contacts link individuals to authorities (Szreter and Woolcock, 2004). SNA has contributed substantially to the conceptualization of these mechanisms (Burt, 2010), and it has now been considered a roadmap to strengthen links with the life course perspective (Alwin et al., 2018) and to extend inquiries on social capital to the digital world (Lu and Hampton, 2017). In addition, there is increasing emphasis among scholars on extending the analysis of what is called the 'dark side of social capital', and how networks can be a source of vulnerability through conflicts and barriers to resources (Everett and Borgatti, 2014).
 
 
Recent Lives work has proposed to conceptualize social capital as [[Reserves|reserves]].
 
==References==
Alwin, Duane F., Diane H. Felmlee, and Derek A. Kreager. 2018. ''Social Networks and the Life Course. Integrating the Development of Human Lives and Social Relational Networks''. Basel: Springer International Publishing. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In ''Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'' , edited by J. G. Richardson (pp. 241-58). New York : Greenwood. 
Burt, R. S. (2010). ''Neighbor Networks''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
Burt, R. S. (1992). ''Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition''. Cambridge:Harvard Univesrity Press. 
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 94, S95-120. 
Ehsan, A., Klaas, H. S., Bastianen, A., & Spini, D. (2019). Social capital and health: A systematic review of systematic reviews. ''SSM-population health'', 100425 
Everett, M., & Borgatti, S. (2014). Networks containing negative ties. ''Social Networks'', 38(1): 111–120. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2014.03.005 
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 91(3):481-510. 
Lin, N. (2001). ''Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action''. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. 
Lu,W., & Hampton, K. N. (2017). Beyond the power of networks. ''New Media & Society'', 19(6), 861–879. doi:10.1177/1461444815621514 
Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2014). Social capital, social cohesion, and health. ''Social Epidemiology'', 2, 290–319. 
Putnam, R. D. (2000). ''Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of AmericanCommunity''. New York: Touchstone. 
Rostila (2011). The facets of social capital. ''J. Theory Soc. Behav.'', 41 (3), 308- 326. 
Smith, S. S., & Young, K. A. (2017). Want, need, fit: The cultural logics of job-matching assistance. ''Work and Occupations'', 44(2), 171–209. 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L. & Oris, M. (2017). Vulnerability Across the LifeCourse. ''Research in Human Development'', 14:1, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2016.1268891 
Szreter, S. and Woolcock, M. (2004). Health by Association? Social Capital, Social Theory, and the Political Economy of Public Health.''International Journal of Epidemiology'' 33(4), 650–667. 
Wasserman, S., and Katherine F. (1994). ''Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 
Widmer, E. (2006). Who are my family members? Bridging and binding social capital in family configurations. ''J. Soc. Pers. Relatsh.'' 23, 979–998.

Social capital

2020-10-08T20:16:53Z

Widmere:

The notion of social capital expresses the idea that networks of relationships, in their multiple forms, have an intrinsic value that is beneficial for individual and collective action. Since the appearance of this concept in the academic field, studies on social capital have grown exponentially in different body of literature, thus constituting a vast and heterogeneous production. Although the positive effect of networks is a classic issue in social sciences—e.g., a subject already addressed by Tönnies' Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft debate or in the Durkheimian concept of anomie—the conceptualization of social capital provided new vitality to the study of social relationships starting from the late 80's. In addition, the exponential growth of social capital analyses made this concept goes beyond the academic barriers, capturing the interest of the institutional discourse and the political agenda (Portes, 1998).
 
 
==Origin of the concept==
Three authors are considered the main contributors to the initial disclosure of the concept of social capital: Robert Putnam, James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu. For Putnam (2000) social capital is an expression of societal virtues. Communities with fruitful webs of connections, Putnam (2000) argues, generate a "stock" of social [[Resources (personal, social, economic, etc.)|resources]] that facilitate the societal coordination, and that can also help individuals to achieve their purposes. Similarly, for Coleman (1988) the relationships within a community have a specific function: they facilitate agents’ actions to accomplish goals and needs. Compared to these perspectives, Bourdieu's vision on social capital put major emphasis on this notion as individual good. The reason is that in Bourdieu (1986) social capital is linked to the possession of an enduring network of relationship that provide potential resources, such as information, influence, knowledge or social support. These resources represent thus a social capital that can be measured by looking the number of individual's connections, and also the volume of economic, cultural or symbolic capital possessed by each individual's ties (Bourdieu, 1986). Bourdieu's definition is what most is linked with Social Network Analysis (SNA) perspective (Wasserman and Faust, 2001).
 
 
==Current issues==
Many research areas on social capital have thus grown in the last three decades, such as labour market (Lin, 2001; Smith and Young, 2017) and [[Family ties|family]] studies (Widmer, 2006), epidemiology (Valente, 2010), physical and mental health issues (Kawachi and Berkman, 2014; Ehsan et al., 2019). Theoretical and methodological advances have led to the conceptualization of different forms of bonding, bridging or linking social capital to understand the transmission of support (Rostila, 2011) or information (Granovetter, 1985) and how contacts link individuals to authorities (Szreter and Woolcock, 2004). SNA has contributed substantially to the conceptualization of these mechanisms (Burt, 2010), and it has now been considered a roadmap to strengthen links with the life course perspective (Alwin et al., 2018) and to extend inquiries on social capital to the digital world (Lu and Hampton, 2017). In addition, there is increasing emphasis among scholars on extending the analysis of what is called the 'dark side of social capital', and how networks can be a source of vulnerability through conflicts and barriers to resources (Everett and Borgatti, 2014).
 
Recent Lives work has proposed to conceptualize social capital as [[Reserves|reserves]].
 
==References==
Alwin, Duane F., Diane H. Felmlee, and Derek A. Kreager. 2018. ''Social Networks and the Life Course. Integrating the Development of Human Lives and Social Relational Networks''. Basel: Springer International Publishing. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In ''Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'' , edited by J. G. Richardson (pp. 241-58). New York : Greenwood. 
Burt, R. S. (2010). ''Neighbor Networks''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
Burt, R. S. (1992). ''Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition''. Cambridge:Harvard Univesrity Press. 
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 94, S95-120. 
Ehsan, A., Klaas, H. S., Bastianen, A., & Spini, D. (2019). Social capital and health: A systematic review of systematic reviews. ''SSM-population health'', 100425 
Everett, M., & Borgatti, S. (2014). Networks containing negative ties. ''Social Networks'', 38(1): 111–120. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2014.03.005 
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 91(3):481-510. 
Lin, N. (2001). ''Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action''. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. 
Lu,W., & Hampton, K. N. (2017). Beyond the power of networks. ''New Media & Society'', 19(6), 861–879. doi:10.1177/1461444815621514 
Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2014). Social capital, social cohesion, and health. ''Social Epidemiology'', 2, 290–319. 
Putnam, R. D. (2000). ''Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of AmericanCommunity''. New York: Touchstone. 
Rostila (2011). The facets of social capital. ''J. Theory Soc. Behav.'', 41 (3), 308- 326. 
Smith, S. S., & Young, K. A. (2017). Want, need, fit: The cultural logics of job-matching assistance. ''Work and Occupations'', 44(2), 171–209. 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L. & Oris, M. (2017). Vulnerability Across the LifeCourse. ''Research in Human Development'', 14:1, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2016.1268891 
Szreter, S. and Woolcock, M. (2004). Health by Association? Social Capital, Social Theory, and the Political Economy of Public Health.''International Journal of Epidemiology'' 33(4), 650–667. 
Wasserman, S., and Katherine F. (1994). ''Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 
Widmer, E. (2006). Who are my family members? Bridging and binding social capital in family configurations. ''J. Soc. Pers. Relatsh.'' 23, 979–998.

Social capital

2020-10-08T20:15:29Z

Widmere:

The notion of social capital expresses the idea that networks of relationships, in their multiple forms, have an intrinsic value that is beneficial for individual and collective action. Since the appearance of this concept in the academic field, studies on social capital have grown exponentially in different body of literature, thus constituting a vast and heterogeneous production. Although the positive effect of networks is a classic issue in social sciences—e.g., a subject already addressed by Tönnies' Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft debate or in the Durkheimian concept of anomie—the conceptualization of social capital provided new vitality to the study of social relationships starting from the late 80's. In addition, the exponential growth of social capital analyses made this concept goes beyond the academic barriers, capturing the interest of the institutional discourse and the political agenda (Portes, 1998).
 
 
==Origin of the concept==
Three authors are considered the main contributors to the initial disclosure of the concept of social capital: Robert Putnam, James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu. For Putnam (2000) social capital is an expression of societal virtues. Communities with fruitful webs of connections, Putnam (2000) argues, generate a "stock" of social [[Resources (personal, social, economic, etc.)|resources]] that facilitate the societal coordination, and that can also help individuals to achieve their purposes. Similarly, for Coleman (1988) the relationships within a community have a specific function: they facilitate agents’ actions to accomplish goals and needs. Compared to these perspectives, Bourdieu's vision on social capital put major emphasis on this notion as individual good. The reason is that in Bourdieu (1986) social capital is linked to the possession of an enduring network of relationship that provide potential resources, such as information, influence, knowledge or social support. These resources represent thus a social capital that can be measured by looking the number of individual's connections, and also the volume of economic, cultural or symbolic capital possessed by each individual's ties (Bourdieu, 1986). Bourdieu's definition is what most is linked with Social Network Analysis (SNA) perspective (Wasserman and Faust, 2001).
 
 
==Current issues==
Many research areas on social capital have thus grown in the last three decades, such as labour market (Lin, 2001; Smith and Young, 2017) and [[Family ties|family]] studies (Widmer, 2006), epidemiology (Valente, 2010), physical and mental health issues (Kawachi and Berkman, 2014; Ehsan et al., 2019). Theoretical and methodological advances have led to the conceptualization of different forms of bonding, bridging or linking social capital to understand the transmission of support (Rostila, 2011) or information (Granovetter, 1985) and how contacts link individuals to authorities (Szreter and Woolcock, 2004). SNA has contributed substantially to the conceptualization of these mechanisms (Burt, 2010), and it has now been considered a roadmap to strengthen links with the life course perspective (Alwin et al., 2018) and to extend inquiries on social capital to the digital world (Lu and Hampton, 2017). In addition, there is increasing emphasis among scholars on extending the analysis of what is called the 'dark side of social capital', and how networks can be a source of vulnerability through conflicts and barriers to resources (Everett and Borgatti, 2014).
 
 
==References==
Alwin, Duane F., Diane H. Felmlee, and Derek A. Kreager. 2018. ''Social Networks and the Life Course. Integrating the Development of Human Lives and Social Relational Networks''. Basel: Springer International Publishing. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In ''Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'' , edited by J. G. Richardson (pp. 241-58). New York : Greenwood. 
Burt, R. S. (2010). ''Neighbor Networks''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
Burt, R. S. (1992). ''Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition''. Cambridge:Harvard Univesrity Press. 
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 94, S95-120. 
Ehsan, A., Klaas, H. S., Bastianen, A., & Spini, D. (2019). Social capital and health: A systematic review of systematic reviews. ''SSM-population health'', 100425 
Everett, M., & Borgatti, S. (2014). Networks containing negative ties. ''Social Networks'', 38(1): 111–120. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2014.03.005 
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 91(3):481-510. 
Lin, N. (2001). ''Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action''. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. 
Lu,W., & Hampton, K. N. (2017). Beyond the power of networks. ''New Media & Society'', 19(6), 861–879. doi:10.1177/1461444815621514 
Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2014). Social capital, social cohesion, and health. ''Social Epidemiology'', 2, 290–319. 
Putnam, R. D. (2000). ''Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of AmericanCommunity''. New York: Touchstone. 
Rostila (2011). The facets of social capital. ''J. Theory Soc. Behav.'', 41 (3), 308- 326. 
Smith, S. S., & Young, K. A. (2017). Want, need, fit: The cultural logics of job-matching assistance. ''Work and Occupations'', 44(2), 171–209. 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L. & Oris, M. (2017). Vulnerability Across the LifeCourse. ''Research in Human Development'', 14:1, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2016.1268891 
Szreter, S. and Woolcock, M. (2004). Health by Association? Social Capital, Social Theory, and the Political Economy of Public Health.''International Journal of Epidemiology'' 33(4), 650–667. 
Wasserman, S., and Katherine F. (1994). ''Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 
Widmer, E. (2006). Who are my family members? Bridging and binding social capital in family configurations. ''J. Soc. Pers. Relatsh.'' 23, 979–998.

Employability

2020-10-08T20:07:49Z

Widmere:

Employability refers to the ability to enter, stay and progress in the labour market and secure paid employment that is adequate to one’s competences, qualifications, expectations, preferences and social context. While individual skills and adaptability enhance employability, employability needs to be assessed relative to the prevailing market conditions, notably whether there are adequate jobs with decent working conditions. An individual’s employability depends on the employability of other individuals as well as on the institutions and opportunities in a given labour market. The [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|cumulation]] of experiences and competencies is a significant factor of employability 
 
==References==
Gazier, B. (2001) Employability: the complexity of a policy notion. In ''P. Weinert, M. Baukens, P. Bollerot et al. (eds) Employability: From Theory to Practice'' (pp. 3 – 23). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books. 
International Labour Office. (2010). A skilled workforce for strong, sustainable and balanced growth: a G20 training strategy.. 

[[Category:CCI3]]

Employability

2020-10-08T20:06:56Z

Widmere:

Employability refers to the ability to enter, stay and progress in the labour market and secure paid employment that is adequate to one’s competences, qualifications, expectations, preferences and social context. While individual skills and adaptability enhance employability, employability needs to be assessed relative to the prevailing market conditions, notably whether there are adequate jobs with decent working conditions. An individual’s employability depends on the employability of other individuals as well as on the institutions and opportunities in a given labour market. The [[Meso level|cumulation]] of experiences and competencies is a significant factor of employability 
 
==References==
Gazier, B. (2001) Employability: the complexity of a policy notion. In ''P. Weinert, M. Baukens, P. Bollerot et al. (eds) Employability: From Theory to Practice'' (pp. 3 – 23). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books. 
International Labour Office. (2010). A skilled workforce for strong, sustainable and balanced growth: a G20 training strategy.. 

[[Category:CCI3]]

Cumulative (dis)advantages

2020-10-08T20:03:58Z

Widmere:

The hypothesis of accumulation of dis/advantages considers the long term process of individual heterogeneity and social inequalities and postulates that differentiation processes operating through macro-level, organizational-level and micro-level lead to an accentuation of diversity and inequalities in older age (Dannefer, 1987, 2003; see also Diprete & Eirich, 2006; Ferraro et al., 2009). 

The hypothesis of accumulation of dis/advantages is built on the “Matthew effect” described by Merton (1968): the author described processes of inequalities in Sciences and scientific work in the light of the gospel according to St-Matthew “for unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that wish he hath ». In other words, Merton explained : « the Matthew effect consists in the accruing of greater increments of recognition for particular scientific contributions to scientists who have not yet made their mark » (p.3). This cumulation of disadvantages relates with the unequal cumulation of [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] such as [[Social capital|social capital]]. Dannefer specified Merton’s Matthew effect to aging process and the intracohort differentiation. The authors stressed the socially structured mechanisms participating to aged heterogeneity, in other words the persistent pattern of inequality and their amplification through social process of cumulation, contributing to qualify a vision purely psychological or social-psychological of aging (Dannefer, 1987). The Mathilda effect refers to the cumulation of dis/advantages between women and men throughout the life course, in relation with [[Gender regimes|gender regimes]].
The model of cumulative dis/advantages is complementary to social stratification one, stressing how small differences early in life can result to larger ones in later life. However, while the impact of social stratification on life course has been clearly demonstrated, the processes of cumulative dis/advantages are still few documented (Cullati et al., 2014; Pallas & Jennings, 2009). In contrast with cumulative processes, authors stress also the interest to study “When Does Disadvantage Not Accumulate? » or the issue of resilience through life course and the place of agency within structure (Schafer et al., 2009).
 
==References==
Cullati, S., Rousseaux, E., Gabadinho, A., Courvoisier, D., & Burton-Jeangros, C. (2014). Factors of change and cumulative factors in self-rated health trajectories: A systematic review. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 19, 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2013.11.002 
Dannefer, D. (1987). Aging as intracohort differentiation: Accentuation, the Matthew effect, and the life course. ''Sociological Forum'', 2(2), 211–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01124164 
Dannefer, D. (2003). Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course: Cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. ''The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences'', 58(6), 327–337. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.6.S327 
Diprete, T. A., & Eirich, G. M. (2006). Cumulative advantage as a mechanism for inequality: A review of theoretical and empirical developments. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV.SOC.32.061604.123127 
Ferraro, K. F., Shippee, T. P., & Schafer, M. H. (2009). Cumulative inequality theory for research on aging and the life course. In ''Handbook of theories of aging, 2nd ed'' (pp. 413–433). Springer Publishing Company. 
Merton, R. K. (1968). The Matthew Effect in Science: The reward and communication systems of science are considered. ''Science'', 159(3810), 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.159.3810.56 
Pallas, A. M., & Jennings, J. L. (2009). Cumulative knowledge about cumulative advantage. ''Swiss Journal of Sociology'', 35(2), 211–229. 
Schafer, M. H., Shippee, T. P., & Ferraro, K. F. (2009). When does disadvantage not accumulate? Toward a sociological conceptualization of resilience. ''Schweizerische Zeitschrift Fur Soziologie''. ''Revue Suisse de Sociologie'', 35(2), 231–251.

