Meaning: Formative multi-item index measuring the extent to which the people in a society are mentally and habitually empowered to make their own choices and to pursue them in their actions. The index covers the domains of motivational empowerment (emancipative values), connective empowerment (informational connectedness), perceptive empowerment (perceived stimulation), intellectual empowerment (formal education) and behavioural empowerment (social movement activity) [(EVI + InfCon + PerSti + ForEdu + SMA) / 5 calculated at the individual level and then aggregated to the country level].
Source: Index invented by Welzel, based on data from the World Values Surveys, all countries from rounds five and six.
Scaling: Multi-point index with original scores on each of the multiple items rescaled from minimum 0 to maximum 1, with proper fractions for intermediate positions, and then averaged over all the measures. Components load on the same dimension at the individual level, with pretty similar loadings, and their combination produces a highly reliable overall index (alpha above .80). Country scores are population averages (arithmetic mean) on the 0-1 index.
Remarks: Individual-level scores are normally distributed around the mean in each national sample.
Type of variable: Continuous
Last updated by source: 2014-03-01