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Archived projects

The Effects of Economic Inequality on Subjective Well-Being

Directed by : Nicolas Sommet

This project uses cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental data to investigate the effects of residing in places with high income inequality on various outcomes such as health, well-being, trust, competitiveness.

Vocational training pathways through the prism of gender and sexual orientation

Directed by : Lavinia Gianettoni, Edith Guilley

Sexist and homophobic attitudes are still rife in our society, and educational institutions are not exempt. Recent findings show, for example, that women are regularly the victims of sexist violence and that non-heterosexual students are more likely to drop out of education when they experience homophobic discrimination. 

Transnational Ageing among Older Migrants and Natives : A Strategy to Overcome Vulnerability

Directed by : Oana Ruxandra Ciobanu

This project will develop a better understanding of transnational practices to overcome vulnerability in old age by doing an innovative comparison between older international migrants, internal migrants and natives. The aims are to provide a comprehensive overview of the processes through which some overcome vulnerabilities and others do not by studying the forms of transnationalism developed to face age-related hardships. .

Coupled inequalities. Trends and welfare state differences in the role of partner’s socio-economic resources for employment careers

©Hyejin Kang - iStock
Directed by : Leen Vandecasteele

Understanding the way in which people’s labour market outcomes are influenced by other household members has become indispensable and very timely against the background of current demographic and social developments like the rise of female employment and the increasing trend of assortative mating. Previous research on the question how the partner’s socio-economic position affects employment has provided mixed results: some studies have indicated that women married to a higher status partner are less likely to be employed, while others have found that people’s occupational attainment and wages benefit from having a high status partner (e.g. Verbakel & de Graaf, 2008; Shafer, 2011).The contribution of this project is to better explain the reasons for heterogeneity in partner effects on labour market outcomes by examining differences across the life course, across welfare states and over generations.

Healthy Ageing in the Face of Death: Preferences, Communication, Knowledge and Behaviors Regarding End of Life and End-of-life Planning Among Older Adults in Switzerland

Directed by : Jürgen Mauer

Our research aims at studying key aspects of healthy aging at the end-of-life in Switzerland. Using new data from the Swiss version of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we aim to deepen our understanding of older persons’ end-of-life preferences, care experiences, communication, health literacy and knowledge and current end-of-life planning. We will also assess the interplay between all of these end-of-life domains along with their socio-demographic and regional/cultural patterning.

Musicians' Lives

The “Musicians' Lives” study focuses on musicians in Switzerland. The objective of the study is to better understand their personal and professional careers, as well as their individual and collective experiences related to this occupation.

Measuring vulnerability

This project is designed to provide the participants in the NCCR LIVES with high methodological competences in data collection and data management and with advanced statistical tools for the analysis of vulnerability and resilience processes in the life course.

Trajectories within contexts

This project has the objective of developing a multidimensional, dynamic and contextualised model of vulnerability, defined as a lack of individual or collective resources that places individuals or groups at major risk of experiencing (1) negative consequences related to sources of stress; (2) the inability to cope effectively with a stressor; and (3) the inability to recover from a stressor or to take advantage of opportunities in a given period of time.

Relationships in later life

This project aims at investigating the processes of overcoming vulnerabilising factors in close relationships in middle- and old-aged adults. Specifically the project seeks to explore the various paths of psychological adaptation to major stressors related to marital relationship in the second half of life, and to identify resources and possibilities of psychosocial prevention and psychological intervention.

Old age

This project’s objective remains that of studying well-being among the elderly, notably based on the VLV survey data. Our interdisciplinary research is concerned with the dynamic interplays that take place in old age between health problems, psychological functioning and regulation, individual actions, and the interpersonal, institutional and cultural contexts in which elderly live.

Gender and occupations

This project aims to develop an interdisciplinary theoretically innovative perspective on gendered aspects of the life course that enables us to clarify the conceptual insights to be gained from the term “vulnerability,” as compared to more frequently used concepts (e.g. social exclusion, poverty, precariousness).

Education and employment

This project proposes a research programme to improve our understanding of the factors affecting the employment outcomes for individuals in potentially vulnerable states: job seekers, mothers of new-born children, teenagers and young adults entering working life as well as mature adults with vocational education.

Family configurations and the life course

The nuclear family, particularly within marriage, has been regarded for a long time as a resilient group against expectations, constraints and hazards stemming from the social context. The pluralisation of life courses has, however, made families change, becoming more diverse and less predictable.

Career paths

Adopting a broad psychological perspective and considering the roles of environmental resources and cultural background, this project studies the direct and moderating/mediating effects of 1) individual characteristics (such as personality, character strengths, or justice beliefs), 2) professional conditions and demands (e.g., job strain, discrimination at the work place, job insecurity), and 3) individual resources (such as adapt-abilities resources, self-efficacy or self-regulatory skills) on adults’ career transitions and pathways and their successful development.

Women facing cancer: Impact of the social support

From 2011 to 2014 the project led by Nicolas Favez studied the role of social support as a resource helping people to deal with the stress caused by a fatal illness. It was concerned with the effects of this on quality of life, with the goal of facilitating psychosocial and psychological interventions for couples dealing with this kind of situation.

Accumulation of resources and development of vulnerability over the life course

This cross-cutting issue emphasises the importance of the accumulation of social and economic as well as psychological and physiological resources over the course of life. Its analytical focus is the study of the long-term consequences of the accumulation and use of such resources on the development of vulnerability. It centres on the following themes.

