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Theoretical background and objectives

Theoretical background and objectives

Theoretical background and objectives

Theoretical background and objectives

Little is known about whether and how integration policies might influence citizens' views towards immigrants. This relatively unexplored topic compels sociological inquiry, since integration policies represent contextual-level constraints, which might affect individual-level outcomes in a number of ways. Surprisingly, up to this date no one has provided an evidence-based answer to the question whether, to what extent and how national-level arrangements of immigration policies affect citizens' perceptions of immigrants as ethnic threat.

Research design and methodology

This project investigates persistent health inequalities in affluent societies, focusing on the psychological mechanisms and environmental factors that shape health-related decision-making across socioeconomic groups. Despite universal healthcare coverage and extensive public health initiatives, significant disparities in health behaviours and outcomes persist along socioeconomic lines. 

The project draws on the Uncontrollable Mortality Risk Hypothesis to examine how perceptions of control over mortality risk influence health investment decisions. The hypothesis suggests that individuals who perceive their mortality risk as less controllable may be less motivated to invest in long-term health. 

Social stratification research increasingly recognizes that numerous types of inequality are location-dependent with residential neighborhoods often being the locus of inequality. Residential environmental inequality—the socially unequal distribution of exposure to environmental 'goods' (e.g., parks, green space) and 'bads' (e.g., air pollution, noise heat) at individuals' place of residence— is one crucial dimension of spatial inequality in urban settings that has been shown to affect physical health, mental health, and other key outcomes, such as educational performance, crime, and inter-generational economic mobility. The most recent Global Burden of Disease Study attributes 4.5 million deaths worldwide to outdoor air pollution alone in 2019.

Challenges for strategy development, organisation of work and co-determination

1. Motivation & objectives: Investigating strategy development processes in the dual transformation