Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Worker Identity, Employment Fluctuations and Stabilization Policy

This paper provides a model of “social hysteresis,” whereby long, deep recessions demotivate workers and thereby lead them to change their work ethic. In switching from a pro-work to an anti-work identity, their incentives to seek and retain work fall and consequently their employment chances fall. In this way, temporary recessions may come to have permanent effects on aggregate employment. We also ...

Entering adulthood in a recession tempers later narcissism – But only in men

In a recent study, Bianchi (2014) showed that macroeconomic conditions (i.e. average unemployment rate) during the years of emerging adulthood (ages 18–25) are inversely related to adult narcissism. Fletcher (2015) called into question the robustness of the results and Grijalva et al. (2015) presented meta-analytic support for real gender differences in narcissism. Here we report combined results from ...

The rich are different: Unraveling the perceived and self-reported personality profiles of high net-worth individuals

Beyond money and possessions, how are the rich different from the general population? Drawing on a unique sample of high net-worth individuals from Germany (≥1 million Euro in financial assets; N = 130), nationally representative data (N = 22,981), and an additional online panel (N = 690), we provide the first direct investigation of the stereotypically-perceived and self-reported personality profiles ...

Validation of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire Short Scale (NARQ-S) in Convenience and Representative Samples

Due to increased empirical interest in narcissism across social sciences, there is a need for inventories that can be administered quickly while also reliably measuring both the agentic and antagonistic aspects of grandiose narcissism. In this study, we sought to validate the factor structure, provide representative descriptive data and reliability estimates, assess the reliability across the trait ...

Removing the Stigma of Divorce: Happiness before and after Remarriage

Many studies confirm that marriage does not have lasting effects on levels of happiness, whereas divorce induces serious, scarring effects through social stigma. However, few academic efforts have been made regarding how remarriage after divorce impacts the subjective well-being (SWB) of the divorced. Taking into consideration that remarriage often entails regaining social acceptance, this paper examines ...

The Redistributive Effects of Pension Systems in Europe: A Survey of Evidence

Inequality of opportunities vs. inequality of outcomes: Are Western societies all alike?

Family Determinants of the Changing Gender Gap in Educational Attainment: A Comparison of the U.S. and Germany

Trends in the gender gap in college completion for the U.S. and Germany show that the gender gap has closed in Germany as it has in the U.S., but, unlike the U.S., women have not yet achieved inequality in rates of tertiary degree attainment, let alone overtaken men. A central reason for this difference is the fact that the relationship between parental education and gender-specific rates of tertiary ...

When My Money Becomes Our Money: Changes in Couples’ Money Management

Conservative welfare state policies as in Germany often presume that money is a common resource within couples and, therefore, pooled. Research, however, indicates that money is increasingly managed separately or partly separately. This trend is either explained by the diversification of forms of relationships or interpreted as a general decline of the joint pooling of money. Contributing to this debate, ...

Is maternal labor market re-entry after childbirth facilitated by mothers’ and partners’ flextime?

How do national-level work–life balance policies shape the role of flextime in maternal labor market re-entry after childbirth? It is well known that such policies influence the adoption, provision, and support of flexible work arrangements by organizations, but whether they shape the relevance of these arrangements for workers has been neglected in past research. This article analyzes whether mothers’ ...