Stress and ressource dynamics across life domains

This cross-cutting issue aims to stimulate research focusing on the permeability of stresses and resources across different life-course domains, such as family, work, education, leisure time or well-being trajectories.

Life course mechanisms of vulnerability in old age

This research project focuses on life-course mechanisms of stress and stress regulation in old age and the role of reserve build-up and activation in a multi-domain approach (education, work, family, leisure and welfare regimes).

Meso-level and policy mechanisms of vulnerability

At the meso-level we aim to understand mechanisms related to vulnerabilisation by examining how individuals with less resources act within formal and informal meso-level groups in order to gain coping resources. Specifically, we address the two-sidedness of policy and meso-level factors which can enhance resilience or reinforce vulnerability.

Health in vulnerable groups

This research project aims to investigate factors contributing to inequality in health, with a specific focus on objective and subjective conditions creating vulnerability.

Wellways

WELLWAYS investigates how events and transitions in the family and employment domains, which significantly influence health and well-being, contribute to such inequality.

Living well in retirement with others. Commitments, skills and quality of life in the age of lifelong learning (VIVRA)

Directed by : Farinaz Fassia Recrosio

Entering retirement is a time of transition that marks the beginning of a stage in the life course that is sometimes more vulnerable than others. But it can also be an opportunity to develop new commitments and skills. Based on a participatory and comprehensive approach, and drawing on the experience of the seniors themselves, this research project studies the voluntary involvement of seniors in associations, and its possible effects on their quality of life.

Activities-Based Job Matching System

Directed by : Michel Cornut & Stéphane Rullac

Plus d’un tiers des chômeurs en Suisse sont des chômeurs de longue durée, alors que certaines branches comptent davantage de places vacantes que de chômeurs. Nous souhaitons proposer une solution innovante d’appariement optimal des offres et demandes d'emploi qui ne prend pas appui sur les traditionnelles qualifications et compétences requises, mais sur une documentation du travail demandé et offert (lequel est généralement peu explicité) au moyen d'un référentiel d’activités. Cette documentation s'inscrit dans un accompagnement des employeurs et des demandeurs d'emploi permettant de se recentrer sur le besoin effectif de l'employeur tout en contournant les représentations qui freinent l'embauche des chômeurs de longue durée.

Social inequalities in cancer prevention care and fundamental social causes: a comparative study of innovative technologies and (in)effective policies

Directed by : Claudine Burton-Jeangros, Piet Bracke & Stéphane Cullati

Persistent inequalities in preventive care use are observed within and across European countries, even in comprehensive welfare states. To explain the variance in and the persistence of these health inequalities, we turn to fundamental cause and diffusion of innovations theory to formulate baseline hypotheses on educational inequalities in cancer prevention use, across time and across European countries. 

LIVIA-FR: An online unguided self-help intervention for people struggling with interpersonal loss

Directed by : Anik Debrot & Valentino Pomini

Losing a close relative, either by death or by separation, is common but counts among the major stressful life events possible. A significant part of people (10-15%) experience substantial and persistent distress after such a loss. Meta-analyses indicate that supporting them with interventions is efficient. Recently, internet-based interventions (IBIs) were developed to support grieving individuals and have shown promising results. The best results of the latter were attained with guided IBIs. In particular, our partners Brodbeck, Berger and Znoj (2017) obtained very good results with a cognitive-behaviorally oriented IBI. Two unguided IBIs have addressed grief-related difficulties. They were efficient, but to a lesser degree than guided interventions.

Welfare boundaries

The objective of social policies is to address the issue of vulnerability defined as a lack of resources. However, previous research during the first phase of the NCCR LIVES has shown that social policies are deeply ambivalent: being in welfare certainly provides access to resources and programmes, but these are subject to conditions and constraints that are themselves sources of stress.

"Parchemins" Project - Assessing the health and well-being of undocumented migrants

The Parchemins project, associated with the LIVES Centre, aims to assess the impact of regularisation on the undocumented migrants’ population in Geneva, particularly in terms of health and well-being. This project, which is a first in Europe, is linked to the Opération Papyrus, which granted work permits to more than 2,000 people between 2017 and 2018. Of the 4 waves of data collection planned, the first two have been completed.

DAISIE Project - Dynamics of Accumulated Inequalities for Seniors in Employment

The DAISIE project explores the gendered impacts of policies and practices aimed at extending working life (EWL) in five contrasting national settings (the Czech Republic, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK), using a mixed methods research design inspired by insights from life-course and gender studies. The project addresses two significant and timely issues: labour market participation in later life and retirement and the analysis of labour market and family trajectories. 

Solidarity in times of crisis: perceptions of deservingness during the pandemic in Switzerland

"Solidarity in times of crisis: perceptions of deservingness during the pandemic in Switzerland" is a project launched by the IDHEAP, nccr on the move and the LIVES Center following the COVID-19 crisis.  This project focus on the implications of the pandemic and of its economic fallout on perceptions of deservingness for different types of social rights. This project has two main axis: the first one study deservingness perceptions regarding two different domains of state help (services in the health care sector and access to social benefits for self-employed) and the second one extend the deservingness framework to study wether particular groups of mobile individuals should be entitled to be (internationally) mobile and more specifically to be allowed to access to Switzerland.