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Schulreich S, Tusche A, Kanske P, Schwabe L. Higher subjective socioeconomic status is linked to increased charitable giving and mentalizing-related neural value coding. Neuroimage 2023; 279:120315. [PMID: 37557972 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Socioeconomic status (SES), a concept related to an individual's economic and social position relative to others, can shape social interactions like altruistic behaviors. However, little is known about the exact neurocognitive mechanisms that link SES with altruism. Our study aimed to provide a comprehensive account of the sociocognitive and neural mechanisms through which SES affects charitable giving - an important variant of human altruism. To this end, participants completed a charitable donation task while their brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We also assessed participants' socio-cognitive ability to infer other people's mental states (i.e., mentalizing) - a driver of prosocial behavior - in an independent social task. Behaviorally, we found that both charitable giving and social cognition were status-dependent, as subjective SES positively predicted donations and mentalizing capacity. Moreover, the link between SES and charitable giving was mediated by individuals' mentalizing capacity. At the neural level, a multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data revealed that higher subjective SES was associated with stronger value coding in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ). The strength of this value representation predicted charitable giving and was linked to mentalizing. Furthermore, we observed an increased negative functional coupling between rTPJ and left putamen with higher SES. Together, increased charitable giving in higher-status individuals could be explained by status-dependent recruitment of mentalizing-related value coding and altered functional connectivity in the brain. Our findings provide insights into the socio- and neurocognitive mechanisms explaining why and when higher SES leads to prosociality, which might ultimately inform targeted interventions to promote prosocial behavior in human societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Schulreich
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany; Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria.
| | - Anita Tusche
- Queen's Neuroeconomics Laboratory, Departments of Psychology and Economics, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Philipp Kanske
- Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01187, Germany
| | - Lars Schwabe
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
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2
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Richards L, Maharani A, Präg P. Subjective social status and allostatic load among older people in England: A longitudinal analysis. Soc Sci Med 2023; 320:115749. [PMID: 36738654 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Subjective social status has a known association with health, whereby better health outcomes are observed for those with higher perceived status. In this research, we offer new evidence on the status-health relationship using a rigorous methodological approach that considers both observed and unobserved confounders. METHODS We use 5 waves of data spanning 15 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and derive a measure of allostatic load with biomarkers as an objective measure of health. We apply 'within-between' panel regression models. RESULTS Models reveal the expected association between subjective status and health when comparing participants (the 'between' estimate), but no association when examining temporal variation within participants (the 'within' estimate). When controlling for personality traits including optimism, and parental education, the 'between' association between subjective status and allostatic load is reduced but does not disappear. CONCLUSIONS Person-level confounders play some role in explaining the observed link between subjective status and health. The exact nature of the link, including the role of psychological pathways and early-life confounders, remains a question for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay Richards
- University of Oxford, Department of Sociology, 42-43 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1JD, United Kingdom.
| | - Asri Maharani
- Manchester Metropolitan University, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Education, Bonsall St, Manchester, M15 6GX, United Kingdom.
| | - Patrick Präg
- CREST, ENSAE, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 5 Av. Le Chatelier, 91120, Palaiseau, France.
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3
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Waking up "We" or "I"? How Start Temporal Landmarks Influence Arousal Product Preferences. Behav Sci (Basel) 2023; 13:bs13010067. [PMID: 36661639 PMCID: PMC9854782 DOI: 10.3390/bs13010067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Start temporal landmark is the beginning of a period of time. Previous research has established that individuals have the need for arousal at the start temporal landmarks but less research has focused on individual differences and the relationship between self and others (independent vs. interdependent). This research examines the influence of individuals' self-construal on the relationship between start temporal landmarks and arousal product preference. Three experiments with 1136 participants were recruited from a university, community, and online store in Southern China. The data were analyzed by Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel on SPSS 26.0 software program. The results showed that self-construal influenced the effect of start temporal landmarks on arousal product preference. Specifically, compared with ordinary temporal landmarks, individuals with interdependent self-construal prefer high arousal products under start temporal landmarks, whereas those with independent self-construal show no significantly different preference for high or low arousal products under the start temporal landmarks. Furthermore, psychological resources play a mediating role. This research extends the theoretical research on self-construal in the field of temporal landmarks and arousal. It also has important practical implications for improving the sales of high arousal products.
