Patrick Präg
Biographic Data
| ID | 170664 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Patrick Präg |
| GIVEN NAMES | Patrick |
| FAMILY NAME | Präg |
| SIGNATURE | PRÄG P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6175-8470 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 256 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Cognitive ageing
Whilst cognitive decline is often assumed to be an inevitable part of old age, plenty of studies document its heterogeneity, with many older people showing high functioning and resilience to decline. Lower socioeconomic status is a known risk factor for cognitive decline. This study links the theoretical ideas of cognitive reserve to psychosocial theory and intersectionality to propose that combinations of demographic factors better define lived …
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and perceived intergenerational mobility in Czechia and Uruguay. An unexpected event during survey design study
Can large-scale geopolitical shocks causally reshape how individuals perceive their intergenerational mobility? War unsettles everyday life through security fears, policy uncertainty, inflation, and energy shocks—factors that can recalibrate the benchmarks people use when comparing their lives to their parents’. We address this question by examining the immediate impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on mobility perceptions using a quasi-experim…
Transforming European Societies through open access and transparency
As we mark the end of our third year as editors of European Societies, we witness a significant transition: the journal has now changed publishers, moving from Taylor & Francis to MIT Press. This moment of change provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the journal's development and achievements over the past three years, considering both the progress made and the direction we envision for the future
Machine Bias. How Do Generative Language Models Answer Opinion Polls
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly presented as a potential substitute for humans, including as research subjects. However, there is no scientific consensus on how closely these in silico clones can emulate survey respondents. While some defend the use of these 'synthetic users,' others point toward social biases in the responses provided by large language models (LLMs). In this article, we demonstrate that these critics are …
Who do they think you are? Inconsistencies in self- and proxy-reports of education within families
Estimates of intergenerational educational mobility are generally computed using a combination of self- and proxy-reports of one’s and one’s parents’ education. Such reports are easily collected, offering a cost-effective alternative to collecting multiple self-reports or register data. However, the bias that proxy-reports could introduce in the measurement of intergenerational educational mobility is rarely assessed. Our study fills this gap and…
Dynamics of later-life caregiving and health. Insights from biomarker data and cognitive tests
As populations age and informal caregiving becomes more widespread, the health consequences of providing care are becoming a key concern for societies. Sociological theories of stress appraisal and role strain posit detrimental consequences to the health and wellbeing of caregivers. Conversely, role enhancement theory holds that caregiving can have positive health consequences. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) collec…
Understanding Ukrainian society before and after the Russian invasion
International audience
The Total Effect of Social Origins on Educational Attainment
The sibling correlation (SC), which estimates the total effect of family background (i.e., social origins), can be interpreted as measuring a society's inequality of opportunity. Its sensitivity to observed and unobserved factors makes the SC an all-encompassing measure and an attractive choice for comparative research. We gather and summarize all available estimates of SCs in educational attainment (M = .46, SD = .09) and employ meta-regression …
Russia's invasion of Ukraine and perceived intergenerational mobility in Europe
In this study, we shed light on the social consequences the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has had in other European countries. We argue that positive perceptions of one's intergenerational mobility are linked with political and economic stability and that the war can thus be expected to impact intergenerational mobility perceptions. We test our pre‐registered hypothesis with representative survey data from three European countries, the Unit…
Subjective social status and allostatic load among older people in England
Person-level confounders play some role in explaining the observed link between subjective status and health. The exact nature of the link, including the role of psychological pathways and early-life confounders, remains a question for future research
Subjective socioeconomic status and self-rated health in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging
Believing in conspiracy theories in Spain during the Covid-19 pandemic
Conspiracy theories jeopardize public health by disseminating misinformation and undermining authoritative health guidelines. This study explores social factors associated with the belief in conspiracy theories in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Max Weber, it posits that beliefs in conspiracy theories are linked to both instrumental rationality considerations, such as trust in health authorities, scie…
Fixed-term work contracts and anti-immigration attitudes. A novel test of ethnic competition theory
Whether labor market competition is shaping anti-immigration attitudes is a contentious issue. We conduct a novel test of ethnic competition theory by comparing the attitudes toward immigration of workers with fixed-term contracts to those with permanent jobs in Europe. Fixed-term contract workers are particularly at risk of competition as they have to compete for jobs in the foreseeable future. In the first step of our investigation, we analyze …
