Dataset on Social Norms, Religiosity, Stigma, and HIV/STI Burden (1996–2022)

Dataset Description This dataset compiles harmonized country-level aggregates from the World Values Survey (WVS, waves 1-7) covering sexual norms, religious values, and social attitudes, integrated with health and economic indicators for cross-national analysis of HIV/STI epidemiology. Data Sources and Coverage The dataset merges individual-level responses from WVS (1981-2022) aggregated to country-year observations with: HIV prevalence (ages 15-49) and sexually transmitted infection burden indicators from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (IHME) GDP per capita from World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI) GINI coefficients from World Bank SI.POV.GINI indicator, supplemented with alternative sources (World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform, OECD Income Distribution Database, World Inequality Database, and national statistical offices) for countries with missing data Variable Domains The dataset includes measures across five theoretical domains: Sexual norms: Attitudes toward homosexuality, sex work, casual sex, and premarital sex (10-point acceptance scales) Religious salience: Importance of religion in life, belief in God, and spousal religious concordance preferences Social values: Self-reported happiness and health status Stigma indicators: Unwillingness to have neighbors with AIDS Economic controls: GDP per capita (current US$) and GINI coefficient of income/consumption inequality Sample Composition The final analytical dataset contains 68 countries with observations from their most recent WVS wave (2017-2022 period), representing 834,680 individual survey responses aggregated to country level. Countries span seven World Bank regions with particular representation from Europe & Central Asia (40.9%), Latin America & Caribbean (18.2%), and East Asia & Pacific (14.8%). Data Structure and Missingness The dataset provides complete data for 10 core variables across all 68 countries. Three additional variables exhibit partial coverage: casual sex acceptance (n=45), premarital sex acceptance (n=56), and GINI coefficient (completed to n=68 through alternative sources). The dataset includes both raw and transformed variables, including logarithmic transformations for skewed distributions and GDP-adjusted GINI residuals to address multicollinearity. Usage Notes This dataset was developed to examine relationships between cultural values, economic conditions, and sexual health outcomes while addressing common methodological challenges in cross-national research including temporal consistency, missing data patterns, and measurement heterogeneity across data sources.