Cumulative (dis)advantages

2020-10-08T20:03:08Z

Widmere:

The hypothesis of accumulation of dis/advantages considers the long term process of individual heterogeneity and social inequalities and postulates that differentiation processes operating through macro-level, organizational-level and micro-level lead to an accentuation of diversity and inequalities in older age (Dannefer, 1987, 2003; see also Diprete & Eirich, 2006; Ferraro et al., 2009). 

The hypothesis of accumulation of dis/advantages is built on the “Matthew effect” described by Merton (1968): the author described processes of inequalities in Sciences and scientific work in the light of the gospel according to St-Matthew “for unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that wish he hath ». In other words, Merton explained : « the Matthew effect consists in the accruing of greater increments of recognition for particular scientific contributions to scientists who have not yet made their mark » (p.3). This cumulation of disadvantages relates with the unequal cumulation of [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]]. Dannefer specified Merton’s Matthew effect to aging process and the intracohort differentiation. The authors stressed the socially structured mechanisms participating to aged heterogeneity, in other words the persistent pattern of inequality and their amplification through social process of cumulation, contributing to qualify a vision purely psychological or social-psychological of aging (Dannefer, 1987). The Mathilda effect refers to the cumulation of dis/advantages between women and men throughout the life course, in relation with [[Gender regimes|gender regimes]].
The model of cumulative dis/advantages is complementary to social stratification one, stressing how small differences early in life can result to larger ones in later life. However, while the impact of social stratification on life course has been clearly demonstrated, the processes of cumulative dis/advantages are still few documented (Cullati et al., 2014; Pallas & Jennings, 2009). In contrast with cumulative processes, authors stress also the interest to study “When Does Disadvantage Not Accumulate? » or the issue of resilience through life course and the place of agency within structure (Schafer et al., 2009).
 
==References==
Cullati, S., Rousseaux, E., Gabadinho, A., Courvoisier, D., & Burton-Jeangros, C. (2014). Factors of change and cumulative factors in self-rated health trajectories: A systematic review. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 19, 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2013.11.002 
Dannefer, D. (1987). Aging as intracohort differentiation: Accentuation, the Matthew effect, and the life course. ''Sociological Forum'', 2(2), 211–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01124164 
Dannefer, D. (2003). Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course: Cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. ''The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences'', 58(6), 327–337. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.6.S327 
Diprete, T. A., & Eirich, G. M. (2006). Cumulative advantage as a mechanism for inequality: A review of theoretical and empirical developments. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV.SOC.32.061604.123127 
Ferraro, K. F., Shippee, T. P., & Schafer, M. H. (2009). Cumulative inequality theory for research on aging and the life course. In ''Handbook of theories of aging, 2nd ed'' (pp. 413–433). Springer Publishing Company. 
Merton, R. K. (1968). The Matthew Effect in Science: The reward and communication systems of science are considered. ''Science'', 159(3810), 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.159.3810.56 
Pallas, A. M., & Jennings, J. L. (2009). Cumulative knowledge about cumulative advantage. ''Swiss Journal of Sociology'', 35(2), 211–229. 
Schafer, M. H., Shippee, T. P., & Ferraro, K. F. (2009). When does disadvantage not accumulate? Toward a sociological conceptualization of resilience. ''Schweizerische Zeitschrift Fur Soziologie''. ''Revue Suisse de Sociologie'', 35(2), 231–251.

Cumulative (dis)advantages

2020-10-08T20:02:24Z

Widmere:

The hypothesis of accumulation of dis/advantages considers the long term process of individual heterogeneity and social inequalities and postulates that differentiation processes operating through macro-level, organizational-level and micro-level lead to an accentuation of diversity and inequalities in older age (Dannefer, 1987, 2003; see also Diprete & Eirich, 2006; Ferraro et al., 2009). 

The hypothesis of accumulation of dis/advantages is built on the “Matthew effect” described by Merton (1968): the author described processes of inequalities in Sciences and scientific work in the light of the gospel according to St-Matthew “for unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that wish he hath ». In other words, Merton explained : « the Matthew effect consists in the accruing of greater increments of recognition for particular scientific contributions to scientists who have not yet made their mark » (p.3). This cumulation of disadvantages relates with the unequal cumulation of [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]]. Dannefer specified Merton’s Matthew effect to aging process and the intracohort differentiation. The authors stressed the socially structured mechanisms participating to aged heterogeneity, in other words the persistent pattern of inequality and their amplification through social process of cumulation, contributing to qualify a vision purely psychological or social-psychological of aging (Dannefer, 1987). . The Mathilda effect refers to the cumulation of dis/advantages between women and men throughout the life course, in relation with [[Gender regimes|gender regimes]].
The model of cumulative dis/advantages is complementary to social stratification one, stressing how small differences early in life can result to larger ones in later life. However, while the impact of social stratification on life course has been clearly demonstrated, the processes of cumulative dis/advantages are still few documented (Cullati et al., 2014; Pallas & Jennings, 2009). In contrast with cumulative processes, authors stress also the interest to study “When Does Disadvantage Not Accumulate? » or the issue of resilience through life course and the place of agency within structure (Schafer et al., 2009).
 
==References==
Cullati, S., Rousseaux, E., Gabadinho, A., Courvoisier, D., & Burton-Jeangros, C. (2014). Factors of change and cumulative factors in self-rated health trajectories: A systematic review. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 19, 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2013.11.002 
Dannefer, D. (1987). Aging as intracohort differentiation: Accentuation, the Matthew effect, and the life course. ''Sociological Forum'', 2(2), 211–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01124164 
Dannefer, D. (2003). Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course: Cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. ''The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences'', 58(6), 327–337. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.6.S327 
Diprete, T. A., & Eirich, G. M. (2006). Cumulative advantage as a mechanism for inequality: A review of theoretical and empirical developments. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV.SOC.32.061604.123127 
Ferraro, K. F., Shippee, T. P., & Schafer, M. H. (2009). Cumulative inequality theory for research on aging and the life course. In ''Handbook of theories of aging, 2nd ed'' (pp. 413–433). Springer Publishing Company. 
Merton, R. K. (1968). The Matthew Effect in Science: The reward and communication systems of science are considered. ''Science'', 159(3810), 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.159.3810.56 
Pallas, A. M., & Jennings, J. L. (2009). Cumulative knowledge about cumulative advantage. ''Swiss Journal of Sociology'', 35(2), 211–229. 
Schafer, M. H., Shippee, T. P., & Ferraro, K. F. (2009). When does disadvantage not accumulate? Toward a sociological conceptualization of resilience. ''Schweizerische Zeitschrift Fur Soziologie''. ''Revue Suisse de Sociologie'', 35(2), 231–251.

Family ties

2020-10-08T19:48:14Z

Widmere:

Family ties in a life course perspective are defined as resources and strains (Widmer, 2016). Indeed, the linked life principle emphasizes the impact that significant alters have on each other's life chances by providing instrumental or emotional support. Family ties are at the core of convoys that accompany individuals throughout their life. Such convoys may be of critical importance for other life domains, in relation with the multi-dimensionality of the life course stressed by the LIVES framework on [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]]. A variety of LIVES research revealed spill-over effects between family and working trajectories showing the importance of family ties for achieving sustainable life trajectories. Similarly, research on old age show a strong association between family networks, health and well-being. Other work (Cullati et al., 2018) stresses the fact that family ties may constitute in some circumstances [[Reserves|reserves]] that may help to overcome stressful events. The functional importance of family ties, both negative and positive, will have to be addressed in a variety of national contexts, both Western and non-Western, characterized by distinct [[Gender regimes|gender regimes]].

==References==
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2(8), 551-558.

Widmer, E. D. (2016). ''Family configurations: A structural approach to family diversity.'' Routledge.

Family ties

2020-10-08T19:47:48Z

Widmere:

Family ties in a life course perspective are defined as resources and strains (Widmer, 2016). Indeed, the linked life principle emphasizes the impact that significant alters have on each other's life chances by providing instrumental or emotional support. Family ties are at the core of convoys that accompany individuals throughout their life. Such convoys may be of critical importance for other life domains, in relation with the multi-dimensionality of the life course stressed by the LIVES framework on [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]]. A variety of LIVES research revealed spill-over effects between family and working trajectories showing the importance of family ties for achieving sustainable life trajectories. Similarly, research on old age show a strong association between family networks, health and well-being. Other work (Cullati et al., 2018) stresses the fact that family ties may constitute in some circumstances [[Reserves|reserves]] that may help to overcome stressful events. The functional importance of family ties, both negative and positive, will have to be addressed in a variety of national contexts, both Western and non-Western, characterized by distinct [[Gender regimes|gender regimes]].

==References==
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2(8), 551-558.
Widmer, E. D. (2016). ''Family configurations: A structural approach to family diversity.'' Routledge.

Gender regimes

2020-10-08T19:46:20Z

Widmere:

According to the seminal work of Raewyn Connell (1987), a ‘gender regime’ refers to several distinct but interrelated dimensions of gender relations in a given sociohistorical context. It provides the normative context for particular events, aspirations, relationships and practices to unfold. According to Connell (2006), a ‘gender regime’ is composed of:

1) '''The sexual division of labour''': the way in which production and consumption are arranged along gender lines, including the gendering of occupations and the spatial and symbolic division between paid work, caring and domestic labour, and the distribution of economic rewards and resources.

2) '''The distribution of power''': the way in which control, authority and force are exercised along gender lines, including organizational hierarchies, access to political power, and collective and individual forms of violence.

3) '''Interpersonal interactions and emotions''': the way in which attachment and antagonism between people and groups are organized along gender lines, including feelings of solidarity, prejudice and disdain, sexual attraction and repulsion.

4) '''Cultural and symbolic representations''': the way in which gender identities are defined in culture, the language and symbols of gender difference, and the prevailing beliefs and attitudes about gender.
Such gender regimes play out simultaneously at the macro, [[Meso level|meso]] and micro-levels of society; each level relating to specific social processes: the historical construction of women's and men's relationship to the labour market and to the family in various societal contexts (the macro-level ‘gender order’ or ‘gender contract’, see Crompton & Le Feuvre 1996; Le Feuvre, 2010); the institutionalisation of the different dimensions of the ‘gender regime’ in specific organisational / occupational settings (the [[Meso level|meso-level]] ‘gender arrangement’ or ‘gender script’, see Boni-Le Goff & Le Feuvre, 2017; Boni-Le Goff et al., 2019) and the daily management of normative environments by individuals (the micro-level ‘gender practices’ or the corporeal manifestation of ‘gender identities’, see Zinn & Le Feuvre, 2013).

However, Connell and those who have been inspired by her work are sensitive to the potential tensions, or even contradictions, that can exist between the historically constructed societal pattern of gender relations (e.g. the ‘male breadwinner / female carer’ model of the sexual division of labour that has been enshrined in many social protection policies) at the [[Meso level|meso-level]], and the more localised configurations, that may conform to or depart from the wider gender order. Using the notion of ‘gender regime’ implies paying as much analytical attention to inconsistencies and to the forces for social change as to structural constraints and the mechanisms of social reproduction (see Walby, 2020).

Because of its acknowledgment of the [[Meso level|meso-level]], the concept of gender regimes may help life course researchers to better understand [[Stress and stressors|stress and stressors]] generated in individuals by current gendered arrangements.

==Selected references==

Boni-Le Goff, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2017). ''Professions from a Gendered Perspective''. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.8

Boni-Le Goff, I., Le Feuvre, N., Lépinard, E., Mallard, G. (2019). Do Gender Regimes Matter? Converging and Diverging Career Prospects among Young French and Swiss Lawyers. ''M. Choroszewicz & T. L. Adams (eds.)'', ''Gender, Age and Inequality in the Professions'', London: Routledge, Coll. Gender and Organization: 114-134. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351052467

Connell, R. W. (1987). ''Gender and Power: Society, the Person & Sexual Politics''. Chichester: Wiley.

Connell, R. W. (2006). Glass ceilings or gendered institutions? Mapping the gender regimes of public sector worksites. ''Public Administration Review'', 66(6), 837-849.

Crompton, R. & Le Feuvre, N. (1996). Paid Employment and the Changing System of Gender Relations: A Cross-National Comparison. ''Sociology'', 30(3): 427-445.

Le Feuvre, N. (2010). Feminising professions in Britain and France: How countries differ. ''Jacqueline Scott, Rosemary Crompton & Clare Lyonette (eds.),'' ''Gender Inequalities in the 21st Century: New Barriers and Continuing Constraints'', London: Edward Elgar, 126-149.

Walby, S. (2020). Varieties of Gender Regimes, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender. ''State & Society'', 27(3): 414-431, doi:10.1093/sp/jxaa018

Zinn, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2013). Ambivalent Gender Accountability: Male Florists in the Swiss Context. ''Recherches sociologiques et anthropologiques'', Special issue “Transgressing Gender at Work: Men in ‘Feminine’ Jobs”, 44(2): 21-45 doi.10.4000/rsa.1027

City University of London. (2020). ''Varieties of Gender Regimes''[Webinar Workshop]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxhi9_CMg6M&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=City%2CUniversityofLondon

Gender regimes

2020-10-08T19:45:50Z

Widmere:

According to the seminal work of Raewyn Connell (1987), a ‘gender regime’ refers to several distinct but interrelated dimensions of gender relations in a given sociohistorical context. It provides the normative context for particular events, aspirations, relationships and practices to unfold. According to Connell (2006), a ‘gender regime’ is composed of:

1) '''The sexual division of labour''': the way in which production and consumption are arranged along gender lines, including the gendering of occupations and the spatial and symbolic division between paid work, caring and domestic labour, and the distribution of economic rewards and resources.

2) '''The distribution of power''': the way in which control, authority and force are exercised along gender lines, including organizational hierarchies, access to political power, and collective and individual forms of violence.

3) '''Interpersonal interactions and emotions''': the way in which attachment and antagonism between people and groups are organized along gender lines, including feelings of solidarity, prejudice and disdain, sexual attraction and repulsion.

4) '''Cultural and symbolic representations''': the way in which gender identities are defined in culture, the language and symbols of gender difference, and the prevailing beliefs and attitudes about gender.
Such gender regimes play out simultaneously at the macro, [[Meso level|meso]] and micro-levels of society; each level relating to specific social processes: the historical construction of women's and men's relationship to the labour market and to the family in various societal contexts (the macro-level ‘gender order’ or ‘gender contract’, see Crompton & Le Feuvre 1996; Le Feuvre, 2010); the institutionalisation of the different dimensions of the ‘gender regime’ in specific organisational / occupational settings (the [[Meso level|meso-level]] ‘gender arrangement’ or ‘gender script’, see Boni-Le Goff & Le Feuvre, 2017; Boni-Le Goff et al., 2019) and the daily management of normative environments by individuals (the micro-level ‘gender practices’ or the corporeal manifestation of ‘gender identities’, see Zinn & Le Feuvre, 2013).

However, Connell and those who have been inspired by her work are sensitive to the potential tensions, or even contradictions, that can exist between the historically constructed societal pattern of gender relations (e.g. the ‘male breadwinner / female carer’ model of the sexual division of labour that has been enshrined in many social protection policies) at the [[Meso level|meso-level]], and the more localised configurations, that may conform to or depart from the wider gender order. Using the notion of ‘gender regime’ implies paying as much analytical attention to inconsistencies and to the forces for social change as to structural constraints and the mechanisms of social reproduction (see Walby, 2020).

Because of its acknowledgment of the [[Meso level|meso-level]], the concept of gender regimes may help life course researchers to better understand [[Stress and stressors|stress and stressors]] generated by current gendered arrangements.

==Selected references==

Boni-Le Goff, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2017). ''Professions from a Gendered Perspective''. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.8

Boni-Le Goff, I., Le Feuvre, N., Lépinard, E., Mallard, G. (2019). Do Gender Regimes Matter? Converging and Diverging Career Prospects among Young French and Swiss Lawyers. ''M. Choroszewicz & T. L. Adams (eds.)'', ''Gender, Age and Inequality in the Professions'', London: Routledge, Coll. Gender and Organization: 114-134. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351052467

Connell, R. W. (1987). ''Gender and Power: Society, the Person & Sexual Politics''. Chichester: Wiley.

Connell, R. W. (2006). Glass ceilings or gendered institutions? Mapping the gender regimes of public sector worksites. ''Public Administration Review'', 66(6), 837-849.

Crompton, R. & Le Feuvre, N. (1996). Paid Employment and the Changing System of Gender Relations: A Cross-National Comparison. ''Sociology'', 30(3): 427-445.

Le Feuvre, N. (2010). Feminising professions in Britain and France: How countries differ. ''Jacqueline Scott, Rosemary Crompton & Clare Lyonette (eds.),'' ''Gender Inequalities in the 21st Century: New Barriers and Continuing Constraints'', London: Edward Elgar, 126-149.

