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Although abortion and euthanasia are highly contested issues at the heart of the culture war, the moral foundations underlying ideological differences on these issues are mostly unknown. Given that much of the extant debate is framed around the sanctity of life, we argued that the moral foundation of purity/sanctity—a core moral belief that emphasises adherence to the "natural order"—would mediate the negative relationship between conservatism and support for abortion and euthanasia. As hypothesised, results from a nation‐wide random sample of adults in New Zealand (N = 3360) revealed that purity/sanctity mediated the relationship between conservatism and opposition to both policies. These results demonstrate that, rather than being motivated by a desire to reduce harm, conservative opposition to pro‐choice and end‐of‐life decisions is (partly) based on the view that ending a life, even if it is one's own, violates God's natural design and, thus, stains one's spiritual purity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we asked participants to "describe their sexual orientation" in an open-ended measure of self-generated sexual orientation. The question was included as part of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 18,261) 2013/2014 wave, a national probability survey conducted shortly after the first legal same-sex marriages in New Zealand. We present a two-level classification scheme to address questions about the prevalence of, and demographic differences between, sexual orientations. At the most detailed level of the coding scheme, 49 unique categories were generated by participant responses. Of those who responded with the following, significantly more were women: bisexual (2.1 % of women, compared to 1.5 % of men), bicurious (0.7 % of women, 0.4 % of men), and asexual (0.4 % of women and less than 0.1 % of men). However, significantly fewer women than men reported being lesbian or gay (1.8 % of women, compared to 3.5 % of men). Those openly identifying as bicurious, bisexual, or lesbian/gay were significantly younger than those with a heterosexual orientation. This study shows diversity in the terms used in self-generated sexual orientations, and provides up-to-date gender, age, and prevalence estimates for the New Zealand population. Finally, results reveal that a substantial minority of participants may not have understood the question about sexual orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients' expectations of being prescribed antibiotics can have an important influence on inappropriate prescribing. Therefore, it is important to understand the drivers of patients' antibiotic expectations. The 2015/16 New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study measured sense of entitlement to antibiotics in a nationally representative sample of New Zealanders (n = 13,484). Participants were asked to rate their agreement with the statement "If I go to my doctor/GP with a minor illness (e.g., sore throat, cough, runny nose, etc.), I think that I should be prescribed antibiotics by default." Eighty percent of participants showed low feelings of antibiotic entitlement, while 18.5% exhibited moderate and 3.7% high feelings of entitlement. People of ethnic minority, lower socio-economic status, and with diabetes expressed higher expectations of being prescribed antibiotics. This may be partially based on a higher risk of rheumatic fever or other complications. Men, religious people, those with lower educational attainment and self-rated health, but greater psychological distress and feelings of control over their health exhibited higher feelings of antibiotic entitlement. Those high on Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Narcissism, but low on Agreeableness and Openness, also showed greater feelings of entitlement. Our findings help identify key characteristics of those more likely to express inappropriate expectations of antibiotic prescription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is it possible to predict COVID-19 vaccination status prior to the existence and availability of COVID-19 vaccines? Here, we present a logistic model by regressing decisions to vaccinate in late 2021 on lagged sociodemographic, health, social, and political indicators from 2019 in a sample of New Zealand adults aged between 18 and 94 (Mage = 52.92, SD = 14.10; 62.21% women; N = 5324). We explain 31% of the variance in decision making across New Zealand. Significant predictors of being unvaccinated were being younger, more deprived, reporting less satisfaction with general practitioners, lower levels of neuroticism, greater levels of subjective health and meaning in life, higher distrust in science and in the police, lower satisfaction in the government, as well as political conservatism. Additional cross-sectional models specified using the same, and additional COVID-19-specific factors are also presented. These findings reveal that vaccination decisions are neither artefacts of context nor chance, but rather can be predicted in advance of the availability of vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the March 15th Christchurch terrorist attack, members of our research team have been repeatedly asked to comment or provide summary statistics from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS) on prejudice toward Muslims. As the curators of the NZAVS, we think that these findings should be in the public domain and accessible to as wide an audience as possible. In this article, we aim to provide a comprehensive summary of what we know from the NZAVS about attitudes toward Muslims and prejudice in New Zealand more generally. From 2012 onwards, the NZAVS included a feeling thermometer rating of people's level of warmth toward Muslims. Here, we summarize what we know from the NZAVS about levels of warmth toward Muslims in the New Zealand population. We describe the distribution of thermometer ratings of warmth toward Muslims annually from 2012 onward, and compare these with thermometer ratings of a range of other groups that we also track. We present a regression model documenting the extent to which a broad range of demographics and aspects of personality are associated with low levels of warmth toward Muslims, and present a parallel model assessing warmth ratings toward immigrants as a comparison. Finally, we present a series of growth curve models outlining the relative level and rate of change over time in warmth toward Muslims and other groups from 2012- 2018. Results from these analyses indicate that over the 2012-2018 period, levels of warmth toward Muslims in New Zealand were comparatively low relative to warmth ratings of other groups. However, warmth toward Muslims has also been steadily but gradually increasing over time in New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the annual temporal ordering of sleep quantity and psychological distress, separating between-person stability from within-person change., Design: Random-intercepts cross-lagged panel model using 6 annual waves of longitudinal data from the New Zealand Attitudes Values Study postal questionnaire., Participants: New Zealand Attitudes Values Study respondents in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 (Ns = 17,890; 15,757; 13,904; 21,849; 