Does Children's Education Improve Parental Health and Longevity? Causal Evidence from Great Britain
Parents with better-educated children are healthier and live longer, but whether there is a causal effect of children's education on their parents' health and longevity is unclear. First, we demonstrate an association between adults' offspring education and parental mortality in the 1958 British birth cohort study, which remains substantial-about two additional years of life-even when comparing parents with similar socioeconomic status. Second, w…
Intragenerational Social Mobility and Well-being in Great Britain
Social theory has long predicted that social mobility, in particular downward social mobility, is detrimental to the well-being of individuals. Dissociative and “falling from grace” theories suggest that mobility is stressful due to the weakening of social ties, feelings of alienation, and loss of status. In light of these theories, it is a puzzle that the majority of quantitative studies in this area have shown null results. Our approach to reso…
An invitation to submit
International audience
Intergenerational Social Mobility and Allostatic Load in Midlife and Older Ages
Findings provide evidence for an accumulation model of social inequalities in which disparities in health are diluted rather than increased by social mobility (i.e., gradient constraint), with the socially mobile having an AL score that is intermediate between their origin class and destination class. This implies that the effects of origin SEP on health are not immutable, but are instead responsive to changing socioeconomic circumstances across …
Educational Inequalities in Labor Market Exit of Older Workers in 15 European Countries
This article examines country differences in the association between education and voluntary or involuntary labor market exit and whether these country differences map onto institutional characteristics of the countries. Work exit is defined as involuntary or voluntary based on the reasons of exit. Four different types of institutional factors, push and pull , aiming for an earlier work exit and need and maintain factors to retain older workers i…
Does perceived social mobility affect health? Evidence from a fixed effects approach
Subjective social mobility and health in Germany
One’s current socioeconomic position is intimately tied to one’s health status. Further, childhood living conditions also exert lasting effects on the health of adults. However, studies on changes in one’s socioeconomic position over the life course rarely find consistent and systematic effects of social mobility for individual health and wellbeing. Such studies almost exclusively draw on objective measures of social mobility and do not consider …
Sibling Similarity in Education Across and Within Societies
The extent to which siblings resemble each other measures the omnibus impact of family background on life chances. We study sibling similarity in cognitive skills, school grades, and educational attainment in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We also compare sibling similarity by parental education and occupation within these societies. The comparison of sibling correlations across and within societies a…
Does downward social mobility make people more hostile towards immigrants
The sibsize revolution in an international context
Oneâ s number of siblings is an important determinant of many life outcomes, such as educational attainment. In the last century the United States has experienced a â sibsize revolutionâ , in which sibship sizes declined, and which led to a convergence in fam
Intergenerational social mobility and allostatic load in Great Britain
BACKGROUND: Intergenerational social mobility is hypothesised to be a stressful process that has a negative effect on health. By examining the relationship between own socioeconomic position, parental socioeconomic position and allostatic load (AL) in a representative sample of the British population, we test this hypothesis. METHODS: Our study uses cross-sectional data from 9851 adult participants of waves 2 and 3 of Understanding Society. The r…
Visualizing Individual Outcomes of Social Mobility Using Heatmaps
Research on the consequences of social mobility usually draws on information about categorical origin and destination variables as well as an outcome variable. The author shows an example of a heatmap created in Stata to visualize the relationship between social mobility and poor self-rated health in Germany and discusses the advantages of this heatmap approach to other visualization approaches
Subjective socioeconomic status and health in cross-national comparison
Good Job, Good Life? Working Conditions and Quality of Life in Europe
Income and Income Inequality as Social Determinants of Health
Two of the most prominent phenomena in the study of social determinants of health, the socio-economic gradient in health and the income inequality–health association, have both been suggested to be explainable by the mechanism of status comparisons. This, however, has rarely ever been tested in a direct fashion. In this article, we explicate and test this mechanism by assessing the role of social comparison orientation. Research has shown that in…
Intergenerational social mobility and allostatic load in Great Britain
BACKGROUND: Intergenerational social mobility is hypothesised to be a stressful process that has a negative effect on health. By examining the relationship between own socioeconomic position, parental socioeconomic position and allostatic load (AL) in a representative sample of the British population, we test this hypothesis. METHODS: Our study uses cross-sectional data from 9851 adult participants of waves 2 and 3 of Understanding Society. The r…