Walby, S. (2020). Varieties of Gender Regimes, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender. ''State & Society'', 27(3): 414-431, doi:10.1093/sp/jxaa018

Zinn, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2013). Ambivalent Gender Accountability: Male Florists in the Swiss Context. ''Recherches sociologiques et anthropologiques'', Special issue “Transgressing Gender at Work: Men in ‘Feminine’ Jobs”, 44(2): 21-45 doi.10.4000/rsa.1027

City University of London. (2020). ''Varieties of Gender Regimes''[Webinar Workshop]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxhi9_CMg6M&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=City%2CUniversityofLondon

Causality

2020-10-08T19:41:43Z

Widmere:

Causality (here used synonymously with causation, cause and effect) has been a major scope of science for millennia, and any discussion of causality cannot be summarized by a couple of pages in a general glossary. The purpose here is to discuss how this concept may be understood and estimated differently in some disciplines studying “vulnerability” within LIVES. 
Broad philosophical discussions of causality include revealing underlying mechanisms behind observed or implied associations (e.g., between stimuli and responses, about genetics and epigenetics in human characteristics) and opposing free will and consciousness (e.g., nature vs. nurture in psychology, agency vs. structure in sociology). In modern science, one of the simplest definitions of causality is the relation of determination between a cause (entity A) and a consequence (entity B), such that “if A then B” and “if not A then not B.” Counterfactual arguments (“if A had not occurred, then B would not have occurred”) complemented the previous regularity definition (Lewis, 1973), but have never come to totally replace it. It is commonly agreed that the association be time-ordered, such that A occurs before B in time. 
Statistics has primarily focused on measuring and quantitatively estimating the effects of causes on their consequences, by following Hume’s analysis of causation and Popper’s principles of verification and falsifiability (Holland, 1986). This focus has percolated somewhat differently in different disciplines, ranging from simple linear regression models to nonlinear dynamic systems of multivariate equations. From a methodological perspective, most agree with the assertion that carefully planned double blind, randomized control trials (RCT) are the simplest and safest setting for estimating causality relations. Of course, in many research settings RCTs are simply not possible, thus forcing scholars to creatively and intelligently propose alternative settings that at best approximate the at-times unachievable and impossible standard of excellence represented by experimental settings (which, strictly speaking, are also imperfect, in that it is impossible to measure the same unit of observation under both the presence (e.g., treatment) and the absence (e.g., control) of the cause at the exact same time; this problem can however be dealt with by assuming untestable assumptions, such as time invariance of exposure effects. Here, again, counterfactual arguments become highly relevant). 
In economics, the work by Granger (1969) has set a useful framework for estimating causal inference (Heckman, 2008; Hoover, 2006). Put in very simple terms, the Granger causality test allows assessing whether one variable assessed earlier can forecast another assessed later, where both variables are measured by time series. Given the historical importance of time series data in economic research, this definition has served well to establishing causality relations. Nowadays, discussions about the possibility of estimating causality in economics do not revolve around time series analyses, but are centered on ingenious methods that are applicable to observational studies, and that ought to be used, whenever possible, in conjunction with RCTs. These include, but are not limited to, linear and discontinuity regression designs, differences-in-differences methods, use of instrumental variables, and propensity scores and other matching techniques, whose use has thrived in recent years (Angrist & Pischke, 2009; 2010). However, the debate around the utility of such methods in discussing causality is not resolved and remains well alive today (e.g., Banerjee, Duflo, & Kremer, 2016; Deaton & Cartwright, 2018). 
In psychology, the golden standards allowing estimating causality effects are forms of RCT, operationalized as carefully planned experiments, where the effects of a manipulated independent variable on a dependent variable are assessed, under strict methodological control. This setting requires that the researcher consider several psychometric issues, such as internal and external validity, construct validity, and generalizability. Again, the ideal RCT setting is a notoriously difficult methodological design to implement in many research settings (for practical or ethical reasons), so that psychologists also must very often rely on observational (a.k.a. as non-experimental) studies. Then, cautious methodological considerations allow approximating so-called quasi- or pseudo-experiments, thereby strengthening validity properties (Campbell, Stanley, & Gage, 1963). Despite, few psychologists would draw unambiguous conclusions about causality in such designs. It could be argued that to foster theoretical advancements, psychology would benefit from applying alternative methods, inspired by economics, to reinforce conclusions about causal mechanics, although such approaches often imply relying on untestable assumptions, 
In social sciences, the concept of causality is also closely linked to moderated, mediated, and spill-over effects. These proximal concepts allow for somewhat indirect estimations or what may be mechanisms of utmost importance in understanding causality in the social world by means of innovative research designs and statistical strategies (Hong, 2015). Another line of research present in sociology, narrative formalism or positism, stresses the description of whole trajectories as an alternative way to deal with causality (Abbott, 1992).
 
 
==References==
Abbott, A. (1992). From causes to events: Notes on narrative positivism. ''Sociological methods & research'', 20(4), 428-455.
Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J.-S. (2009). ''Mostly Harmless Econometrics''. Princeton University Press. 
Angrist, J., & Pischke, J.-S. (2010). The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design is Taking the Con out of Econometrics (Working Paper No. 15794; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w15794 
Banerjee, A. V., Duflo, E., & Kremer, M. (2016). The influence of randomized controlled trials on development economics research and on development policy. ''The State of Economics, The State of the World''. 
Campbell, D. T., Stanley, J. C., & Gage, N. L. (1963). ''Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research'' (pp. ix, 84). Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 
Deaton, A., & Cartwright, N. (2018). Understanding and misunderstanding randomized controlled trials. ''Social Science & Medicine'', 210, 2–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.12.005 
Granger, C. W. J. (1969). Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-spectral Methods. ''Econometrica'', 37(3), 424–438. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/1912791 
Heckman, J. J. (2008). Econometric Causality. ''International Statistical Review'', 76(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-5823.2007.00024.x 
Holland, P. W. (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference. ''Journal of the American Statistical Association'', 81(396), 945–960. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1986.10478354 
Hoover, K. D. (2006). Causality in Economics and Econometrics (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 930739). Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.930739 
Hong, G. (2015). ''Causality in a social world: Moderation, mediation and spill-over''. John Wiley & Sons. 
Lewis, D. K. (1973). Causation. ''Journal of Philosophy'', 70(17), 556–567. https://doi.org/10.2307/2025310

Gender regimes

2020-10-08T19:30:56Z

Widmere:

According to the seminal work of Raewyn Connell (1987), a ‘gender regime’ refers to several distinct but interrelated dimensions of gender relations in a given sociohistorical context. It provides the normative context for particular events, aspirations, relationships and practices to unfold. According to Connell (2006), a ‘gender regime’ is composed of:

1) '''The sexual division of labour''': the way in which production and consumption are arranged along gender lines, including the gendering of occupations and the spatial and symbolic division between paid work, caring and domestic labour, and the distribution of economic rewards and resources.

2) '''The distribution of power''': the way in which control, authority and force are exercised along gender lines, including organizational hierarchies, access to political power, and collective and individual forms of violence.

3) '''Interpersonal interactions and emotions''': the way in which attachment and antagonism between people and groups are organized along gender lines, including feelings of solidarity, prejudice and disdain, sexual attraction and repulsion.

4) '''Cultural and symbolic representations''': the way in which gender identities are defined in culture, the language and symbols of gender difference, and the prevailing beliefs and attitudes about gender.
Such gender regimes play out simultaneously at the macro, [[Meso level|meso]] and micro-levels of society; each level relating to specific social processes: the historical construction of women's and men's relationship to the labour market and to the family in various societal contexts (the macro-level ‘gender order’ or ‘gender contract’, see Crompton & Le Feuvre 1996; Le Feuvre, 2010); the institutionalisation of the different dimensions of the ‘gender regime’ in specific organisational / occupational settings (the [[Meso level|meso-level]] ‘gender arrangement’ or ‘gender script’, see Boni-Le Goff & Le Feuvre, 2017; Boni-Le Goff et al., 2019) and the daily management of normative environments by individuals (the micro-level ‘gender practices’ or the corporeal manifestation of ‘gender identities’, see Zinn & Le Feuvre, 2013).

However, Connell and those who have been inspired by her work are sensitive to the potential tensions, or even contradictions, that can exist between the historically constructed societal pattern of gender relations (e.g. the ‘male breadwinner / female carer’ model of the sexual division of labour that has been enshrined in many social protection policies) at the [[Meso level|meso-level]], and the more localised configurations, that may conform to or depart from the wider gender order. Using the notion of ‘gender regime’ implies paying as much analytical attention to inconsistencies and to the forces for social change as to structural constraints and the mechanisms of social reproduction (see Walby, 2020).

The concept of gender regimes may help life course researchers to better understand [[Stress and stressors|stress and stressors]] generated by current gendered arrangements.

==Selected references==

Boni-Le Goff, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2017). ''Professions from a Gendered Perspective''. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.8

Boni-Le Goff, I., Le Feuvre, N., Lépinard, E., Mallard, G. (2019). Do Gender Regimes Matter? Converging and Diverging Career Prospects among Young French and Swiss Lawyers. ''M. Choroszewicz & T. L. Adams (eds.)'', ''Gender, Age and Inequality in the Professions'', London: Routledge, Coll. Gender and Organization: 114-134. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351052467

Connell, R. W. (1987). ''Gender and Power: Society, the Person & Sexual Politics''. Chichester: Wiley.

Connell, R. W. (2006). Glass ceilings or gendered institutions? Mapping the gender regimes of public sector worksites. ''Public Administration Review'', 66(6), 837-849.

Crompton, R. & Le Feuvre, N. (1996). Paid Employment and the Changing System of Gender Relations: A Cross-National Comparison. ''Sociology'', 30(3): 427-445.

Le Feuvre, N. (2010). Feminising professions in Britain and France: How countries differ. ''Jacqueline Scott, Rosemary Crompton & Clare Lyonette (eds.),'' ''Gender Inequalities in the 21st Century: New Barriers and Continuing Constraints'', London: Edward Elgar, 126-149.

Walby, S. (2020). Varieties of Gender Regimes, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender. ''State & Society'', 27(3): 414-431, doi:10.1093/sp/jxaa018

Zinn, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2013). Ambivalent Gender Accountability: Male Florists in the Swiss Context. ''Recherches sociologiques et anthropologiques'', Special issue “Transgressing Gender at Work: Men in ‘Feminine’ Jobs”, 44(2): 21-45 doi.10.4000/rsa.1027

City University of London. (2020). ''Varieties of Gender Regimes''[Webinar Workshop]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxhi9_CMg6M&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=City%2CUniversityofLondon

Gender regimes

2020-10-08T19:30:07Z

Widmere:

According to the seminal work of Raewyn Connell (1987), a ‘gender regime’ refers to several distinct but interrelated dimensions of gender relations in a given sociohistorical context. It provides the normative context for particular events, aspirations, relationships and practices to unfold. According to Connell (2006), a ‘gender regime’ is composed of:

1) '''The sexual division of labour''': the way in which production and consumption are arranged along gender lines, including the gendering of occupations and the spatial and symbolic division between paid work, caring and domestic labour, and the distribution of economic rewards and resources.

2) '''The distribution of power''': the way in which control, authority and force are exercised along gender lines, including organizational hierarchies, access to political power, and collective and individual forms of violence.

3) '''Interpersonal interactions and emotions''': the way in which attachment and antagonism between people and groups are organized along gender lines, including feelings of solidarity, prejudice and disdain, sexual attraction and repulsion.

4) '''Cultural and symbolic representations''': the way in which gender identities are defined in culture, the language and symbols of gender difference, and the prevailing beliefs and attitudes about gender.
Such gender regimes play out simultaneously at the macro, [[Meso level|meso]] and micro-levels of society; each level relating to specific social processes: the historical construction of women's and men's relationship to the labour market and to the family in various societal contexts (the macro-level ‘gender order’ or ‘gender contract’, see Crompton & Le Feuvre 1996; Le Feuvre, 2010); the institutionalisation of the different dimensions of the ‘gender regime’ in specific organisational / occupational settings (the [[Meso level|meso-level]] ‘gender arrangement’ or ‘gender script’, see Boni-Le Goff & Le Feuvre, 2017; Boni-Le Goff et al., 2019) and the daily management of normative environments by individuals (the micro-level ‘gender practices’ or the corporeal manifestation of ‘gender identities’, see Zinn & Le Feuvre, 2013).

However, Connell and those who have been inspired by her work are sensitive to the potential tensions, or even contradictions, that can exist between the historically constructed societal pattern of gender relations (e.g. the ‘male breadwinner / female carer’ model of the sexual division of labour that has been enshrined in many social protection policies) at the [[Meso level|meso-level]], and the more localised configurations, that may conform to or depart from the wider gender order. Using the notion of ‘gender regime’ implies paying as much analytical attention to inconsistencies and to the forces for social change as to structural constraints and the mechanisms of social reproduction (see Walby, 2020).

The concept of gender regimes may help life course researchers to better understand [[Stress and stressors]] generated by current gendered arrangements.

==Selected references==

Boni-Le Goff, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2017). ''Professions from a Gendered Perspective''. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.8

Boni-Le Goff, I., Le Feuvre, N., Lépinard, E., Mallard, G. (2019). Do Gender Regimes Matter? Converging and Diverging Career Prospects among Young French and Swiss Lawyers. ''M. Choroszewicz & T. L. Adams (eds.)'', ''Gender, Age and Inequality in the Professions'', London: Routledge, Coll. Gender and Organization: 114-134. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351052467

Connell, R. W. (1987). ''Gender and Power: Society, the Person & Sexual Politics''. Chichester: Wiley.

Connell, R. W. (2006). Glass ceilings or gendered institutions? Mapping the gender regimes of public sector worksites. ''Public Administration Review'', 66(6), 837-849.

Crompton, R. & Le Feuvre, N. (1996). Paid Employment and the Changing System of Gender Relations: A Cross-National Comparison. ''Sociology'', 30(3): 427-445.

Le Feuvre, N. (2010). Feminising professions in Britain and France: How countries differ. ''Jacqueline Scott, Rosemary Crompton & Clare Lyonette (eds.),'' ''Gender Inequalities in the 21st Century: New Barriers and Continuing Constraints'', London: Edward Elgar, 126-149.

Walby, S. (2020). Varieties of Gender Regimes, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender. ''State & Society'', 27(3): 414-431, doi:10.1093/sp/jxaa018

Zinn, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2013). Ambivalent Gender Accountability: Male Florists in the Swiss Context. ''Recherches sociologiques et anthropologiques'', Special issue “Transgressing Gender at Work: Men in ‘Feminine’ Jobs”, 44(2): 21-45 doi.10.4000/rsa.1027

City University of London. (2020). ''Varieties of Gender Regimes''[Webinar Workshop]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxhi9_CMg6M&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=City%2CUniversityofLondon

Gender regimes

2020-10-08T19:28:16Z

Widmere: tr

According to the seminal work of Raewyn Connell (1987), a ‘gender regime’ refers to several distinct but interrelated dimensions of gender relations in a given sociohistorical context. It provides the normative context for particular events, aspirations, relationships and practices to unfold. According to Connell (2006), a ‘gender regime’ is composed of:

1) '''The sexual division of labour''': the way in which production and consumption are arranged along gender lines, including the gendering of occupations and the spatial and symbolic division between paid work, caring and domestic labour, and the distribution of economic rewards and resources.

2) '''The distribution of power''': the way in which control, authority and force are exercised along gender lines, including organizational hierarchies, access to political power, and collective and individual forms of violence.

3) '''Interpersonal interactions and emotions''': the way in which attachment and antagonism between people and groups are organized along gender lines, including feelings of solidarity, prejudice and disdain, sexual attraction and repulsion.

4) '''Cultural and symbolic representations''': the way in which gender identities are defined in culture, the language and symbols of gender difference, and the prevailing beliefs and attitudes about gender.
Such gender regimes play out simultaneously at the macro, [[Meso level|meso]] and micro-levels of society; each level relating to specific social processes: the historical construction of women's and men's relationship to the labour market and to the family in various societal contexts (the macro-level ‘gender order’ or ‘gender contract’, see Crompton & Le Feuvre 1996; Le Feuvre, 2010); the institutionalisation of the different dimensions of the ‘gender regime’ in specific organisational / occupational settings (the [[Meso level|meso-level]] ‘gender arrangement’ or ‘gender script’, see Boni-Le Goff & Le Feuvre, 2017; Boni-Le Goff et al., 2019) and the daily management of normative environments by individuals (the micro-level ‘gender practices’ or the corporeal manifestation of ‘gender identities’, see Zinn & Le Feuvre, 2013).

However, Connell and those who have been inspired by her work are sensitive to the potential tensions, or even contradictions, that can exist between the historically constructed societal pattern of gender relations (e.g. the ‘male breadwinner / female carer’ model of the sexual division of labour that has been enshrined in many social protection policies) at the [[Meso level|meso-level]], and the more localised configurations, that may conform to or depart from the wider gender order. Using the notion of ‘gender regime’ implies paying as much analytical attention to inconsistencies and to the forces for social change as to structural constraints and the mechanisms of social reproduction (see Walby, 2020).

The concept of gender regimes may help life course researchers to better understand [[Stress|stress]] and stressors generated by current gendered arrangements.