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Abstract
This study addresses two questions. First, why do Black Americans exhibit worse health outcomes than White Americans even at higher levels of socioeconomic status (SES)? Second, are diminished health returns to higher status concentrated among Black Americans with darker skin color? Novel hypotheses are tested with biosocial panel data from Add Health, a nationally representative cohort of Black and White adolescents who have transitioned to adulthood. We find that White and light-skin Black respondents report improved health after achieving higher SES, on average, while their darker-skin Black peers report declining health. These patterns persist regardless of controls for adolescent health status and unmeasured between-person heterogeneity. Moreover, increased inflammation tied to unfair treatment and perceptions of lower status helps to account for patterns of diminished health returns for dark-skin Black groups. Our study is the first to document skin tone heterogeneity in diminished health returns and one of few studies to identify life course stress processes underlying such disparities. We consider additional processes that could be examined in future studies, as well as the broader health and policy implications of our findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reed T. DeAngelis
- Department of Sociology and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Taylor W. Hargrove
- Department of Sociology and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Robert A. Hummer
- Department of Sociology and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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5
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Upenieks L, Schieman S, Meiorin R. A protective rung on the ladder? How past and current social status shaped changes in health during COVID-19. SSM Popul Health 2022; 17:101060. [PMID: 35252531 PMCID: PMC8887974 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 02/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
An emerging body of work has started to document population health consequences of the social and economic transformations during the COVID-19 pandemic. We consider an individual's relative social position in the stratification system-subjective social status (SSS)-and assess how past (childhood) and current SSS predict change in self-rated health during the pandemic. Using two waves of data from the Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study, we follow respondents between the onset of lockdown measures in March and May of 2020 (N = 1886). Drawing from the life course perspective and stress process model, we find that lower current SSS predicts a greater likelihood of being in stable poor health and reporting declining health. Lower past SSS predicts a higher chance of being in stable poor health indirectly through current SSS. And lower cumulative SSS that sums both past and present SSS also predicts stable poor health, while perceived upward mobility over time is associated with stable good health. This robust relationship between SSS and health in such a short time period of two months at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic provides an important glimpse into the influence that SSS has on population health.
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6
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Refaeli T, Achdut N. Perceived poverty, perceived income adequacy and loneliness in Israeli young adults: Are social capital and neighbourhood capital resilience factors? HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY 2022; 30:668-684. [PMID: 32959947 DOI: 10.1111/hsc.13177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2019] [Revised: 07/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Loneliness is a severe risk factor that has been linked to diminished health outcomes and low quality of life across ages. Young adults have been identified as a high-risk group for experiencing loneliness, but only a few studies have explored the economic and social determinants of loneliness in this age group. Taking a social inequality approach to health, with loneliness as a focus, this study examined: (a) the associations between the following factors - subjective social status (SSS) indicators (perceived poverty and perceived income adequacy), offline and online social capital, and neighbourhood capital - and loneliness; and (2) whether social and neighbourhood capital were moderators in the association between SSS and loneliness. Cross-sectional data for individuals aged 20-29 were taken from the 2017 Israeli Social Survey (N = 1,508). Employing multinomial logit models, we found that perceived poverty was a strong predictor of loneliness. Greater social and neighbourhood capital decreased loneliness, whereas a higher use of online social networks increased loneliness. Neighbourhood capital and perceived trust were moderators, whereas trust was a resilience factor, neighbourhood capital strengthened the negative effect of perceived poverty on loneliness. To reduce the prevalence of loneliness in young adults, policymakers should examine various means of enhancing social and neighbourhood capital along with moderating the use of online social networks. However, they should be aware that interventions of this kind can do little to buffer the strong effect of perceived poverty on loneliness, as in most cases the effect of perceived poverty on the probability of loneliness is not ameliorated by improved social or neighbourhood resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tehila Refaeli