Does perceived social mobility affect health? Evidence from a fixed effects approach
Sibling Similarity in Education Across and Within Societies
The extent to which siblings resemble each other measures the omnibus impact of family background on life chances. We study sibling similarity in cognitive skills, school grades, and educational attainment in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We also compare sibling similarity by parental education and occupation within these societies. The comparison of sibling correlations across and within societies a…
Part-time work and gender inequality in Europe
Part-time work is an increasingly common strategy for handling work and family – but is it an effective strategy everywhere and for everyone? To answer this question, we examine satisfaction with work–life balance (SWLB) of workers in 22 European countries. Our results show that part-time workers have higher SWLB than full-time workers; the more so, the fewer hours they put in. Yet, we find an important gender difference: women in marginal part-t…
Does downward social mobility make people more hostile towards immigrants
Subjective social mobility and health in Germany
One’s current socioeconomic position is intimately tied to one’s health status. Further, childhood living conditions also exert lasting effects on the health of adults. However, studies on changes in one’s socioeconomic position over the life course rarely find consistent and systematic effects of social mobility for individual health and wellbeing. Such studies almost exclusively draw on objective measures of social mobility and do not consider …
Social Contacts of Older People in 27 European Countries
Social contacts of older people have consistently been associated with good health and longevity. The extent of individual social contacts, however, varies considerably between countries. We study why countries differ in amounts of social contacts of older adults. Using theory on income inequality and neo-materialism, we expect the amount of social contacts of older people to be highest in countries with low income inequality and comprehensive we…
The sibsize revolution in an international context
Oneâ s number of siblings is an important determinant of many life outcomes, such as educational attainment. In the last century the United States has experienced a â sibsize revolutionâ , in which sibship sizes declined, and which led to a convergence in fam
Methodological Advances in Cross-National Research
Since its very inception, the European Sociological Review has encouraged “cross-national comparative work which concentrates on or includes European societies” (Mayer, Goldthorpe, and Ringen, 1985). Although our focus is not only merely on papers of a cross-national nature, we have published a considerable number of such studies. Another aim of ESR is to further the more general development of sociology by publishing theoretical and methodologic…
Russia's invasion of Ukraine and perceived intergenerational mobility in Europe
In this study, we shed light on the social consequences the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has had in other European countries. We argue that positive perceptions of one's intergenerational mobility are linked with political and economic stability and that the war can thus be expected to impact intergenerational mobility perceptions. We test our pre‐registered hypothesis with representative survey data from three European countries, the Unit…
Subjective social status and allostatic load among older people in England
Person-level confounders play some role in explaining the observed link between subjective status and health. The exact nature of the link, including the role of psychological pathways and early-life confounders, remains a question for future research
Intergenerational Social Mobility and Allostatic Load in Midlife and Older Ages
Findings provide evidence for an accumulation model of social inequalities in which disparities in health are diluted rather than increased by social mobility (i.e., gradient constraint), with the socially mobile having an AL score that is intermediate between their origin class and destination class. This implies that the effects of origin SEP on health are not immutable, but are instead responsive to changing socioeconomic circumstances across …
The Total Effect of Social Origins on Educational Attainment
The sibling correlation (SC), which estimates the total effect of family background (i.e., social origins), can be interpreted as measuring a society's inequality of opportunity. Its sensitivity to observed and unobserved factors makes the SC an all-encompassing measure and an attractive choice for comparative research. We gather and summarize all available estimates of SCs in educational attainment (M = .46, SD = .09) and employ meta-regression …
Believing in conspiracy theories in Spain during the Covid-19 pandemic
Conspiracy theories jeopardize public health by disseminating misinformation and undermining authoritative health guidelines. This study explores social factors associated with the belief in conspiracy theories in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Max Weber, it posits that beliefs in conspiracy theories are linked to both instrumental rationality considerations, such as trust in health authorities, scie…
An invitation to submit
International audience
Visualizing Individual Outcomes of Social Mobility Using Heatmaps
Research on the consequences of social mobility usually draws on information about categorical origin and destination variables as well as an outcome variable. The author shows an example of a heatmap created in Stata to visualize the relationship between social mobility and poor self-rated health in Germany and discusses the advantages of this heatmap approach to other visualization approaches
Machine Bias. How Do Generative Language Models Answer Opinion Polls