17,031; and 47,462)., Measurements: Participants were asked, "During the past month, on average, how many hours of actual sleep did you get per night?" and responded to the K6 psychological distress scale each year. They also reported their demographic characteristics., Results: Identified longitudinal associations between sleep duration and psychological distress in a traditional cross-lagged panel model were mostly attributable to the stability of the between-person differences in sleep duration and psychological distress. We provide evidence to suggest that increased sleep duration as indicated over a short period of time (ie, 1 month) predicted lower within-person levels of psychological distress the following year. Psychological distress did not predict sleep duration, in contrast., Conclusions: Our analyses suggest that sleep duration in this sample of New Zealanders precedes psychological distress. This is significant given the propensity for short sleep in this sample and issues of poor mental health and short sleep among low SES indigenous members of this community. The promotion of adequate sleep duration may yield positive gains in psychological well-being., (Copyright © 2020 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ethnic groups have disparate perceptions of and experiences with family doctors/General Practitioners (GP), yet little is known about differences in GP influence on vaccine safety perceptions across ethnic groups in New Zealand. Using data from the 2017 New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study survey (N = 17,072), the current study investigates the correlation between vaccine safety agreement and GP satisfaction, perceived GP cultural similarity, GP cultural respect, healthcare access and diverse demographic factors among Māori, Pacific, Asian and European New Zealanders. Europeans expressed greater positive perceptions of GPs and high vaccine safety agreement (74.7%) relative to other ethnic groups (Asian: 72.3%; Pacific: 65.8%; Māori: 59.4%). Increased GP satisfaction, healthcare access and education were key correlates of higher vaccine safety agreement among Europeans. Increased GP satisfaction, healthcare access and being non-religious were key correlates among Māori. Higher vaccine safety agreement was significantly and strongly associated with being non-religious, born overseas and having a partner among Pacific peoples. Among Asian peoples, men, younger, more educated individuals, and those with greater perceived GP cultural respect showed higher agreement. Our findings highlight important ethnic differences in the shaping of vaccine attitudes and inform the development of tailored interventions for specific ethnic groups., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Relatively little is known about the differential impact of maternal and paternal perceptions of vaccine safety on children's vaccination status in New Zealand. Using a sample of 68 couples from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS), the present study investigated the distinct influence of mothers' and fathers' confidence in the safety of childhood vaccinations following the national immunisation schedule on their reports of children's vaccination status. Actor-Partner Interdependence Modelling revealed that mothers', but not fathers', vaccine confidence predicted children's vaccination status, regardless of who reported their children's vaccination status. Higher maternal vaccine confidence increased the likelihood of child full vaccination status, but paternal vaccine confidence showed no unique significant effects. As women tend to express lower vaccine confidence than men, it is imperative to further investigate the key drivers of their low confidence and develop target interventions accordingly. Encouraging fathers' involvement in the vaccination decision-making process may also be beneficial in increasing the likelihood of childhood vaccination uptake., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Despite continuing vaccine controversies, little is known about the trajectory of change in vaccine confidence over time. The current study examined whether there are subpopulations among the New Zealand public with diverging trajectories of confidence in the safety of childhood vaccinations from 2013 to 2017., Methods: Using longitudinal survey data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, latent class growth models identified subpopulations with distinct rates and directions of change in vaccine confidence from 2013 to 2017 (N= 12,423; 11,912; 12,009; 10,254). The demographic profiles of these subpopulations were examined., Findings: Most New Zealanders' (60%) maintained strong vaccine confidence throughout the years (i.e. vaccine believers ), but 30% expressed decreasing confidence over time (i.e. vaccine skeptics ). Around 10% were former skeptics who had low vaccine confidence in 2013 but showed increasing confidence thereafter. Men, Europeans/Others, those more educated and living in more affluent regions were more likely to be vaccine believers . Relative to former skeptics , women, older individuals and those with lower education were more likely to be vaccine skeptics ., Interpretation: Attitudes toward the safety of childhood vaccinations are becoming increasingly polarized in New Zealand. Roughly 30% of the population are becoming more concerned about vaccine safety over time, 10% are becoming more confident, whereas 60% show consistent high vaccine confidence. It is vital to further investigate the key contributors to decreasing confidence among vaccine skeptics and implement target interventions., Funding: Templeton Religion Trust Grant (TRT0196) for data collection; Corresponding author supported by University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship., Competing Interests: CHJL and CGS report a grant from Templeton Religion Trust., (© 2020 The Authors.)

Despite extensive scientific evidence on the safety of standard vaccinations, some parents express skeptical attitudes towards the safety of childhood immunisations. This paper uses data from the 2013/14 New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS) survey (N=16,642) to explore the distribution, and demographic and personality correlates of New Zealanders' attitudes towards the safety of childhood vaccinations. Around two thirds (68.5%) of New Zealanders strongly agreed/were confident that "it is safe to vaccinate children following the standard New Zealand immunisation schedule," 26% were skeptical and 5.5% were strongly opposed. Multiple regression analysis indicated that people lower on Conscientiousness and Agreeableness but higher on Openness to Experience expressed lower confidence about vaccine safety. Having higher subjective health satisfaction, living rurally, being Māori, single, employed and not a parent were all associated with lower confidence, while a higher income and educational attainment were associated with greater confidence. Our findings suggest that the majority of New Zealand adults trust in the safety of scheduled childhood vaccinations, but about one third do express some degree of concern. This finding highlights the importance of improving public education about the safety and necessity of vaccinations., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)