==Selected references==

Boni-Le Goff, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2017). ''Professions from a Gendered Perspective''. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.8

Boni-Le Goff, I., Le Feuvre, N., Lépinard, E., Mallard, G. (2019). Do Gender Regimes Matter? Converging and Diverging Career Prospects among Young French and Swiss Lawyers. ''M. Choroszewicz & T. L. Adams (eds.)'', ''Gender, Age and Inequality in the Professions'', London: Routledge, Coll. Gender and Organization: 114-134. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351052467

Connell, R. W. (1987). ''Gender and Power: Society, the Person & Sexual Politics''. Chichester: Wiley.

Connell, R. W. (2006). Glass ceilings or gendered institutions? Mapping the gender regimes of public sector worksites. ''Public Administration Review'', 66(6), 837-849.

Crompton, R. & Le Feuvre, N. (1996). Paid Employment and the Changing System of Gender Relations: A Cross-National Comparison. ''Sociology'', 30(3): 427-445.

Le Feuvre, N. (2010). Feminising professions in Britain and France: How countries differ. ''Jacqueline Scott, Rosemary Crompton & Clare Lyonette (eds.),'' ''Gender Inequalities in the 21st Century: New Barriers and Continuing Constraints'', London: Edward Elgar, 126-149.

Walby, S. (2020). Varieties of Gender Regimes, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender. ''State & Society'', 27(3): 414-431, doi:10.1093/sp/jxaa018

Zinn, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2013). Ambivalent Gender Accountability: Male Florists in the Swiss Context. ''Recherches sociologiques et anthropologiques'', Special issue “Transgressing Gender at Work: Men in ‘Feminine’ Jobs”, 44(2): 21-45 doi.10.4000/rsa.1027

City University of London. (2020). ''Varieties of Gender Regimes''[Webinar Workshop]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxhi9_CMg6M&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=City%2CUniversityofLondon

Gender regimes

2020-10-08T19:26:16Z

Widmere:

According to the seminal work of Raewyn Connell (1987), a ‘gender regime’ refers to several distinct but interrelated dimensions of gender relations in a given sociohistorical context. It provides the normative context for particular events, aspirations, relationships and practices to unfold. According to Connell (2006), a ‘gender regime’ is composed of:

1) '''The sexual division of labour''': the way in which production and consumption are arranged along gender lines, including the gendering of occupations and the spatial and symbolic division between paid work, caring and domestic labour, and the distribution of economic rewards and resources.

2) '''The distribution of power''': the way in which control, authority and force are exercised along gender lines, including organizational hierarchies, access to political power, and collective and individual forms of violence.

3) '''Interpersonal interactions and emotions''': the way in which attachment and antagonism between people and groups are organized along gender lines, including feelings of solidarity, prejudice and disdain, sexual attraction and repulsion.

4) '''Cultural and symbolic representations''': the way in which gender identities are defined in culture, the language and symbols of gender difference, and the prevailing beliefs and attitudes about gender.
Such gender regimes play out simultaneously at the macro, [[Meso level|meso]] and micro-levels of society; each level relating to specific social processes: the historical construction of women's and men's relationship to the labour market and to the family in various societal contexts (the macro-level ‘gender order’ or ‘gender contract’, see Crompton & Le Feuvre 1996; Le Feuvre, 2010); the institutionalisation of the different dimensions of the ‘gender regime’ in specific organisational / occupational settings (the [[Meso level|meso-level]] ‘gender arrangement’ or ‘gender script’, see Boni-Le Goff & Le Feuvre, 2017; Boni-Le Goff et al., 2019) and the daily management of normative environments by individuals (the micro-level ‘gender practices’ or the corporeal manifestation of ‘gender identities’, see Zinn & Le Feuvre, 2013).

However, Connell and those who have been inspired by her work are sensitive to the potential tensions, or even contradictions, that can exist between the historically constructed societal pattern of gender relations (e.g. the ‘male breadwinner / female carer’ model of the sexual division of labour that has been enshrined in many social protection policies) at the [[Meso level|meso-level]], and the more localised configurations, that may conform to or depart from the wider gender order. Using the notion of ‘gender regime’ implies paying as much analytical attention to inconsistencies and to the forces for social change as to structural constraints and the mechanisms of social reproduction (see Walby, 2020).

==Selected references==

Boni-Le Goff, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2017). ''Professions from a Gendered Perspective''. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.8

Boni-Le Goff, I., Le Feuvre, N., Lépinard, E., Mallard, G. (2019). Do Gender Regimes Matter? Converging and Diverging Career Prospects among Young French and Swiss Lawyers. ''M. Choroszewicz & T. L. Adams (eds.)'', ''Gender, Age and Inequality in the Professions'', London: Routledge, Coll. Gender and Organization: 114-134. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351052467

Connell, R. W. (1987). ''Gender and Power: Society, the Person & Sexual Politics''. Chichester: Wiley.

Connell, R. W. (2006). Glass ceilings or gendered institutions? Mapping the gender regimes of public sector worksites. ''Public Administration Review'', 66(6), 837-849.

Crompton, R. & Le Feuvre, N. (1996). Paid Employment and the Changing System of Gender Relations: A Cross-National Comparison. ''Sociology'', 30(3): 427-445.

Le Feuvre, N. (2010). Feminising professions in Britain and France: How countries differ. ''Jacqueline Scott, Rosemary Crompton & Clare Lyonette (eds.),'' ''Gender Inequalities in the 21st Century: New Barriers and Continuing Constraints'', London: Edward Elgar, 126-149.

Walby, S. (2020). Varieties of Gender Regimes, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender. ''State & Society'', 27(3): 414-431, doi:10.1093/sp/jxaa018

Zinn, I. & Le Feuvre, N. (2013). Ambivalent Gender Accountability: Male Florists in the Swiss Context. ''Recherches sociologiques et anthropologiques'', Special issue “Transgressing Gender at Work: Men in ‘Feminine’ Jobs”, 44(2): 21-45 doi.10.4000/rsa.1027

City University of London. (2020). ''Varieties of Gender Regimes''[Webinar Workshop]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxhi9_CMg6M&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=City%2CUniversityofLondon

Stress and stressors

2020-10-08T19:24:08Z

Widmere:

Overall, in psychology, stress refers to the physical or psychological reaction to a demand (or stressor) or the event that constitute this demand (Hazanov-Boskovitz, 2003). Stress and stressors are widely studied for their impact on individual health and well-being. Three main types of stressor are generally identified in literature (Spini et al., 2013): 
* Life events: Life transition or life change constitute events that require adaptation from individual and can be source of stress
* Chronic strains: More enduring or recurring problems experienced during daily life are possible source of stress
* Daily hassles: Small and punctual problems of daily life can also be source of stress.
 
In the transactional perspective, stress is more particularly defined as a particular relation between the individual and its environment, where the individual see the situation as exceeding their own [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] and threatening their well-being (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The appraisal of stress is critical in this approach: the relation between source of stress and stress is not simple and cannot be defined in an absolute way. However, this approach constitutes a crucial model to understand the differential impact of stress on individual, notably by emphasizing the [[Resources|resources]] that individual have and use to face/assess possible sources of stress, then cope with stress (Hobfoll, 2002; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). 
 
The sociological approach of stress emphasizes the impact of social structures on the stress process (Turner & Schieman, 2008). In this perspective, the exposure to and meaning of stressors are seen as dependent on the social and institutional affiliations and status of individuals: the individual location in stratification systems, the institutional arrangement of status and roles and the configurations of relationships in which the individual are embedded are considered important factors of stress (Pearlin, 1989). This approach also emphasizes that one stressor occurs rarely by itself: stressors tend to proliferate and diffuse within and across life domains. Moreover, the diffusion of stressors can also occur between individuals: stressors experienced by one individual becoming stressors for others, notably when they share the same role sets. 

Stress constitues one major mechanism by which [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] unfolds.

 
==References==
Hazanov-Boskovitz, O. (2003). Etude du coping des adolescents dans un contexte expérimental (Doctoral dissertation, University of Geneva). https://doi.org/10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:170 
Hobfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. ''Review of General Psychology'', 6(4), 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.6.4.307 
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). ''Stress, appraisal, and coping''. Springer publishing company. 
Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136956 
Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27 
Turner, H. A., & Schieman, S. (2008). Stress processes across the life course: Introduction and overview. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 13, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(08)00001-4

Stress and stressors

2020-10-08T19:22:10Z

Widmere:

Overall, in psychology, stress refers to the physical or psychological reaction to a demand (or stressor) or the event that constitute this demand (Hazanov-Boskovitz, 2003). Stress and stressors are widely studied for their impact on individual health and well-being. Three main types of stressor are generally identified in literature (Spini et al., 2013): 
* Life events: Life transition or life change constitute events that require adaptation from individual and can be source of stress
* Chronic strains: More enduring or recurring problems experienced during daily life are possible source of stress
* Daily hassles: Small and punctual problems of daily life can also be source of stress.
 
In the transactional perspective, stress is more particularly defined as a particular relation between the individual and its environment, where the individual see the situation as exceeding their own [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] and threatening their well-being (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The appraisal of stress is critical in this approach: the relation between source of stress and stress is not simple and cannot be defined in an absolute way. However, this approach constitutes a crucial model to understand the differential impact of stress on individual, notably by emphasizing the [[Resources|resources]] that individual have and use to face/assess possible sources of stress, then cope with stress (Hobfoll, 2002; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). 
 
The sociological approach of stress emphasizes the impact of social structures on the stress process (Turner & Schieman, 2008). In this perspective, the exposure to and meaning of stressors are seen as dependent on the social and institutional affiliations and status of individuals: the individual location in stratification systems, the institutional arrangement of status and roles and the configurations of relationships in which the individual are embedded are considered important factors of stress (Pearlin, 1989). This approach also emphasizes that one stressor occurs rarely by itself: stressors tend to proliferate and diffuse within and across life domains. Moreover, the diffusion of stressors can also occur between individuals: stressors experienced by one individual becoming stressors for others, notably when they share the same role sets. 

Stress constitues one major mechanism by which [[Vulnerablity|vulnerablity]] unfolds.

 
==References==
Hazanov-Boskovitz, O. (2003). Etude du coping des adolescents dans un contexte expérimental (Doctoral dissertation, University of Geneva). https://doi.org/10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:170 
Hobfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. ''Review of General Psychology'', 6(4), 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.6.4.307 
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). ''Stress, appraisal, and coping''. Springer publishing company. 
Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136956 
Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27 
Turner, H. A., & Schieman, S. (2008). Stress processes across the life course: Introduction and overview. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 13, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(08)00001-4

Stress and stressors

2020-10-08T19:21:10Z

Widmere:

Overall, in psychology, stress refers to the physical or psychological reaction to a demand (or stressor) or the event that constitute this demand (Hazanov-Boskovitz, 2003). Stress and stressors are widely studied for their impact on individual health and well-being. Three main types of stressor are generally identified in literature (Spini et al., 2013): 
* Life events: Life transition or life change constitute events that require adaptation from individual and can be source of stress
* Chronic strains: More enduring or recurring problems experienced during daily life are possible source of stress
* Daily hassles: Small and punctual problems of daily life can also be source of stress.
 
In the transactional perspective, stress is more particularly defined as a particular relation between the individual and its environment, where the individual see the situation as exceeding their own [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] and threatening their well-being (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The appraisal of stress is critical in this approach: the relation between source of stress and stress is not simple and cannot be defined in an absolute way. However, this approach constitutes a crucial model to understand the differential impact of stress on individual, notably by emphasizing the [[Resources|resources]] that individual have and use to face/assess possible sources of stress, then cope with stress (Hobfoll, 2002; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). 
 
The sociological approach of stress emphasizes the impact of social structures on the stress process (Turner & Schieman, 2008). In this perspective, the exposure to and meaning of stressors are seen as dependent on the social and institutional affiliations and status of individuals: the individual location in stratification systems, the institutional arrangement of status and roles and the configurations of relationships in which the individual are embedded are considered important factors of stress (Pearlin, 1989). This approach also emphasizes that one stressor occurs rarely by itself: stressors tend to proliferate and diffuse within and across life domains. Moreover, the diffusion of stressors can also occur between individuals: stressors experienced by one individual becoming stressors for others, notably when they share the same role sets. 

Stress constitues one major mechanism by which [[Vunerablity|vulnerablity]] unfolds.

 
==References==
Hazanov-Boskovitz, O. (2003). Etude du coping des adolescents dans un contexte expérimental (Doctoral dissertation, University of Geneva). https://doi.org/10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:170 
Hobfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. ''Review of General Psychology'', 6(4), 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.6.4.307 
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). ''Stress, appraisal, and coping''. Springer publishing company. 
Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136956 
Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27 
Turner, H. A., & Schieman, S. (2008). Stress processes across the life course: Introduction and overview. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 13, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(08)00001-4

Stress and stressors

2020-10-08T19:18:18Z

Widmere:

Overall, in psychology, stress refers to the physical or psychological reaction to a demand (or stressor) or the event that constitute this demand (Hazanov-Boskovitz, 2003). Stress and stressors are widely studied for their impact on individual health and well-being. Three main types of stressor are generally identified in literature (Spini et al., 2013): 
* Life events: Life transition or life change constitute events that require adaptation from individual and can be source of stress
* Chronic strains: More enduring or recurring problems experienced during daily life are possible source of stress
* Daily hassles: Small and punctual problems of daily life can also be source of stress.
 
In the transactional perspective, stress is more particularly defined as a particular relation between the individual and its environment, where the individual see the situation as exceeding their own [[Resources|resources]] and threatening their well-being (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The appraisal of stress is critical in this approach: the relation between source of stress and stress is not simple and cannot be defined in an absolute way. However, this approach constitutes a crucial model to understand the differential impact of stress on individual, notably by emphasizing the [[Resources|resources]] that individual have and use to face/assess possible sources of stress, then cope with stress (Hobfoll, 2002; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). 
 
The sociological approach of stress emphasizes the impact of social structures on the stress process (Turner & Schieman, 2008). In this perspective, the exposure to and meaning of stressors are seen as dependent on the social and institutional affiliations and status of individuals: the individual location in stratification systems, the institutional arrangement of status and roles and the configurations of relationships in which the individual are embedded are considered important factors of stress (Pearlin, 1989). This approach also emphasizes that one stressor occurs rarely by itself: stressors tend to proliferate and diffuse within and across life domains. Moreover, the diffusion of stressors can also occur between individuals: stressors experienced by one individual becoming stressors for others, notably when they share the same role sets. 
 
==References==
Hazanov-Boskovitz, O. (2003). Etude du coping des adolescents dans un contexte expérimental (Doctoral dissertation, University of Geneva). https://doi.org/10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:170 
Hobfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. ''Review of General Psychology'', 6(4), 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.6.4.307 
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). ''Stress, appraisal, and coping''. Springer publishing company. 
Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136956 
Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27 
Turner, H. A., & Schieman, S. (2008). Stress processes across the life course: Introduction and overview. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 13, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(08)00001-4

Stress and stressors

2020-10-08T19:16:34Z

Widmere:

Overall, in psychology, stress refers to the physical or psychological reaction to a demand (or stressor) or the event that constitute this demand (Hazanov-Boskovitz, 2003). Stress and stressors are widely studied for their impact on individual health and well-being. Three main types of stressor are generally identified in literature (Spini et al., 2013): 
* Life events: Life transition or life change constitute events that require adaptation from individual and can be source of stress
* Chronic strains: More enduring or recurring problems experienced during daily life are possible source of stress
* Daily hassles: Small and punctual problems of daily life can also be source of stress.
 
In the transactional perspective, stress is more particularly defined as a particular relation between the individual and its environment, where the individual see the situation as exceeding their own [[Resources|resources]] and threatening their well-being (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The appraisal of stress is critical in this approach: the relation between source of stress and stress is not simple and cannot be defined in an absolute way. However, this approach constitutes a crucial model to understand the differential impact of stress on individual, notably by emphasizing the [[Resources|resources]] that individual have and use to face/assess possible sources of stress, then cope with stress (Hobfoll, 2002; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). 
 
The sociological approach of stress emphasizes the impact of social structures on the stress process (Turner & Schieman, 2008). In this perspective, the exposure to and meaning of stressors are seen as dependent of the social and institutional affiliations and status of individuals: the individual location in stratification systems, the institutional arrangement of status and roles and the roles configurations in which the individual are embedded are considered as important factors of stress (Pearlin, 1989). This approach also emphasizes that one stressor occurs rarely singly: stressors tend to proliferate and diffuse within and across life domains. Moreover, the diffusion of stressors can also occur between individuals: stressors experienced by one individual becoming stressor for others, notably when they share the same role sets. 
 
==References==
Hazanov-Boskovitz, O. (2003). Etude du coping des adolescents dans un contexte expérimental (Doctoral dissertation, University of Geneva). https://doi.org/10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:170 
Hobfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. ''Review of General Psychology'', 6(4), 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.6.4.307 
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). ''Stress, appraisal, and coping''. Springer publishing company. 
Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136956 
Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27 
Turner, H. A., & Schieman, S. (2008). Stress processes across the life course: Introduction and overview. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 13, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(08)00001-4

Stress and stressors

2020-10-08T19:15:12Z

Widmere:

Overall, in psychology, stress refers to the physical or psychological reaction to a demand (or stressor) or the event that constitute this demand (Hazanov-Boskovitz, 2003). Stress and stressors are widely studied for their impact on individual health and well-being. Three main types of stressor are generally identified in literature (Spini et al., 2013): 
* Life events: Life transition or life change constitute events that require adaptation from individual and can be source of stress
* Chronic strains: More enduring or recurring problems experienced during daily life are possible source of stress
* Daily hassles: Small and punctual problems of daily life can also be source of stress.
 