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly presented as a potential substitute for humans, including as research subjects. However, there is no scientific consensus on how closely these in silico clones can emulate survey respondents. While some defend the use of these 'synthetic users,' others point toward social biases in the responses provided by large language models (LLMs). In this article, we demonstrate that these critics are …
Understanding Ukrainian society before and after the Russian invasion
International audience
Fixed-term work contracts and anti-immigration attitudes. A novel test of ethnic competition theory
Whether labor market competition is shaping anti-immigration attitudes is a contentious issue. We conduct a novel test of ethnic competition theory by comparing the attitudes toward immigration of workers with fixed-term contracts to those with permanent jobs in Europe. Fixed-term contract workers are particularly at risk of competition as they have to compete for jobs in the foreseeable future. In the first step of our investigation, we analyze …
The educational gradient in self-rated health in Europe
Research suggests that doctor–patient relations have evolved from a doctor-centered, paternalistic approach towards a more patient-centered, egalitarian model of interactions between physicians and their patients. Given the long-running debate on the positive relationship between education and health, the question arises how this development in doctor–patient relations affects social inequalities in health. First, we test to what extent egalitari…
Subjective socioeconomic status and self-rated health in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging
Educational Inequalities in Labor Market Exit of Older Workers in 15 European Countries
This article examines country differences in the association between education and voluntary or involuntary labor market exit and whether these country differences map onto institutional characteristics of the countries. Work exit is defined as involuntary or voluntary based on the reasons of exit. Four different types of institutional factors, push and pull , aiming for an earlier work exit and need and maintain factors to retain older workers i…
Good Job, Good Life? Working Conditions and Quality of Life in Europe
Family-related working schedule flexibility across Europe
One of the major innovations in human resource practices in the last decades has been the proliferation of flexible work practices, such as working from home or work schedule flexibility. The latter especially are often seen as an important means to reconcile family, work, and private life. This view is based on the assumption that granting workers greater discretion and more control over their working times should empower them to better balance …
Social Contacts of Older People in 27 European Countries
Social contacts of older people have consistently been associated with good health and longevity. The extent of individual social contacts, however, varies considerably between countries. We study why countries differ in amounts of social contacts of older adults. Using theory on income inequality and neo-materialism, we expect the amount of social contacts of older people to be highest in countries with low income inequality and comprehensive we…
Income and Income Inequality as Social Determinants of Health
Two of the most prominent phenomena in the study of social determinants of health, the socio-economic gradient in health and the income inequality–health association, have both been suggested to be explainable by the mechanism of status comparisons. This, however, has rarely ever been tested in a direct fashion. In this article, we explicate and test this mechanism by assessing the role of social comparison orientation. Research has shown that in…
Subjective socioeconomic status and health in cross-national comparison
Methodological Advances in Cross-National Research
Since its very inception, the European Sociological Review has encouraged “cross-national comparative work which concentrates on or includes European societies” (Mayer, Goldthorpe, and Ringen, 1985). Although our focus is not only merely on papers of a cross-national nature, we have published a considerable number of such studies. Another aim of ESR is to further the more general development of sociology by publishing theoretical and methodologic…
The educational gradient in self-rated health in Europe
Research suggests that doctor–patient relations have evolved from a doctor-centered, paternalistic approach towards a more patient-centered, egalitarian model of interactions between physicians and their patients. Given the long-running debate on the positive relationship between education and health, the question arises how this development in doctor–patient relations affects social inequalities in health. First, we test to what extent egalitari…
Part-time work and gender inequality in Europe
Part-time work is an increasingly common strategy for handling work and family – but is it an effective strategy everywhere and for everyone? To answer this question, we examine satisfaction with work–life balance (SWLB) of workers in 22 European countries. Our results show that part-time workers have higher SWLB than full-time workers; the more so, the fewer hours they put in. Yet, we find an important gender difference: women in marginal part-t…
Intergenerational social mobility and allostatic load in Great Britain
BACKGROUND: Intergenerational social mobility is hypothesised to be a stressful process that has a negative effect on health. By examining the relationship between own socioeconomic position, parental socioeconomic position and allostatic load (AL) in a representative sample of the British population, we test this hypothesis. METHODS: Our study uses cross-sectional data from 9851 adult participants of waves 2 and 3 of Understanding Society. The r…
Visualizing Individual Outcomes of Social Mobility Using Heatmaps