- The Charlotte Jack Spitzer Department of Social Work, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Netta Achdut
- The Charlotte Jack Spitzer Department of Social Work, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
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Archibald JL, Neupert SD. “Keeping Up with the Joneses”: Subjective Social Status Predicts Proactive Coping. JOURNAL OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10804-022-09392-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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8
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Kim JH, Sumerlin TS, Goggins WB, Kwong EMS, Leung J, Yu B, Kwok TCY. Does Low Subjective Social Status Predict Cognitive Decline in Chinese Older Adults? A 4-Year Longitudinal Study From Hong Kong. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2021; 29:1140-1151. [PMID: 33563520 PMCID: PMC8298609 DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2021.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Revised: 01/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Subjective social status (SSS), one's self-perceived social position, encompasses not only concrete socio-economic (SES) factors (e.g., income) but also intangible aspects of status (e.g., social capital). In recent years, there has been increasing research interest in SSS as a predictor of a vast array of health outcomes but very few studies examining effects on cognitive functioning. This study's main objective was to examine the association between SSS and long-term cognitive decline in older Chinese adults. DESIGN A 4-year longitudinal study. SETTING Hong Kong, China. PARTICIPANTS Chinese adults (aged ≥65) (n = 3,153). MEASUREMENTS This study analyzed baseline SSS-Hong Kong (self-perceived social status within Hong Kong) and SSS-Community (self-perceived status within one's own social network) as predictors of long-term cognitive decline. Multiple-linear-regression was performed on 4-year follow-up Mini-Mental-Status-Examination (MMSE) cognitive function score (score range: 0-30) after adjusting for baseline MMSE scores, traditional SES indicators (e.g., education), demographic variables (e.g., sex), clinical conditions (e.g., stroke history, depression), and lifestyle variables (e.g., physical activity levels). RESULTS Lower SSS-Community but not SSS-Hong Kong was associated with greater cognitive decline (unstandardized coefficient (95% CI) = 0.13 (0.07, 0.19) standardized β-coefficient = 0.08, after adjusting for objective SES measures and other background and clinical factors. The standardized β-coefficients for the SSS-Community variable were similar in magnitude to those for depression and diabetes. CONCLUSION Cognitive decline is influenced by self-perceived rank in proximal reference groups rather than socioeconomic comparison with society at-large. SSS-Community is a useful, single-item supplementary instrument to improve prediction of cognitive decline in elderly Chinese.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean H. Kim
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care Prince of Wales Hospital Shatin, The New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Timothy S. Sumerlin
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care Prince of Wales Hospital Shatin, The New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - William B. Goggins
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care Prince of Wales Hospital Shatin, The New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Elizabeth M. S. Kwong
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care Prince of Wales Hospital Shatin, The New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jason Leung
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care Prince of Wales Hospital Shatin, The New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Blanche Yu
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care Prince of Wales Hospital Shatin, The New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Timothy C. Y. Kwok
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital Shatin, The New Territories, Hong Kong, China,Corresponding author’s
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9
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Präg P. Subjective socio-economic status predicts self-rated health irrespective of objective family socio-economic background. Scand J Public Health 2020; 48:707-714. [PMID: 32508240 PMCID: PMC7605046 DOI: 10.1177/1403494820926053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Revised: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Aim: Subjective appraisals of socio-economic status (SES) are robustly associated with health outcomes, even when controlling for objective SES. Is this because objective SES is not accounted for in a sufficiently exhaustive way? Methods: I pool eight waves of nationally representative survey data from Germany (German General Social Survey, 2004-18, N=13,557) to assess the association between two separate subjective appraisals of SES (a 10-point scale and subjectively chosen social class membership) and poor self-rated health using logit and linear probability models. I account for an exhaustive range of objective SES variables, including respondents' household incomes and social status, as well as occupational status, social class and education of respondents and of their partners, fathers and mothers. Results: The association between subjective SES and poor self-rated health remains stable, even when accounting for a wide range of objective SES markers. This is true for both subjective SES measured on a 10-point scale and as a subjective class identification. Conclusions: Even when controlling for a large number of objective SES markers, subjective SES and self-rated health are linked, suggesting that subjective assessments of SES are meaningful measures of SES which form a distinct pathway to health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Präg