In the transactional perspective, stress is more particularly defined as a particular relation between the individual and its environment, where the individual see the situation as exceeding their own [[Resources|resources]] and threatening their well-being (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The appraisal of stress is critical in this approach: the relation between source of stress and stress is not simple and cannot be defined in an absolute way. However, this approach constitutes an crucial model to understand the differential impact of stress on individual, notably by stressing the [[Resources|resources]] that individual have and use to face/assess possible sources of stress, then cope with stress (Hobfoll, 2002; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). 
 
The sociological approach of stress emphasizes the impact of social structures on the stress process (Turner & Schieman, 2008). In this perspective, the exposure to and meaning of stressors are seen as dependent of the social and institutional affiliations and status of individuals: the individual location in stratification systems, the institutional arrangement of status and roles and the roles configurations in which the individual are embedded are considered as important factors of stress (Pearlin, 1989). This approach also emphasizes that one stressor occurs rarely singly: stressors tend to proliferate and diffuse within and across life domains. Moreover, the diffusion of stressors can also occur between individuals: stressors experienced by one individual becoming stressor for others, notably when they share the same role sets. 
 
==References==
Hazanov-Boskovitz, O. (2003). Etude du coping des adolescents dans un contexte expérimental (Doctoral dissertation, University of Geneva). https://doi.org/10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:170 
Hobfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. ''Review of General Psychology'', 6(4), 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.6.4.307 
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). ''Stress, appraisal, and coping''. Springer publishing company. 
Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136956 
Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27 
Turner, H. A., & Schieman, S. (2008). Stress processes across the life course: Introduction and overview. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 13, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(08)00001-4

Stress and stressors

2020-10-08T19:14:56Z

Widmere:

Overall, in psychology, stress refers to the physical or psychological reaction to a demand (or stressor) or the event that constitute this demand (Hazanov-Boskovitz, 2003). Stress and stressors are widely studied for their impact on individual health and well-being. Three main types of stressor are generally identified in literature (Spini et al., 2013): s
* Life events: Life transition or life change constitute events that require adaptation from individual and can be source of stress
* Chronic strains: More enduring or recurring problems experienced during daily life are possible source of stress
* Daily hassles: Small and punctual problems of daily life can also be source of stress.
 
In the transactional perspective, stress is more particularly defined as a particular relation between the individual and its environment, where the individual see the situation as exceeding their own [[Resources|resources]] and threatening their well-being (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The appraisal of stress is critical in this approach: the relation between source of stress and stress is not simple and cannot be defined in an absolute way. However, this approach constitutes an crucial model to understand the differential impact of stress on individual, notably by stressing the [[Resources|resources]] that individual have and use to face/assess possible sources of stress, then cope with stress (Hobfoll, 2002; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). 
 
The sociological approach of stress emphasizes the impact of social structures on the stress process (Turner & Schieman, 2008). In this perspective, the exposure to and meaning of stressors are seen as dependent of the social and institutional affiliations and status of individuals: the individual location in stratification systems, the institutional arrangement of status and roles and the roles configurations in which the individual are embedded are considered as important factors of stress (Pearlin, 1989). This approach also emphasizes that one stressor occurs rarely singly: stressors tend to proliferate and diffuse within and across life domains. Moreover, the diffusion of stressors can also occur between individuals: stressors experienced by one individual becoming stressor for others, notably when they share the same role sets. 
 
==References==
Hazanov-Boskovitz, O. (2003). Etude du coping des adolescents dans un contexte expérimental (Doctoral dissertation, University of Geneva). https://doi.org/10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:170 
Hobfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. ''Review of General Psychology'', 6(4), 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.6.4.307 
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). ''Stress, appraisal, and coping''. Springer publishing company. 
Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136956 
Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27 
Turner, H. A., & Schieman, S. (2008). Stress processes across the life course: Introduction and overview. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 13, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(08)00001-4

Resources

2020-10-08T19:12:50Z

Widmere:

Over the life course, individuals have resources of different nature and in different amount (e.g. time, money, relations, human capital, personality traits) to engage in activities belonging to various domains of their life (family, employment, health, and leisure) and directed to life goals. Depending on the resources available, individuals reach different levels of economic, physical, psychological and social well-being (Diener & Fujita, 1995; Rojas, 2006).
 
 
Individuals’ resources are often limited and if drained by one life domain, they may hinder activities and well-being in another life domain. In this framework, an active research field is how individuals decide to allocate and distribute resources across life domains. Time is a typical example: increasing the time spent on work related activities, reduce the time available for leisure and family life with potential negative effects on life satisfaction and relation quality. However, resources may also be generated within one life domain and facilitate activities in other domains. For instance, following the household specialization theory of Becker (1991), the marriage brings a specialization and division of roles. The couple then will gain from this since one of the partners can free resources, time, from family life and invest them on labor market activities. When life domains compete for resources this may lead to negative spillovers across life domains; on the contrary, when resources are transferred across domains they may create positive spillovers effects (Bernardi, Bollmann, Potarca, & Rossier, 2017; Freund, Knecht, & Wiese, 2014; Hanappi, Ryser, Bernardi, & Le Goff, 2017; Roeters, Mandemakers, & Voorpostel, 2016).
 
 
Life hazards, events and transitions also increase or reduce available resources. For instance, changing job might increase the amount of economic resources available but at the same time reduce the time for leisure and family life activities. Experiencing multiple life events, either positive or negative, in a relatively short time span, may generate resources that complement each other. For instance, the resources gained or success in work and family relationships may positively impact each other (Huinink and Kohl, 2014).
 
 
Resources are not infinite and they cannot always be allocated as desired to reach a life goal. Some resources can be scarce (e.g. time, money). Activities pertaining to different domains may then compete for such resources, causing trade-offs (time for family or work or leisure, money for health or leisure). Such process potentially gives rise to different investment strategies in resources distribution across life domains and over time. Other types of resources, such as personality traits or human capital, are not finite, and may be used to sustain different activities across domains without producing trade-offs but rather being subsidiary of other resources.
 
 
[[Reserves|Reserves]] are a special kind of resources, which are accumulated throughout the years and are activated as resources when facing critical events or demanding transitions.

==References==
Becker, G. S. (1991). ''A Treatise on the Family (Enlarged ed.)''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 
Bernardi, L., Bollmann, G., Potarca, G., & Rossier, J. (2017). Multidimensionality of well-being and spillover effects across life domains: How do parenthood and personality affect changes in domain-specific satisfaction? ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 26-51. 
Diener, E., & Fujita, F. (1995). Resources, personal strivings, and subjective well-being: a nomothetic and idiographic approach. ''Journal of personality and social psychology'', 68(5), 926. 
Freund, A. M., Knecht, M., & Wiese, B. S. (2014). Multidomain engagement and self-reported psychosomatic symptoms in middle-aged women and men. ''Gerontology'', 60(3), 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1159/000358756 
Hanappi, D., Ryser, V. A., Bernardi, L., & Le Goff, J. M. (2017). Changes in Employment Uncertainty and the Fertility Intention–Realization Link: An Analysis Based on the Swiss Household Panel. ''European Journal of Population'', 33(3), 381–407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-016-9408-y 
Huinink, J., & Kohli, M. (2014). A life-course approach to fertility. ''Demographic research'', 30, 1293-1326. 
Roeters, A., Mandemakers, J. J., & Voorpostel, M. (2016). Parenthood and Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Leisure and Paid Work. ''European Journal of Population'', 32(3), 381–401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-016-9391-3 
Rojas, M. (2006). Life satisfaction and satisfaction in domains of life: Is it a simple relationship?. ''Journal of happiness studies'', 7(4), 467-497.

Meso level

2020-10-08T19:04:50Z

Widmere:

The macro-micro divide has been on the foreground of the social science debate since its inception. While the macro-level identifies societal structures characterizing institutional and normative settings, the micro-level captures behavioral, cognitive, and emotional processes at the individual level. In this sense, the macro-level is synonymous of «global», «system» or «structure», opposed to the microscopic insight on the «actors», their «behaviors» or «agency» (Alexander, 1987). Emerging from this debate, more recently social scientists have proposed to differentiate between three interdependent micro-, meso- and macro-levels to improve understanding of an increasingly complex social world (Levy, 2012). In this framework, the term “meso” has been used to define intermediate units of analysis among economists, anthropologists, sociologists, criminologists or social psychologists. Although many epistemic differences emerge from this literature, network analysts seem to provide a consistent attempt to operationalize this notion for an interdisciplinary audience (Lazega & Snijders, 2015).
 
 
==Definition and use across disciplines==
What ‘in between’ means thus reflects differences across disciplines and approaches. Nevertheless, what social scientists who use this notion have most in common is their research of the processes where the interaction between micro and macro can be observed (Vacchiano & Spini, 2020). In this respect, Lazega and Snijders (2015) claim that network analysis has provided the most consistent attempt to address this issue. The reason is that by conceptualizing the emergence of social interactions as different types of networks, scholars can streamline the opportunities and constraints arising from social relationships as a juncture within the micro-macro gap. The reason is that one of the main assumptions of network theory is that social relationships can be studied as social contexts: that is, personal networks can be seen as aggregate units of analysis located at a level of social reality higher than individuals (Van Duijn, Van Busschbach & Snijders, 2009). Although individuals are constantly interwoven with other people during the flux of social life, networks are different from face-to face encounters, because they are constituted by a (more and less) stable set of participants. This means that networks follow a hierarchical structure, and thus, individuals are nested within enduring forms of social relationships that provide structural opportunities and constraints (Emirbayer, 1997; Bourdieu, 1986).
 
 
==Network perspectives==
What ‘in between’ means reflects differences across disciplines and approaches. Nevertheless, what social scientists who use this notion have most in common is their emphasis on considering contexts that are more proximate than macro-social ones, thus addressing individuals’ opportunities and constraints more concretely. In this respect, Lazega and Snijders (2015) claim that network analysis has provided the most consistent attempt to address this issue. The reason is that by conceptualizing the emergence of interactions as different types of networks, scholars can streamline the opportunities and constraints arising from social relationships as a juncture within the micro-macro gap. The reason is that one of the main assumptions of network theory is that social relationships can be studied as social contexts: ego, personal networks can be seen as aggregate units of analysis located at a level of social reality higher than individuals (Van Duijn, Van Busschbach and Snijders, 2009). Although individuals are constantly interwoven with other people during the flux of social life, networks are different from face-to face encounters, because they are constituted by a (more and less) stable set of participants. This means that networks follow a hierarchical structure, and thus, individuals are nested within enduring forms of social relationships that provide opportunities and constraints at the meso-level (Emirbayer, 1997; Bourdieu, 1986).
 
 
==References==
Alexander, J. (1987). ''The Micro-Macro Link''. Berkeley. California: University of California Press. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In''J. G. Richardson (eds), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'', New York: Greenwood. 
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Recent advances in research on the ecology of human development. In ''Development as action in context'' (pp. 287-309). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. 
De Munck, V. (1994). A Micro-, Meso-, and Macro-level Descriptive Analysis of Disputes within a Social Network. A Study of Household Relations in a Sri Lankan Community. ''Anthropos'', 89, 85-94. 
Dopfer, K., Foster, J. & Poots, J. (2004) Micro–Meso–Macro. ''Journal of Evolutionary Economics'', 14, 263–279. 
Emirbayer, M. (1997). Manifesto for a relational sociology. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 103(2), 281–317. 
Giuliani, E. & Bell, M. (2005). The micro-determinants of meso-level learning and innovation: evidence from a Chilean wine cluster. ''Research Policy'', 34, 47-68 
Jaspal, R., Carriere, K.R. & Moghaddam, F. M. (2015). Bridging Micro, Meso, and Macro Processes in Social Psychology. In ''J Valsiner et al. (eds.), Psychology as the Science of Human Being''. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. 
Kristjanson P., Radeny, M,, Baltenweck, I., Ogutu, J. & Notenbaert, A. (2005). Livelihood mapping and poverty correlates at a meso-level in Kenya. ''Food Policy'', 30, 568– 583. 
Lazega, E. &. Snijders, T. (2015). ''Multilevel Network Analysis for the Social Sciences: Theory, Methods and Applications''. Oxford: Springer.
Levy, R. (2002). Meso-social Structures and Stratification Analysis - a Missing Link?. ''Swiss Journal of Sociology'', 28(2), 193-216. 
McCarthy, T. (eds) (2011). ''Ethnography and language policy''. London: Routledge. 
Reid, L., Sutton, P., & Hunter, C. (2009). Theorizing the meso level: the household as a crucible of pro-environmental behaviour. ''Progress in Human Geography'', 34(3), 309–327. 
Vacchiano, M. & Spini, D. (2020). Networked Lives. ''LIVES Working Papers''. In press. 
Van Duijn, M., Van Busschbach, J. & Snijders, T. (1999). Multilevel Analysis of Personal Networks as Dependent Variables. ''Social Networks'', 21(2), 187-210.

Main Page

2020-10-08T19:03:44Z

Widmere: /* List of currently existing definitions */

<big>Glossary LIVES BETA VERSION</big>

Welcome to the BETA version of LIVES wiki-glossary! With about 20 central concepts described and explained at the time being, this initiative aims to make interdisciplinary research on vulnerability in a life course perspective more straightforward. 
 

A project of [https://centre-lives./ Centre LIVES]
 

==List of definitions==
 
* [[Capabilities]]
* [[Causality]]
* [[Career development]]
* [[Cumulative (dis)advantages]]
* [[Employability]]
* [[Family ties]]
* [[Gender regimes]]
* [[Meso level]]
* [[Missing data]]
* [[Reserves]]
** [[Reserves#Constitution : passive and active|Constitution : passive and active]]
** [[Reserves#Activation, depletion and reconstitution|Activation, depletion and reconstitution]]
** [[Reserves#Threshold|Threshold]]
** [[Reserves#Domains|Domains]]
* [[Resources]]
* [[Social capital]]
* [[Social groups]]
* [[Life domains]]
* [[Stress and stressors]]
* [[Vulnerability]]

<hr />
[[Worksheet | Worksheet (with planned definitions) ]]

Reserves

2020-10-08T19:00:25Z

Widmere:

Initially developed in neuroscience, the reserves concept was use to study the level of protection against cognitive damage (see “cognitive reserve”, e.g., Stern, 2009). In its extended understanding proposed by Cullati, Widmer and Kliegel (2018), the reserves concept can refer to all areas of life and must allow to better grasp [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] processes across the life course. In this context, reserves are defined as « the means needed not for immediate use but rather accumulated in a sufficient manner. Such means help overcome shocks and adversity and delay or modify the processes of decline in well-being, health, wealth and social life during aging. » (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 551). In other words, reserves refer to the various means available to individuals to face distributive events or transitions during life course. With respect to « [[Resources|resources]] », the notion of reserves highlights the time-oriented dimension of the means available to individuals to avoid or deal with [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] by stressing their dynamics of constitution through accumulation, their processes of activation across life course, but also their risk of depletion when facing a critical life event, and possible need for reconstitution after depletion. The thresholds under which reserves cannot be transform into effective [[Resources|resources]] to face [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] are another issue raised by the reserves concept that is important in understanding [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] dynamics.
 
 
==Constitution : passive and active==
The constitution of reserves may refer to passive or active process (Cullati et al., 2018). Passive process of reserves constitution refers initially, regarding its origin in neurosciences, to innate (i.e. genetically determined) and very early acquired (typically through family environment or with school education) inter-individual differences that impact trajectories of cognitive functioning. In a more social sciences perspective, passive process refers also to social inequalities or the impact of social background on further life course conditions. Conversely, Cullati and colleagues argue also for an active model of constitution, where initial reserves can be changed across individual trajectories. For instance, reserves for cognition may be enhance through stimulating activities (e.g. Ihle et al., 2018). The development of social ties (e.g. friendship, colleagues, partner) is another example of the opportunities to developpe important reserves across life-course. In the end, taking into account these two principles of reserves constitution – passive and active - seems to be crucial to understand [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] and reserves dynamics and to examine [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|cumulative processes of (dis)advantages]] and trajectories of resilience.
 
 
==Activation, depletion and reconstitution==
While supporting the “active” perspective on reserves, various principles stress the time-dynamic dimension of this concept. The first is the plasticity principle that refers to the “use it or lose it” notion or the fact that activities contribute to the maintenance of the ability to function (Cullati et al., 2018, p. 553). In other word, this implies that reserves need to be activated through life course to be effective when needed; for instance, stimulating activities help preserve cognitive reserve or regular exchange contribute to maintain relational reserves.
Another step of reserves dynamic refers to their depletion when facing a critical life event. Indeed, reserves can decrease after their use or become inadequate over life course exigences, involving the need for individual to reconstitute their reserves. 
These various principles can vary in intensity among reserves types: for instance, friendship ties have been showed as asking more individual investment in their maintenance (notably through the reciprocity principle)in contrast with [[Family ties|family ties]] whose functioning would be more guided by solidarity norms and involves more automaticity (Allan, 2008). Beyond, historical changes have also an impact of the importance of individual investment in reserves dynamics. Indeed, in western societies after WWII, the standardized life course and its institutions (education, family, retirement), include a relative stable and coherent model of reserves that secure individual life course. With changes toward more destanstandardized society, constitution and activation of reserves, e.g. education or [[Family ties|family ties]], focus more on individual agency – in other word are less linear, secured and automatic. The more frequent and numerous life transitions and disruptive events that tend to happen during life course increase the use of reserves but also the risk of their depletion and the need of their reconstitution (Baeriswyl et al., submitted).
 