Research on the consequences of social mobility usually draws on information about categorical origin and destination variables as well as an outcome variable. The author shows an example of a heatmap created in Stata to visualize the relationship between social mobility and poor self-rated health in Germany and discusses the advantages of this heatmap approach to other visualization approaches
Does downward social mobility make people more hostile towards immigrants
The sibsize revolution in an international context
Oneâ s number of siblings is an important determinant of many life outcomes, such as educational attainment. In the last century the United States has experienced a â sibsize revolutionâ , in which sibship sizes declined, and which led to a convergence in fam
Subjective social mobility and health in Germany
One’s current socioeconomic position is intimately tied to one’s health status. Further, childhood living conditions also exert lasting effects on the health of adults. However, studies on changes in one’s socioeconomic position over the life course rarely find consistent and systematic effects of social mobility for individual health and wellbeing. Such studies almost exclusively draw on objective measures of social mobility and do not consider …
Sibling Similarity in Education Across and Within Societies
The extent to which siblings resemble each other measures the omnibus impact of family background on life chances. We study sibling similarity in cognitive skills, school grades, and educational attainment in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We also compare sibling similarity by parental education and occupation within these societies. The comparison of sibling correlations across and within societies a…
Intragenerational Social Mobility and Well-being in Great Britain
Social theory has long predicted that social mobility, in particular downward social mobility, is detrimental to the well-being of individuals. Dissociative and “falling from grace” theories suggest that mobility is stressful due to the weakening of social ties, feelings of alienation, and loss of status. In light of these theories, it is a puzzle that the majority of quantitative studies in this area have shown null results. Our approach to reso…
An invitation to submit
International audience
Intergenerational Social Mobility and Allostatic Load in Midlife and Older Ages
Findings provide evidence for an accumulation model of social inequalities in which disparities in health are diluted rather than increased by social mobility (i.e., gradient constraint), with the socially mobile having an AL score that is intermediate between their origin class and destination class. This implies that the effects of origin SEP on health are not immutable, but are instead responsive to changing socioeconomic circumstances across …
Educational Inequalities in Labor Market Exit of Older Workers in 15 European Countries
This article examines country differences in the association between education and voluntary or involuntary labor market exit and whether these country differences map onto institutional characteristics of the countries. Work exit is defined as involuntary or voluntary based on the reasons of exit. Four different types of institutional factors, push and pull , aiming for an earlier work exit and need and maintain factors to retain older workers i…
Does perceived social mobility affect health? Evidence from a fixed effects approach
Subjective social status and allostatic load among older people in England
Person-level confounders play some role in explaining the observed link between subjective status and health. The exact nature of the link, including the role of psychological pathways and early-life confounders, remains a question for future research
Subjective socioeconomic status and self-rated health in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging
Believing in conspiracy theories in Spain during the Covid-19 pandemic
Conspiracy theories jeopardize public health by disseminating misinformation and undermining authoritative health guidelines. This study explores social factors associated with the belief in conspiracy theories in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Max Weber, it posits that beliefs in conspiracy theories are linked to both instrumental rationality considerations, such as trust in health authorities, scie…
Fixed-term work contracts and anti-immigration attitudes. A novel test of ethnic competition theory
Whether labor market competition is shaping anti-immigration attitudes is a contentious issue. We conduct a novel test of ethnic competition theory by comparing the attitudes toward immigration of workers with fixed-term contracts to those with permanent jobs in Europe. Fixed-term contract workers are particularly at risk of competition as they have to compete for jobs in the foreseeable future. In the first step of our investigation, we analyze …
Does Children's Education Improve Parental Health and Longevity? Causal Evidence from Great Britain
Parents with better-educated children are healthier and live longer, but whether there is a causal effect of children's education on their parents' health and longevity is unclear. First, we demonstrate an association between adults' offspring education and parental mortality in the 1958 British birth cohort study, which remains substantial-about two additional years of life-even when comparing parents with similar socioeconomic status. Second, w…
Understanding Ukrainian society before and after the Russian invasion
International audience
Sociology (22 works) · Psychology (21 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (17 works) · Political science (15 works) · Economics (14 works) · Medicine (12 works) · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies (11 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Demographic economics (9 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (9 works)