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This study estimates the effects of food hypersensitivity on individuals' perceived welfare and well-being compared to non-food hypersensitive individuals. Study respondents were recruited in the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and UK. The difference in welfare between food hypersensitive respondents and those asymptomatic to foods was estimated using a subjective welfare approach, including income evaluation. Well-being was measured using the Cantril Ladder-of-Life Scale, and health status using the Self-Perceived Health Scale. The difference in well-being, welfare and health status between participant groups was explained further using a number of background variables. No significant within-country differences in welfare between food hypersensitive respondents and respondents asymptomatic to foods were found. In terms of well-being, adult food hypersensitive respondents and their spouses reported significantly less happiness than respondents and their spouses asymptomatic to foods in the Netherlands and Poland. In Spain, the spouses of the food hypersensitive respondents were significantly less happy than respondents asymptomatic to foods. The well-being of children did not significantly differ between groups. The degree of severity of food hypersensitivity was negatively related to overall health status. In Poland, food hypersensitive respondents reported worse health status compared to asymptomatic respondents. In Spain, the converse was true. Food hypersensitive respondents were generally less happy with their life as a whole than respondents asymptomatic to foods, presumably because they experienced more negative effects, which were not related to perceived health status.

The aim of the article is an attempt to compare the levels, forms and conditions of political engagement of local communities in Bulgaria. Canada, Poland and Russia. We search for answers to three specific questions in this article. Firstly, we want to establish whether and, if so, what are the differences of political engagement levels among the inhabitants of rural and small-town local communities in countries of different cultural and political traditions. The second, basic motif of our analyses, concerns the conditions of political activity on the individual level. Thirdly, we intend to define the dominating patterns of political engagement in the local communities under research and the range of their occurrence in particular countries and communities. According to the formulated problem questions three main hypotheses will be verified: 1. We assume that the general level of political engagement is the highest in Canadian communities and the lowest in Bulgarian communities. We believe that it is connected with the longest-lasting influence of tradition of the democratic system in Canada and the shortest one in Bulgaria and Russia, as well as with the relatively high level of living conditions in Canada and much lower ones in the rest of the countries. 2. We assume that the factors of the social status of an individual, especially education and income, differentiate the level of political engagement of individuals in all local communities under research. 3. We assume that in the communities of longer local democratic traditions, that is in Canadian and Polish communities, the most common form of engagement is subjective engagement, characterised by both direct participation of individuals in the local political scene as well as the acceptance of the existing political order on the local level. In communities of a shorter democratic tradition, patterns based on external mobilisation will dominate. The researches were conducted in 12 rural and small-town communities of Bulgaria, Canada, Poland and Russia, which in the past were typical textile industry regions, that is, played similar roles in particular countries and in the time of the survey were undergoing economic crises on a different scale. Surveys were conducted in 3 Polish, 3 Bulgarian, 2 Russian and 4 Canadian communities. The empirical analyses embraces information gathered from 1932 respondents chosen at random in each place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]