 
==Threshold==
[[Resources|Resources]] must be accumulated in a sufficient manner to constitute effective reserves. Under a certain threshold, reserves do not allow individual to face adverse life event or life transition and to continue functioning according to societal standards (Cullati et al., 2018). Understanding reserves threshold is a crucial issue for social and health policy in order to establish appropriate measures for compensating the lack of individual reserves.
 
 
==Domains==
The composition of reserves includes various domains : education, social and family relationships, psychological and mental health, income and wealth. Of course, reserves issues vary among its various domain (e.g. expected outcomes depending on life areas or inequalities and individual differences in constitution or activation). Beyond, the various types of reserves and their outcomes interact across life course in complex [[Causality|causality]] chain – where [[Resources|resources]] are both outcomes and means of reserves accumulation - that contribute thus to explain individual [[Vulnerability|vulnerability]] trajectories (Cullati et al., 2018; Spini et al., 2017).
 
 
==References==
Allan, G. (2008). Flexibility, friendship, and family. ''Personal Relationships'', 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00181.x 
Baeriswyl, M., Widmer, E. D., & Oris, M. (submitted). A reserves perspective on education over recent historical time in Switzerland. 
Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. D. (2018). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', 2, 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3 
Ihle, A., Ghisletta, P., Ballhausen, N., Fagot, D., Vallet, F., Baeriswyl, M., Sauter, J., Oris, M., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2018). The role of cognitive reserve accumulated in midlife for the relation between chronic diseases and cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal follow-up across six years. ''Neuropsychologia'', 121, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.013 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework for studying vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1268892 
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. ''Neuropsychologia'', 47(10), 2015–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004

Vulnerability

2020-10-08T18:59:40Z

Widmere:

The concept of vulnerability has been first developed in the field of environmental sciences and received a growing attention these last years in social and psychological sciences (Misztal, 2012; Ranci, 2010; Schröder-Butterfill & Marianti, 2006). Based on these previous definitions, we defined vulnerability as a process of [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] loss or insufficiency in one or more [[Life domains|life domains]] that exposes individuals to: (1) an inability to avoid individual, social or environmental [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], (2) an inability to cope effectively with these [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], and (3) an inability to recover from [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] or to take [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|advantage]] of opportunities by a given deadline (Spini, Bernardi, & Oris, 2017; Spini & Widmer, in preparation).

We find two contrasted views of vulnerability in the literature (Brown, 2011). The first view characterizes specific social categories who are in need of care or of the support of the welfare state, and a second view considering vulnerability as an ontological feature of the human condition throughout the life course. The first approach refers to a classic and static view of vulnerability defined as a syndrome of low levels of [[Resources|resources]] (Ranci, 2010) or a lack of autonomy related to a need of others’ care (Misztal, 2012). This low level of [[Resources|resources]] implies a state of weakness, inability, dependency and the need to be helped in order to avoid harm and achieve adequate satisfaction of legitimate claims (Tavaglione et al., 2015). Social categories that are labeled vulnerable in this tradition include homeless people, sex workers, asylum seekers, refugees, children and the very old, the poor and those who are chronically ill.

In contrast with this categorical approach of vulnerability, we defined vulnerability as a balance linking individuals’ [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] with the personal and contextual circumstances in which they find themselves at different points in their lives (notably in relation to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]). In this second perspective, human beings have a latent vulnerability irrespective of their social category that may become manifest in special circumstances (non-normative events, stressful life transitions, [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|accumulation of disadvantages]], economic, social or political collective downturns). Professionals or institutions may in specific situations objectify vulnerability states with diagnostics and other evaluative tools (Spini, 2011). As shown by a variety of contributions of LIVES these latent and manifest vulnerability processes can be studied empirically within the life course framework bridging the vulnerability psycho-socio-economic and policy traditions in a life course perspective (Spini et al., 2013; Spini, Bernardi, & Oris, 2017).

This interdisciplinary approach has different advantages over previous approaches of vulnerability. First, it encourages researchers from different horizons to work together. A literature review by Hanappi, Bernardi, and Spini (2014) showed that sociological studies focused on issues such as the welfare state, poverty or family, whereas psychology was more interested in issues such of personality, coping, [[Stress and stressors|stress]], or depression. Gerontology, on its side, focused on the close concept of frailty. In this structure, vulnerability appeared to be independent of these focuses and a possible candidate for integration of various phenomena across disciplines. Indeed, a second advantage of relating the life course tradition and the vulnerability framework is that it brings together knowledge of processes that can be generalized across different disciplinary perspectives and topical fields like health, family, or work.

The basic components of vulnerability processes are related to dynamics of [[Resources|resources]], [[Reserves|reserves]], and [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]. [[Resources|Resources]] relates in a larger sense to whatever increase the likelihood of individuals to meet the social expectations (including their own) and increase their meaning in life or well-being. In that regard, many individual and collective factors, from personality traits, cognitive performance, social or cultural capital, policies, to economic assets can be considered as [[Resources|resources]].

The concept of [[Resources|resources]] does not suggest any time related process as it rather promote a distinction between those who, at a certain point in time, have [[Resources|resources]] and those who do not. In that respect, the conceptual advances proposed by the reserve perspective are highly relevant for the study of vulnerability processes. [[Reserves|Reserves]] in different domains are [[Resources|resources]] which are not needed for immediate use but which, when accumulated to a sufficient extent, are available to recover from life shocks and adversity, social or economic [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], or non-normative transitory periods across the life course (Cullati et al., 2019). It is to some extent the opposite to vulnerability, defined in life course studies as a lack of [[Resources|resources]] making the occurrence of critical events more likely and the recovery from such events more difficult (Spini et al., 2017). Concerning [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], they are a central dimension of life events and lifespan losses in a psychological perspective (Reese & Smyer, 1983). However, [[Stress and stressors|stress]] is not only an individual subjective appraisal issue. Following, Pearlin and his associates (Pearlin, 1989; Pearlin & Skaff, 1996), [[Stress and stressors|stress]] is unequally distributed across the social spectrum. People in disadvantaged positions have more risks to experience and suffer from [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], be they chronic or acute, precisely because they lack [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]].

There is a sequential definition of vulnerability processes in three steps; before the critical [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], during the exposure to the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] (notably acute ones) and after the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] happened. It has, even if it is always difficult to disentangle the complexity of vulnerability processes, the advantage of distinguishing and combining different hypotheses; for example, the hypothesis of social causation and the hypothesis of differential vulnerability (Diderichsen, Hallqvist, & Whitehead, 2019; Kessler, 1979). The hypothesis of social causation states that distal or proximal social statuses impact on subsequent states in other domains and life course trajectories. The differential vulnerability hypothesis states that different levels of personal or social [[Resources|resources]] (typically related to disadvantaged social groups) may lead to a greater susceptibility to be harmed when confronted to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] than less vulnerable individuals or groups. If social causation may be active since the start of life and in step 1 of our processual framework (and be measured by direct effects of social categories, or levels of personal or social [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]], on risks of being exposed to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]), vulnerability susceptibility may be more observable in relation to specific [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] at step two or three of this sequential model.

Finally, most empirical studies related to this vulnerability sequence model have focused on the negative side of vulnerability. However, as stressed by George (2003), the inverse hypothesis, that experiencing [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] may be a source of learning and increased resilience should not be evacuated. In this regard, it is important to consider opportunities and protective factors in life trajectories, and not only constraints and [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] (Ferraro & Shippee, 2009). Vulnerability should not refer only to negative consequences of the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] or a lack of [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]]. It should lead us to study processes of reserve constitution or reconstitution, resilience or recovery. As proposed by the relational perspective of Overton (2013), vulnerability should be put in relation to its antonyms and should not be simply opposed to them. A major difficulty is then to elect a single antonym. The concept of invulnerability is not applicable to mortal human beings. Thus, there are different candidates to be put in relation with vulnerability in the literature, from different fields, like resilience (mostly used in psychology in reference to extraordinary features of specific individuals or versus chronicity or vulnerability in PTSD and clinical literature), autonomy (opposed usually to dependence in social policy or gerontology), or robustness (versus frailty in gerontology). This relative fuzziness may be the subject of criticisms by some, whereas others, like Overton (2013) would probably defend the idea that concepts should create metatheoretical spaces where “foundations are groundings, not bedrocks of certainty, and analysis is about creating categories, not about cutting nature as its joints” (p.42).

==References==

Anderson, J., & Honneth, A. (2005). Autonomy, Vulnerability, Recognition, and Justice. In ''J. Anderson & J. Christman (Eds.),'' ''Autonomy and the Challenges to Liberalism: New Essays'' (pp. 127-149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Brown, K. (2011). ‘Vulnerability’: Handle with Care. ''Ethics and Social Welfare'', 5(3), 313-321. doi:10.1080/17496535.2011.597165

Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. (2019). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behavior'', 2(8), 551-558. doi:doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3

Diderichsen, F., Hallqvist, J., & Whitehead, M. (2019). Differential vulnerability and susceptibility: how to make use of recent development in our understanding of mediation and interaction to tackle health inequalities. ''International Journal of Epidemiology'', 48(1), 268-274. doi:10.1093/ije/dyy167

Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 82(6), 878-902.

George, L. K. (2003). What life course perspectives offer to the study of aging and health? In ''R. A. Settersten Jr (Ed.), Invitation to the life course. Toward new understanding of later life'' (pp. 161-188). Amityville: Baywood.

Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., & Spini, D. (2014). Vulnerability as a heuristic for interdisciplinary research: Assessing the thematic and methodological structure of empirical life-course studies. ''Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. An International Journal'', 6(1), 59-87.

Kessler, R. C. (1979). A strategy for studying differential vulnerability to the psychological consequences of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 20(2), 100-108.

Kohli, M. (2007). The institutionalization of the life course: looking back and ahead. ''Research in Human Development'', 4(3-4), 253-271.
Misztal, B. A. (2012). The Challenges of Vulnerability. London: Palgrave McMillan.

Overton, W. F. (2013). Relationalism and relational developmental systems: a paradigm for developmental science in the post-cartesian era. In ''R. M. Lerner & J. B. Benson (Eds.), Embodiement and epigenesis: Theoretical and Methodological issues in understanding the role of biology within the relational developmental system part A: Philosophical, theoretical, and biological dimensions'' (pp. 21-64). Elsevier Inc. Academic Press.

Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241-256.

Pearlin, L. I., & Skaff, M. M. (1996). Stress and the life course. ''The Gerontologist'', 36(2), 239-247.

Ranci, C. (2010). Social vulnerability in Europe. In ''C. Ranci (Ed.), Social vulnerability in Europe. The new configuration of social risks'' (pp. 3-24). London: Palgrave McMillan.

Reese, H. W., & Smyer, M. A. (1983). The dimensionalization of life events. In ''E. J. Callahan & K. A. McCluskey (Eds.), Life-span developmental psychology. Nonnormative life events'' (pp. 1-33). New York: Academic Press.

Schröder-Butterfill, E., & Marianti, R. (2006). A framework for understanding old-age vulnerabilities. ''Ageing & Society'', 26, 9-35.

Spini, D. (2011). Vulnérabilités et trajectoires de vie. Vers une alliance entre parcours de vie et politiques sociales. In ''F.-X. Merrien & J.-P. Tabin (Eds.), Regards croisés sur la pauvreté''. Lausanne: Editions EESP.

Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', vol. 2013, no. 27, 1-3. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27

Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework of vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5-25.

Spini, D. & Widmer, E. (in preparation). Inhabiting vulnerability across the life course. In ''D. Spini & E. Widmer (Eds), Withstanding vulnerability: dynamics of resources, reserves and stressors across the life course''. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tavaglione, N., Martin, A. K., Mezger, N., Durieux-Paillard, S., François, A., Jackson, Y., & Hurst, S. A. (2015). Fleshing Out Vulnerability. ''Bioethics'', 29(2), 98-107. doi:10.1111/bioe.12065

Vulnerability

2020-10-08T18:58:43Z

Widmere:

The concept of vulnerability has been first developed in the field of environmental sciences and received a growing attention these last years in social and psychological sciences (Misztal, 2012; Ranci, 2010; Schröder-Butterfill & Marianti, 2006). Based on these previous definitions, we defined vulnerability as a process of [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] loss or insufficiency in one or more [[Life domains|life domains]] that exposes individuals to: (1) an inability to avoid individual, social or environmental [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], (2) an inability to cope effectively with these [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], and (3) an inability to recover from [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] or to take [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|advantage]] of opportunities by a given deadline (Spini, Bernardi, & Oris, 2017; Spini & Widmer, in preparation).

We find two contrasted views of vulnerability in the literature (Brown, 2011). The first view characterizes specific social categories who are in need of care or of the support of the welfare state, and a second view considering vulnerability as an ontological feature of the human condition throughout the life course. The first approach refers to a classic and static view of vulnerability defined as a syndrome of low levels of [[Resources|resources]] (Ranci, 2010) or a lack of autonomy related to a need of others’ care (Misztal, 2012). This low level of [[Resources|resources]] implies a state of weakness, inability, dependency and the need to be helped in order to avoid harm and achieve adequate satisfaction of legitimate claims (Tavaglione et al., 2015). Social categories that are labeled vulnerable in this tradition include homeless people, sex workers, asylum seekers, refugees, children and the very old, the poor and those who are chronically ill.

In contrast with this categorical approach of vulnerability, we defined vulnerability as a balance linking individuals’ [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] with the personal and contextual circumstances in which they find themselves at different points in their lives (notably in relation to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]). In this second perspective, human beings have a latent vulnerability irrespective of their social category that may become manifest in special circumstances (non-normative events, stressful life transitions, [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|accumulation of disadvantages]], economic, social or political collective downturns). Professionals or institutions may in specific situations objectify vulnerability states with diagnostics and other evaluative tools (Spini, 2011). As shown by a variety of contributions of LIVES these latent and manifest vulnerability processes can be studied empirically within the life course framework bridging the vulnerability psycho-socio-economic and policy traditions in a life course perspective (Spini et al., 2013; Spini, Bernardi, & Oris, 2017).

This interdisciplinary approach has different advantages over previous approaches of vulnerability. First, it encourages researchers from different horizons to work together. A literature review by Hanappi, Bernardi, and Spini (2014) showed that sociological studies focused on issues such as the welfare state, poverty or family, whereas psychology was more interested in issues such of personality, coping, [[Stress and stressors|stress]], or depression. Gerontology, on its side, focused on the close concept of frailty. In this structure, vulnerability appeared to be independent of these focuses and a possible candidate for integration of various phenomena across disciplines. Indeed, a second advantage of relating the life course tradition and the vulnerability framework is that it brings together knowledge of processes that can be generalized across different disciplinary perspectives and topical fields like health, family, or work.

The basic components of vulnerability processes are related to dynamics of [[Resources|resources]], [[Reserves|reserves]], and [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]. [[Resources|Resources]] relates in a larger sense to whatever increase the likelihood of individuals to meet the social expectations (including their own) and increase their meaning in life or well-being. In that regard, many individual and collective factors, from personality traits, cognitive performance, social or cultural capital, policies, to economic assets can be considered as [[Resources|resources]]. The concept of [[Resources|resources]] does not suggest any time related process as it rather promote a distinction between those who, at a certain point in time, have [[Resources|resources]] and those who do not. In that respect, the conceptual advances proposed by the reserve perspective are highly relevant for the study of vulnerability processes. [[Reserves|Reserves]] in different domains are [[Resources|resources]] which are not needed for immediate use but which, when accumulated to a sufficient extent, are available to recover from life shocks and adversity, social or economic [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], or non-normative transitory periods across the life course (Cullati et al., 2019). It is to some extent the opposite to vulnerability, defined in life course studies as a lack of [[Resources|resources]] making the occurrence of critical events more likely and the recovery from such events more difficult (Spini et al., 2017). Concerning [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], they are a central dimension of life events and lifespan losses in a psychological perspective (Reese & Smyer, 1983). However, [[Stress and stressors|stress]] is not only an individual subjective appraisal issue. Following, Pearlin and his associates (Pearlin, 1989; Pearlin & Skaff, 1996), [[Stress and stressors|stress]] is unequally distributed across the social spectrum. People in disadvantaged positions have more risks to experience and suffer from [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], be they chronic or acute, precisely because they lack [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]].

There is a sequential definition of vulnerability processes in three steps; before the critical [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], during the exposure to the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] (notably acute ones) and after the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] happened. It has, even if it is always difficult to disentangle the complexity of vulnerability processes, the advantage of distinguishing and combining different hypotheses; for example, the hypothesis of social causation and the hypothesis of differential vulnerability (Diderichsen, Hallqvist, & Whitehead, 2019; Kessler, 1979). The hypothesis of social causation states that distal or proximal social statuses impact on subsequent states in other domains and life course trajectories. The differential vulnerability hypothesis states that different levels of personal or social [[Resources|resources]] (typically related to disadvantaged social groups) may lead to a greater susceptibility to be harmed when confronted to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] than less vulnerable individuals or groups. If social causation may be active since the start of life and in step 1 of our processual framework (and be measured by direct effects of social categories, or levels of personal or social [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]], on risks of being exposed to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]), vulnerability susceptibility may be more observable in relation to specific [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] at step two or three of this sequential model.

