| New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study | |
|---|---|
| Type of project | Longitudinal study |
| Location | New Zealand |
| Key people | Chris Sibley |
| Launched | 2009 |
| Website | www |
TheNew Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS) is alongitudinal study conducted inNew Zealand.[1] The NZAVS was started in 2009 byChris Sibley,[2] a professor in psychology at theUniversity of Auckland. The NZAVS was inspired by major social surveys conducted internationally, such as theNational Election Studies, theWorld Values Survey and theGeneral Social Survey, and aims to provide a similar resource for New Zealand. As of January 29, 2024, the NZAVS research team had published over 250peer reviewed publications using data from the study.[3]
The NZAVS uses aself-report inventory to collect information. The questionnaire is administered via both postal mail and anonline survey. The NZAVS includes a large range of scales including those measuringself-esteem, national and personalwellbeing,satisfaction with life,religious beliefs,personality,psychological distress,ideologies,political andenvironmental attitudes.
The NZAVS has anested data structure.[1] Participants are modeled as the Level 1 or lower-level unit. The NZAVS contains geographic information frommesh blocks for each participant. Mesh blocks contain information about each participants local neighborhood based on census data from each mesh block. This information is modeled as the Level 2, or higher-level unit in many of the NZAVS research papers. Mesh blocks are small geographic area units, each containing roughly 100 people, with defined boundaries. Each mesh block is in turn nested within larger census area units (CAU; roughly 1000 people in size).Statistics New Zealand provide detailed demographic information about the population of each mesh block based on census data, such as median income, ethnic proportions and size, religious affiliation, etc. This information is integrated into the NZAVS datasets. Of particular note are the New Zealand Deprivation Index (an index of poverty or socio-economic status based on a principal components analysis of indicators of deprivation for each area unit);[4] and a CAU-basedGini coefficient derived byChris Sibley for use in the NZAVS, which provides an indicator of the income disparity within each region of New Zealand.
The NZAVS is aquantitative study, and data analysis for the NZAVS is conducted primarily in Mplus.[5] Scripts outlining the statistical models developed using data from the NZAVS are provided online at the official NZAVSOpen Science Framework page.[3] These scripts are provided to help promote research collaboration and transparency in data analysis. The study employs many different types of statistical analyses, includingLatent Growth Modeling,Bayesian Linear Regression,Structural Equation Modeling, and analyses employingMixture model andMultilevel model designs.
The NZAVS has been central in answering a variety of important research questions. This section lists research findings from the NZAVS that have received academic and media attention.
Data from the NZAVS has been used to examine the impacts of theCOVID-19 pandemic on attitudes towards the government and institutional trust, as well as health and well-being.[6]
Following theterrorist attack in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, data from the NZAVS has been used to examine attitudes towards Muslims and satisfaction with the government.[7][8]
NZAVS researchersJoseph Bulbulia andChris Sibley published a study inPLoS ONE looking at how theChristchurch earthquakes may be linked to change inreligious affiliation.[9]
Data from the NZAVS has also been used to help validate and extend a public domainpersonality test assessing the Big-Six dimensions of personality in New Zealand. This personality scale is known as the Mini-IPIP6, and is based on theInternational Personality Item Pool.[10] The Mini-IPIP6 is a 24-item self-report personality measure, which extends the original Big-Five Mini-IPIP scale[11] to also include a sixth dimension of personality based on theHEXACO model of personality structure. The Mini-IPIP provides marker items for the following six dimensions of personality:Extraversion,Agreeableness,Conscientiousness,Neuroticism,Openness to Experience, andHonesty-humility. The Mini-IPIP6 has been validated for use in New Zealand in a series of peer-reviewed publications,[12][13][14] and is in thepublic domain.
NZAVS researchersCarla Houkamau andChris Sibley have also used data from the NZAVS to help design programmes that benefitMāori people particularly in relation to health and education. They studiedMāori identity and the factors that make Māori feel positive about themselves andMāori culture. This identity scale is known as theMulti-dimensional Model of Māori Identity and Cultural Engagement (MMM-ICE) and consists of six dimensions;(1) Group Membership Evaluation, (2) Socio-Political Consciousness, (3) Cultural Efficacy and Active Identity Engagement, (4) Spirituality, (5) Interdependent Self-Concept, and (6) Authenticity Beliefs.[15]
Sam Manuela, a senior lecturer from the University of Auckland, used the NZAVS data as part of his doctoral thesis to develop aculturally sensitiveself-report inventory to assessidentity andsubjective well-being among Pacific populations in New Zealand. The measure, known asThe Pacific Identity and Wellbeing Scale, assesses five distinct, yet interconnected dimensions of Pacific identity and wellbeing; (1) Group Membership Evaluation, (2) Pacific Connectedness and Belonging, (3) Religious Centrality and Embeddedness, (4) Perceived Familial Wellbeing, (5) Perceived Societal Wellbeing.[16]