Finally, most empirical studies related to this vulnerability sequence model have focused on the negative side of vulnerability. However, as stressed by George (2003), the inverse hypothesis, that experiencing [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] may be a source of learning and increased resilience should not be evacuated. In this regard, it is important to consider opportunities and protective factors in life trajectories, and not only constraints and [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] (Ferraro & Shippee, 2009). Vulnerability should not refer only to negative consequences of the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] or a lack of [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]]. It should lead us to study processes of reserve constitution or reconstitution, resilience or recovery. As proposed by the relational perspective of Overton (2013), vulnerability should be put in relation to its antonyms and should not be simply opposed to them. A major difficulty is then to elect a single antonym. The concept of invulnerability is not applicable to mortal human beings. Thus, there are different candidates to be put in relation with vulnerability in the literature, from different fields, like resilience (mostly used in psychology in reference to extraordinary features of specific individuals or versus chronicity or vulnerability in PTSD and clinical literature), autonomy (opposed usually to dependence in social policy or gerontology), or robustness (versus frailty in gerontology). This relative fuzziness may be the subject of criticisms by some, whereas others, like Overton (2013) would probably defend the idea that concepts should create metatheoretical spaces where “foundations are groundings, not bedrocks of certainty, and analysis is about creating categories, not about cutting nature as its joints” (p.42).

==References==

Anderson, J., & Honneth, A. (2005). Autonomy, Vulnerability, Recognition, and Justice. In ''J. Anderson & J. Christman (Eds.),'' ''Autonomy and the Challenges to Liberalism: New Essays'' (pp. 127-149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Brown, K. (2011). ‘Vulnerability’: Handle with Care. ''Ethics and Social Welfare'', 5(3), 313-321. doi:10.1080/17496535.2011.597165

Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. (2019). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behavior'', 2(8), 551-558. doi:doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3

Diderichsen, F., Hallqvist, J., & Whitehead, M. (2019). Differential vulnerability and susceptibility: how to make use of recent development in our understanding of mediation and interaction to tackle health inequalities. ''International Journal of Epidemiology'', 48(1), 268-274. doi:10.1093/ije/dyy167

Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 82(6), 878-902.

George, L. K. (2003). What life course perspectives offer to the study of aging and health? In ''R. A. Settersten Jr (Ed.), Invitation to the life course. Toward new understanding of later life'' (pp. 161-188). Amityville: Baywood.

Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., & Spini, D. (2014). Vulnerability as a heuristic for interdisciplinary research: Assessing the thematic and methodological structure of empirical life-course studies. ''Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. An International Journal'', 6(1), 59-87.

Kessler, R. C. (1979). A strategy for studying differential vulnerability to the psychological consequences of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 20(2), 100-108.

Kohli, M. (2007). The institutionalization of the life course: looking back and ahead. ''Research in Human Development'', 4(3-4), 253-271.
Misztal, B. A. (2012). The Challenges of Vulnerability. London: Palgrave McMillan.

Overton, W. F. (2013). Relationalism and relational developmental systems: a paradigm for developmental science in the post-cartesian era. In ''R. M. Lerner & J. B. Benson (Eds.), Embodiement and epigenesis: Theoretical and Methodological issues in understanding the role of biology within the relational developmental system part A: Philosophical, theoretical, and biological dimensions'' (pp. 21-64). Elsevier Inc. Academic Press.

Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241-256.

Pearlin, L. I., & Skaff, M. M. (1996). Stress and the life course. ''The Gerontologist'', 36(2), 239-247.

Ranci, C. (2010). Social vulnerability in Europe. In ''C. Ranci (Ed.), Social vulnerability in Europe. The new configuration of social risks'' (pp. 3-24). London: Palgrave McMillan.

Reese, H. W., & Smyer, M. A. (1983). The dimensionalization of life events. In ''E. J. Callahan & K. A. McCluskey (Eds.), Life-span developmental psychology. Nonnormative life events'' (pp. 1-33). New York: Academic Press.

Schröder-Butterfill, E., & Marianti, R. (2006). A framework for understanding old-age vulnerabilities. ''Ageing & Society'', 26, 9-35.

Spini, D. (2011). Vulnérabilités et trajectoires de vie. Vers une alliance entre parcours de vie et politiques sociales. In ''F.-X. Merrien & J.-P. Tabin (Eds.), Regards croisés sur la pauvreté''. Lausanne: Editions EESP.

Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', vol. 2013, no. 27, 1-3. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27

Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework of vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5-25.

Spini, D. & Widmer, E. (in preparation). Inhabiting vulnerability across the life course. In ''D. Spini & E. Widmer (Eds), Withstanding vulnerability: dynamics of resources, reserves and stressors across the life course''. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tavaglione, N., Martin, A. K., Mezger, N., Durieux-Paillard, S., François, A., Jackson, Y., & Hurst, S. A. (2015). Fleshing Out Vulnerability. ''Bioethics'', 29(2), 98-107. doi:10.1111/bioe.12065

Vulnerability

2020-10-08T18:57:06Z

Widmere:

The concept of vulnerability has been first developed in the field of environmental sciences and received a growing attention these last years in social and psychological sciences (Misztal, 2012; Ranci, 2010; Schröder-Butterfill & Marianti, 2006). Based on these previous definitions, we defined vulnerability as a process of [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] loss or insufficiency in one or more [[Life domains|life domains]] that exposes individuals to: (1) an inability to avoid individual, social or environmental [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], (2) an inability to cope effectively with these [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], and (3) an inability to recover from [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] or to take [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|advantage]] of opportunities by a given deadline (Spini, Bernardi, & Oris, 2017; Spini & Widmer, in preparation).

We find two contrasted views of vulnerability in the literature (Brown, 2011). The first view characterizes specific social categories who are in need of care or of the support of the welfare state, and a second view considering vulnerability as an ontological feature of the human condition throughout the life course. The first approach refers to a classic and static view of vulnerability defined as a syndrome of low levels of [[Resources|resources]] (Ranci, 2010) or a lack of autonomy related to a need of others’ care (Misztal, 2012). This low level of [[Resources|resources]] implies a state of weakness, inability, dependency and the need to be helped in order to avoid harm and achieve adequate satisfaction of legitimate claims (Tavaglione et al., 2015). Social categories that are labeled vulnerable in this tradition include homeless people, sex workers, asylum seekers, refugees, children and the very old, the poor and those who are chronically ill.

In contrast with this categorical approach of vulnerability, we defined vulnerability as a balance linking individuals’ [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] with the personal and contextual circumstances in which they find themselves at different points in their lives (notably in relation to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]). In this second perspective, human beings have a latent vulnerability irrespective of their social category that may become manifest in special circumstances (non-normative events, stressful life transitions, [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|accumulation of disadvantages]], economic, social or political collective downturns). Professionals or institutions may in specific situations objectify vulnerability states with diagnostics and other evaluative tools (Spini, 2011). As shown by a variety of contributions of LIVES these latent and manifest vulnerability processes can be studied empirically within the life course framework bridging the vulnerability psycho-socio-economic and policy traditions in a life course perspective (Spini et al., 2013; Spini, Bernardi, & Oris, 2017).

This interdisciplinary approach has different advantages over previous approaches of vulnerability. First, it encourages researchers from different horizons to work together. A literature review by Hanappi, Bernardi, and Spini (2014) showed that sociological studies focused on issues such as the welfare state, poverty or family, whereas psychology was more interested in issues such of personality, coping, [[Stress and stressors|stress]], or depression. Gerontology, on its side, focused on the close concept of frailty. In this structure, vulnerability appeared to be independent of these focuses and a possible candidate for integration of various phenomena across disciplines. Indeed, a second advantage of relating the life course tradition and the vulnerability framework is that it brings together knowledge of processes that can be generalized across different disciplinary perspectives and topical fields like health, family, or work.

The basic components of vulnerability processes are related to dynamics of [[Resources|resources]], [[Reserves|reserves]], and [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]. [[Resources|Resources]] relates in a larger sense to whatever increase the likelihood of individuals to meet the social expectations (including their own) and increase their meaning in life or well-being. In that regard, many individual and collective factors, from personality traits, cognitive performance, social or cultural capital, policies, to economic assets can be considered as [[Resources|resources]]. The concept of [[Resources|resources]] does not suggest any time related process as it rather promote a distinction between those who, at a certain point in time, have [[Resources|resources]] and those who do not. In that respect, the conceptual advances proposed by the reserve perspective are highly relevant for the study of vulnerability processes. [[Reserves|Reserves]] in different domains are [[Resources|resources]] which are not needed for immediate use but which, when accumulated to a sufficient extent, are available to recover from life shocks and adversity, social or economic [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], or non-normative transitory periods across the life course (Cullati et al., 2019). It is to some extent the opposite to vulnerability, defined in life course studies as a lack of [[Resources|resources]] making the occurrence of critical events more likely and the recovery from such events more difficult (Spini et al., 2017). Concerning [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], they are a central dimension of life events and lifespan losses in a psychological perspective (Reese & Smyer, 1983). However, [[Stress and stressors|stress]] is not only an individual subjective appraisal issue. Following, Pearlin and his associates (Pearlin, 1989; Pearlin & Skaff, 1996), [[Stress and stressors|stress]] is unequally distributed across the social spectrum. People in disadvantaged positions have more risks to experience and suffer from [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], be they chronic or acute, precisely because they lack [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]].
There is a sequential definition of vulnerability processes in three steps; before the critical [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], during the exposure to the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] (notably acute ones) and after the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] happened. It has, even if it is always difficult to disentangle the complexity of vulnerability processes, the advantage of distinguishing and combining different hypotheses; for example, the hypothesis of social causation and the hypothesis of differential vulnerability (Diderichsen, Hallqvist, & Whitehead, 2019; Kessler, 1979). The hypothesis of social causation states that distal or proximal social statuses impact on subsequent states in other domains and life course trajectories. The differential vulnerability hypothesis states that different levels of personal or social [[Resources|resources]] (typically related to disadvantaged social groups) may lead to a greater susceptibility to be harmed when confronted to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] than less vulnerable individuals or groups. If social causation may be active since the start of life and in step 1 of our processual framework (and be measured by direct effects of social categories, or levels of personal or social [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]], on risks of being exposed to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]), vulnerability susceptibility may be more observable in relation to specific [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] at step two or three of this sequential model.

Finally, most empirical studies related to this vulnerability sequence model have focused on the negative side of vulnerability. However, as stressed by George (2003), the inverse hypothesis, that experiencing [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] may be a source of learning and increased resilience should not be evacuated. In this regard, it is important to consider opportunities and protective factors in life trajectories, and not only constraints and [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] (Ferraro & Shippee, 2009). Vulnerability should not refer only to negative consequences of the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] or a lack of [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]]. It should lead us to study processes of reserve constitution or reconstitution, resilience or recovery. As proposed by the relational perspective of Overton (2013), vulnerability should be put in relation to its antonyms and should not be simply opposed to them. A major difficulty is then to elect a single antonym. The concept of invulnerability is not applicable to mortal human beings. Thus, there are different candidates to be put in relation with vulnerability in the literature, from different fields, like resilience (mostly used in psychology in reference to extraordinary features of specific individuals or versus chronicity or vulnerability in PTSD and clinical literature), autonomy (opposed usually to dependence in social policy or gerontology), or robustness (versus frailty in gerontology). This relative fuzziness may be the subject of criticisms by some, whereas others, like Overton (2013) would probably defend the idea that concepts should create metatheoretical spaces where “foundations are groundings, not bedrocks of certainty, and analysis is about creating categories, not about cutting nature as its joints” (p.42).

==References==

Anderson, J., & Honneth, A. (2005). Autonomy, Vulnerability, Recognition, and Justice. In ''J. Anderson & J. Christman (Eds.),'' ''Autonomy and the Challenges to Liberalism: New Essays'' (pp. 127-149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Brown, K. (2011). ‘Vulnerability’: Handle with Care. ''Ethics and Social Welfare'', 5(3), 313-321. doi:10.1080/17496535.2011.597165

Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. (2019). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behavior'', 2(8), 551-558. doi:doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3

Diderichsen, F., Hallqvist, J., & Whitehead, M. (2019). Differential vulnerability and susceptibility: how to make use of recent development in our understanding of mediation and interaction to tackle health inequalities. ''International Journal of Epidemiology'', 48(1), 268-274. doi:10.1093/ije/dyy167

Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 82(6), 878-902.

George, L. K. (2003). What life course perspectives offer to the study of aging and health? In ''R. A. Settersten Jr (Ed.), Invitation to the life course. Toward new understanding of later life'' (pp. 161-188). Amityville: Baywood.

Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., & Spini, D. (2014). Vulnerability as a heuristic for interdisciplinary research: Assessing the thematic and methodological structure of empirical life-course studies. ''Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. An International Journal'', 6(1), 59-87.

Kessler, R. C. (1979). A strategy for studying differential vulnerability to the psychological consequences of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 20(2), 100-108.

Kohli, M. (2007). The institutionalization of the life course: looking back and ahead. ''Research in Human Development'', 4(3-4), 253-271.
Misztal, B. A. (2012). The Challenges of Vulnerability. London: Palgrave McMillan.

Overton, W. F. (2013). Relationalism and relational developmental systems: a paradigm for developmental science in the post-cartesian era. In ''R. M. Lerner & J. B. Benson (Eds.), Embodiement and epigenesis: Theoretical and Methodological issues in understanding the role of biology within the relational developmental system part A: Philosophical, theoretical, and biological dimensions'' (pp. 21-64). Elsevier Inc. Academic Press.

Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241-256.

Pearlin, L. I., & Skaff, M. M. (1996). Stress and the life course. ''The Gerontologist'', 36(2), 239-247.

Ranci, C. (2010). Social vulnerability in Europe. In ''C. Ranci (Ed.), Social vulnerability in Europe. The new configuration of social risks'' (pp. 3-24). London: Palgrave McMillan.

Reese, H. W., & Smyer, M. A. (1983). The dimensionalization of life events. In ''E. J. Callahan & K. A. McCluskey (Eds.), Life-span developmental psychology. Nonnormative life events'' (pp. 1-33). New York: Academic Press.

Schröder-Butterfill, E., & Marianti, R. (2006). A framework for understanding old-age vulnerabilities. ''Ageing & Society'', 26, 9-35.

Spini, D. (2011). Vulnérabilités et trajectoires de vie. Vers une alliance entre parcours de vie et politiques sociales. In ''F.-X. Merrien & J.-P. Tabin (Eds.), Regards croisés sur la pauvreté''. Lausanne: Editions EESP.

Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', vol. 2013, no. 27, 1-3. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27

Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework of vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5-25.

Spini, D. & Widmer, E. (in preparation). Inhabiting vulnerability across the life course. In ''D. Spini & E. Widmer (Eds), Withstanding vulnerability: dynamics of resources, reserves and stressors across the life course''. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tavaglione, N., Martin, A. K., Mezger, N., Durieux-Paillard, S., François, A., Jackson, Y., & Hurst, S. A. (2015). Fleshing Out Vulnerability. ''Bioethics'', 29(2), 98-107. doi:10.1111/bioe.12065

Vulnerability

2020-10-08T14:13:08Z

Widmere:

The concept of vulnerability has been first developed in the field of environmental sciences and received a growing attention these last years in social and psychological sciences (Misztal, 2012; Ranci, 2010; Schröder-Butterfill & Marianti, 2006). Based on these previous definitions, we defined vulnerability as a process of [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] loss or insufficiency in one or more [[Life domains|life domains]] that exposes individuals to: (1) an inability to avoid individual, social or environmental [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], (2) an inability to cope effectively with these [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], and (3) an inability to recover from [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] or to take [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|advantage]] of opportunities by a given deadline (Spini, Bernardi, & Oris, 2017; Spini & Widmer, in preparation).

We find two contrasted views of vulnerability in the literature (Brown, 2011). The first view characterizes specific social categories who are in need of care or of the support of the welfare state, and a second view considering vulnerability as an ontological feature of the human condition throughout the life course. The first approach refers to a classic and static view of vulnerability defined as a syndrome of low levels of [[Resources|resources]] (Ranci, 2010) or a lack of autonomy related to a need of others’ care (Misztal, 2012). This low level of [[Resources|resources]] implies a state of weakness, inability, dependency and the need to be helped in order to avoid harm and achieve adequate satisfaction of legitimate claims (Tavaglione et al., 2015). Social categories that are labeled vulnerable in this tradition include homeless people, sex workers, asylum seekers, refugees, children and the very old, the poor and those who are chronically ill.

In contrast with this categorical approach of vulnerability, we defined vulnerability as a balance linking individuals’ [[Resources|resources]] or [[Reserves|reserves]] with the personal and contextual circumstances in which they find themselves at different points in their lives (notably in relation to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]). In this second perspective, human beings have a latent vulnerability irrespective of their social category that may become manifest in special circumstances (non-normative events, stressful life transitions, [[Cumulative (dis)advantages|accumulation of disadvantages]], economic, social or political collective downturns). Professionals or institutions may in specific situations objectify vulnerability states with diagnostics and other evaluative tools (Spini, 2011). As shown by a variety of contributions of LIVES these latent and manifest vulnerability processes can be studied empirically within the life course framework bridging the vulnerability psycho-socio-economic and policy traditions in a life course perspective (Spini et al., 2013; Spini, Bernardi, & Oris, 2017).
This interdisciplinary approach has different advantages over previous approaches of vulnerability. First, it encourages researchers from different horizons to work together. A literature review by Hanappi, Bernardi, and Spini (2014) showed that sociological studies focused on issues such as the welfare state, poverty or family, whereas psychology was more interested in issues such of personality, coping, [[Stress and stressors|stress]], or depression. Gerontology, on its side, focused on the close concept of frailty. In this structure, vulnerability appeared to be independent of these focuses and a possible candidate for integration of various phenomena across disciplines. Indeed, a second advantage of relating the life course tradition and the vulnerability framework is that it brings together knowledge of processes that can be generalized across different disciplinary perspectives and topical fields like health, family, or work.

The basic components of vulnerability processes are related to dynamics of [[Resources|resources]], [[Reserves|reserves]], and [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]. [[Resources|Resources]] relates in a larger sense to whatever increase the likelihood of individuals to meet the social expectations (including their own) and increase their meaning in life or well-being. In that regard, many individual and collective factors, from personality traits, cognitive performance, social or cultural capital, policies, to economic assets can be considered as [[Resources|resources]]. The concept of [[Resources|resources]] does not suggest any time related process as it rather promote a distinction between those who, at a certain point in time, have [[Resources|resources]] and those who do not. In that respect, the conceptual advances proposed by the reserve perspective are highly relevant for the study of vulnerability processes. [[Reserves|Reserves]] in different domains are [[Resources|resources]] which are not needed for immediate use but which, when accumulated to a sufficient extent, are available to recover from life shocks and adversity, social or economic [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], or non-normative transitory periods across the life course (Cullati et al., 2019). It is to some extent the opposite to vulnerability, defined in life course studies as a lack of [[Resources|resources]] making the occurrence of critical events more likely and the recovery from such events more difficult (Spini et al., 2017). Concerning [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], they are a central dimension of life events and lifespan losses in a psychological perspective (Reese & Smyer, 1983). However, [[Stress and stressors|stress]] is not only an individual subjective appraisal issue. Following, Pearlin and his associates (Pearlin, 1989; Pearlin & Skaff, 1996), [[Stress and stressors|stress]] is unequally distributed across the social spectrum. People in disadvantaged positions have more risks to experience and suffer from [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], be they chronic or acute, precisely because they lack [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]].
There is a sequential definition of vulnerability processes in three steps; before the critical [[Stress and stressors|stressors]], during the exposure to the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] (notably acute ones) and after the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] happened. It has, even if it is always difficult to disentangle the complexity of vulnerability processes, the advantage of distinguishing and combining different hypotheses; for example, the hypothesis of social causation and the hypothesis of differential vulnerability (Diderichsen, Hallqvist, & Whitehead, 2019; Kessler, 1979). The hypothesis of social causation states that distal or proximal social statuses impact on subsequent states in other domains and life course trajectories. The differential vulnerability hypothesis states that different levels of personal or social [[Resources|resources]] (typically related to disadvantaged social groups) may lead to a greater susceptibility to be harmed when confronted to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] than less vulnerable individuals or groups. If social causation may be active since the start of life and in step 1 of our processual framework (and be measured by direct effects of social categories, or levels of personal or social [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]], on risks of being exposed to [[Stress and stressors|stressors]]), vulnerability susceptibility may be more observable in relation to specific [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] at step two or three of this sequential model.

Finally, most empirical studies related to this vulnerability sequence model have focused on the negative side of vulnerability. However, as stressed by George (2003), the inverse hypothesis, that experiencing [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] may be a source of learning and increased resilience should not be evacuated. In this regard, it is important to consider opportunities and protective factors in life trajectories, and not only constraints and [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] (Ferraro & Shippee, 2009). Vulnerability should not refer only to negative consequences of the [[Stress and stressors|stressors]] or a lack of [[Resources|resources]] and [[Reserves|reserves]]. It should lead us to study processes of reserve constitution or reconstitution, resilience or recovery. As proposed by the relational perspective of Overton (2013), vulnerability should be put in relation to its antonyms and should not be simply opposed to them. A major difficulty is then to elect a single antonym. The concept of invulnerability is not applicable to mortal human beings. Thus, there are different candidates to be put in relation with vulnerability in the literature, from different fields, like resilience (mostly used in psychology in reference to extraordinary features of specific individuals or versus chronicity or vulnerability in PTSD and clinical literature), autonomy (opposed usually to dependence in social policy or gerontology), or robustness (versus frailty in gerontology). This relative fuzziness may be the subject of criticisms by some, whereas others, like Overton (2013) would probably defend the idea that concepts should create metatheoretical spaces where “foundations are groundings, not bedrocks of certainty, and analysis is about creating categories, not about cutting nature as its joints” (p.42).

==References==

Anderson, J., & Honneth, A. (2005). Autonomy, Vulnerability, Recognition, and Justice. In ''J. Anderson & J. Christman (Eds.),'' ''Autonomy and the Challenges to Liberalism: New Essays'' (pp. 127-149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Brown, K. (2011). ‘Vulnerability’: Handle with Care. ''Ethics and Social Welfare'', 5(3), 313-321. doi:10.1080/17496535.2011.597165

Cullati, S., Kliegel, M., & Widmer, E. (2019). Development of reserves over the life course and onset of vulnerability in later life. ''Nature Human Behavior'', 2(8), 551-558. doi:doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0395-3

Diderichsen, F., Hallqvist, J., & Whitehead, M. (2019). Differential vulnerability and susceptibility: how to make use of recent development in our understanding of mediation and interaction to tackle health inequalities. ''International Journal of Epidemiology'', 48(1), 268-274. doi:10.1093/ije/dyy167

Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 82(6), 878-902.

George, L. K. (2003). What life course perspectives offer to the study of aging and health? In ''R. A. Settersten Jr (Ed.), Invitation to the life course. Toward new understanding of later life'' (pp. 161-188). Amityville: Baywood.

Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., & Spini, D. (2014). Vulnerability as a heuristic for interdisciplinary research: Assessing the thematic and methodological structure of empirical life-course studies. ''Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. An International Journal'', 6(1), 59-87.

Kessler, R. C. (1979). A strategy for studying differential vulnerability to the psychological consequences of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 20(2), 100-108.

Kohli, M. (2007). The institutionalization of the life course: looking back and ahead. ''Research in Human Development'', 4(3-4), 253-271.
Misztal, B. A. (2012). The Challenges of Vulnerability. London: Palgrave McMillan.

Overton, W. F. (2013). Relationalism and relational developmental systems: a paradigm for developmental science in the post-cartesian era. In ''R. M. Lerner & J. B. Benson (Eds.), Embodiement and epigenesis: Theoretical and Methodological issues in understanding the role of biology within the relational developmental system part A: Philosophical, theoretical, and biological dimensions'' (pp. 21-64). Elsevier Inc. Academic Press.

Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. ''Journal of Health and Social Behavior'', 30(3), 241-256.

Pearlin, L. I., & Skaff, M. M. (1996). Stress and the life course. ''The Gerontologist'', 36(2), 239-247.

Ranci, C. (2010). Social vulnerability in Europe. In ''C. Ranci (Ed.), Social vulnerability in Europe. The new configuration of social risks'' (pp. 3-24). London: Palgrave McMillan.

Reese, H. W., & Smyer, M. A. (1983). The dimensionalization of life events. In ''E. J. Callahan & K. A. McCluskey (Eds.), Life-span developmental psychology. Nonnormative life events'' (pp. 1-33). New York: Academic Press.

Schröder-Butterfill, E., & Marianti, R. (2006). A framework for understanding old-age vulnerabilities. ''Ageing & Society'', 26, 9-35.

Spini, D. (2011). Vulnérabilités et trajectoires de vie. Vers une alliance entre parcours de vie et politiques sociales. In ''F.-X. Merrien & J.-P. Tabin (Eds.), Regards croisés sur la pauvreté''. Lausanne: Editions EESP.

Spini, D., Hanappi, D., Bernardi, L., Oris, M., & Bickel, J.-F. (2013). Vulnerability across the life course: A theoretical framework and research directions. ''LIVES Working Papers'', vol. 2013, no. 27, 1-3. http://dx.doi.org/10.12682/lives.2296-1658.2013.27

Spini, D., Bernardi, L., & Oris, M. (2017). Toward a life course framework of vulnerability. ''Research in Human Development'', 14(1), 5-25.

Spini, D. & Widmer, E. (in preparation). Inhabiting vulnerability across the life course. In ''D. Spini & E. Widmer (Eds), Withstanding vulnerability: dynamics of resources, reserves and stressors across the life course''. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tavaglione, N., Martin, A. K., Mezger, N., Durieux-Paillard, S., François, A., Jackson, Y., & Hurst, S. A. (2015). Fleshing Out Vulnerability. ''Bioethics'', 29(2), 98-107. doi:10.1111/bioe.12065

Cumulative (dis)advantages

2020-10-08T12:56:26Z

Widmere:

The hypothesis of accumulation of dis/advantages considers the long term process of individual heterogeneity and social inequalities and postulates that differentiation processes operating through macro-level, organizational-level and micro-level lead to an accentuation of diversity and inequalities in older age (Dannefer, 1987, 2003; see also Diprete & Eirich, 2006; Ferraro et al., 2009). 

The hypothesis of accumulation of dis/advantages is built on the “Matthew effect” described by Merton (1968): the author described processes of inequalities in Sciences and scientific work in the light of the gospel according to St-Matthew “for unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that wish he hath ». In other words, Merton explained : « the Matthew effect consists in the accruing of greater increments of recognition for particular scientific contributions to scientists who have not yet made their mark » (p.3). Dannefer specified Merton’s Matthew effect to aging process and the intracohort differentiation. The authors stressed the socially structured mechanisms participating to aged heterogeneity, in other words the persistent pattern of inequality and their amplification through social process of cumulation, contributing to qualify a vision purely psychological or social-psychological of aging (Dannefer, 1987). 
The model of cumulative dis/advantages is complementary to social stratification one, stressing how small differences early in life can result to larger ones in later life. However, while the impact of social stratification on life course has been clearly demonstrated, the processes of cumulative dis/advantages are still few documented (Cullati et al., 2014; Pallas & Jennings, 2009). In contrast with cumulative processes, authors stress also the interest to study “When Does Disadvantage Not Accumulate? » or the issue of resilience through life course and the place of agency within structure (Schafer et al., 2009).
 
==References==
Cullati, S., Rousseaux, E., Gabadinho, A., Courvoisier, D., & Burton-Jeangros, C. (2014). Factors of change and cumulative factors in self-rated health trajectories: A systematic review. ''Advances in Life Course Research'', 19, 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2013.11.002 
Dannefer, D. (1987). Aging as intracohort differentiation: Accentuation, the Matthew effect, and the life course. ''Sociological Forum'', 2(2), 211–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01124164 
Dannefer, D. (2003). Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course: Cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. ''The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences'', 58(6), 327–337. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.6.S327 
Diprete, T. A., & Eirich, G. M. (2006). Cumulative advantage as a mechanism for inequality: A review of theoretical and empirical developments. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV.SOC.32.061604.123127 
Ferraro, K. F., Shippee, T. P., & Schafer, M. H. (2009). Cumulative inequality theory for research on aging and the life course. In ''Handbook of theories of aging, 2nd ed'' (pp. 413–433). Springer Publishing Company. 
Merton, R. K. (1968). The Matthew Effect in Science: The reward and communication systems of science are considered. ''Science'', 159(3810), 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.159.3810.56 
Pallas, A. M., & Jennings, J. L. (2009). Cumulative knowledge about cumulative advantage. ''Swiss Journal of Sociology'', 35(2), 211–229. 
Schafer, M. H., Shippee, T. P., & Ferraro, K. F. (2009). When does disadvantage not accumulate? Toward a sociological conceptualization of resilience. ''Schweizerische Zeitschrift Fur Soziologie''. ''Revue Suisse de Sociologie'', 35(2), 231–251.

Social capital

2020-10-08T12:55:01Z

Widmere:

The notion of social capital expresses the idea that networks of relationships, in their multiple forms, have an intrinsic value that is beneficial for individual and collective action. Since the appearance of this concept in the academic field, studies on social capital have grown exponentially in different body of literature, thus constituting a vast and heterogeneous production. Although the positive effect of networks is a classic issue in social sciences—e.g., a subject already addressed by Tönnies' Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft debate or in the Durkheimian concept of anomie—the conceptualization of social capital provided new vitality to the study of social relationships starting from the late 80's. In addition, the exponential growth of social capital analyses made this concept goes beyond the academic barriers, capturing the interest of the institutional discourse and the political agenda (Portes, 1998).
 
 
==Origin of the concept==
Three authors are considered the main contributors to the initial disclosure of the concept of social capital: Robert Putnam, James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu. For Putnam (2000) social capital is an expression of societal virtues. Communities with fruitful webs of connections, Putnam (2000) argues, generate a "stock" of social [[Resources (personal, social, economic, etc.)|resources]] that facilitate the societal coordination, and that can also help individuals to achieve their purposes. Similarly, for Coleman (1988) the relationships within a community have a specific function: they facilitate agents’ actions to accomplish goals and needs. Compared to these perspectives, Bourdieu's vision on social capital put major emphasis on this notion as individual good. The reason is that in Bourdieu (1986) social capital is linked to the possession of an enduring network of relationship that provide potential resources, such as information, influence, knowledge or social support. These resources represent thus a social capital that can be measured by looking the number of individual's connections, and also the volume of economic, cultural or symbolic capital possessed by each individual's ties (Bourdieu, 1986). Bourdieu's definition is what most is linked with Social Network Analysis (SNA) perspective (Wasserman and Faust, 2001).
 
 
==Current issues==
Many research areas on social capital have thus grown in the last three decades, such as labour market (Lin, 2001; Smith and Young, 2017) and family studies (Widmer, 2006), epidemiology (Valente, 2010), physical and mental health issues (Kawachi and Berkman, 2014; Ehsan et al., 2019). Theoretical and methodological advances have led to the conceptualization of different forms of bonding, bridging or linking social capital to understand the transmission of support (Rostila, 2011) or information (Granovetter, 1985) and how contacts link individuals to authorities (Szreter and Woolcock, 2004). SNA has contributed substantially to the conceptualization of these mechanisms (Burt, 2010), and it has now been considered a roadmap to strengthen links with the life course perspective (Alwin et al., 2018) and to extend inquiries on social capital to the digital world (Lu and Hampton, 2017). In addition, there is increasing emphasis among scholars on extending the analysis of what is called the 'dark side of social capital', and how networks can be a source of vulnerability through conflicts and barriers to resources (Everett and Borgatti, 2014).
 
 
==References==
Alwin, Duane F., Diane H. Felmlee, and Derek A. Kreager. 2018. ''Social Networks and the Life Course. Integrating the Development of Human Lives and Social Relational Networks''. Basel: Springer International Publishing. 
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In ''Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education'' , edited by J. G. Richardson (pp. 241-58). New York : Greenwood. 
Burt, R. S. (2010). ''Neighbor Networks''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
Burt, R. S. (1992). ''Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition''. Cambridge:Harvard Univesrity Press. 
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 94, S95-120. 
Ehsan, A., Klaas, H. S., Bastianen, A., & Spini, D. (2019). Social capital and health: A systematic review of systematic reviews. ''SSM-population health'', 100425 
Everett, M., & Borgatti, S. (2014). Networks containing negative ties. ''Social Networks'', 38(1): 111–120. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2014.03.005 
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. ''American Journal of Sociology'', 91(3):481-510. 
Lin, N. (2001). ''Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action''. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. 
Lu,W., & Hampton, K. N. (2017). Beyond the power of networks. ''New Media & Society'', 19(6), 861–879. doi:10.1177/1461444815621514 
Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2014). Social capital, social cohesion, and health. ''Social Epidemiology'', 2, 290–319. 
Putnam, R. D. (2000). ''Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of AmericanCommunity''. New York: Touchstone. 
Rostila (2011). The facets of social capital. ''J. Theory Soc. Behav.'', 41 (3), 308- 326. 
Smith, S. S., & Young, K. A. (2017). Want, need, fit: The cultural logics of job-matching assistance. ''Work and Occupations'', 44(2), 171–209. 
Spini, D., Bernardi, L. & Oris, M. (2017). Vulnerability Across the LifeCourse. ''Research in Human Development'', 14:1, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2016.1268891 
Szreter, S. and Woolcock, M. (2004). Health by Association? Social Capital, Social Theory, and the Political Economy of Public Health.''International Journal of Epidemiology'' 33(4), 650–667. 
Wasserman, S., and Katherine F. (1994). ''Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 
Widmer, E. (2006). Who are my family members? Bridging and binding social capital in family configurations. ''J. Soc. Pers. Relatsh.'' 23, 979–998.