- Department of Sociology and Nuffield College, University of Oxford, UK
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10
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A Comprehensive Investigation of Associations of Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status with Perceived Health and Subjective Well-Being. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.5334/irsp.364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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11
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DeAngelis RT. Striving While Black: Race and the Psychophysiology of Goal Pursuit. JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 2020; 61:24-42. [PMID: 32020811 PMCID: PMC7163923 DOI: 10.1177/0022146520901695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Population health scientists have largely overlooked anticipatory stressors and how different groups of people experience and cope with anticipatory stress. I address these gaps by examining black-white differences in the associations between an important anticipatory stressor-goal-striving stress (GSS)-and several measures of psychophysiology. Hypotheses focusing on racial differences in GSS and psychophysiology are tested using self-report and biomarker data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (2011-2014), a cross-sectional probability survey of black and white working-age adults from Davidson County, Tennessee (n = 1,252). Compared to their white peers, blacks with higher GSS report greater self-esteem and fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, increased GSS also predicts elevated levels of high-effort coping (i.e., John Henryism), neuroendocrine stress hormones, and blood pressure for blacks but not whites. I discuss the implications of these findings for scholars interested in the stress process and broader black-white health inequalities in the United States.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reed T. DeAngelis
- Department of Sociology and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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12
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Olstad DL, McIntyre L. Reconceptualising precision public health. BMJ Open 2019; 9:e030279. [PMID: 31519678 PMCID: PMC6747655 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Revised: 07/22/2019] [Accepted: 07/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
As currently conceived, precision public health is at risk of becoming precision medicine at a population level. This paper outlines a framework for precision public health that, in contrast to its current operationalisation, is consistent with public health principles because it integrates factors at all levels, while illuminating social position as a fundamental determinant of health and health inequities. We review conceptual foundations of public health, outline a proposed framework for precision public health and describe its operationalisation within research and practice. Social position shapes individuals' unequal experiences of the social determinants of health. Thus, in our formulation, precision public health investigates how multiple dimensions of social position interact to confer health risk differently for precisely defined population subgroups according to the social contexts in which they are embedded, while considering relevant biological and behavioural factors. It leverages this information to uncover the precise and intersecting social structures that pattern health outcomes, and to identify actionable interventions within the social contexts of affected groups. We contend that studies informed by this framework offer greater potential to improve health than current conceptualisations of precision public health that do not address root causes. Moreover, expanding beyond master categories of social position and operationalising these categories in more precise ways across time and place can enrich public health research through greater attention to the heterogeneity of social positions, their causes and health effects, leading to the identification of points of intervention that are specific enough to be useful in reducing health inequities. Failure to attend to this level of particularity may mask the true nature of health risk, the causal mechanisms at play and appropriate interventions. Conceptualised thus, precision public health is a research endeavour with much to offer by way of understanding and intervening on the causes of poor health and health inequities.As currently conceived, precision public health is at risk of becoming precision medicine at a population level. This paper outlines a framework for precision public health that, in contrast to its current operationalization, is consistent with public health principles because it integrates factors at all levels, while illuminating social position as a fundamental determinant of health and health inequities. We review conceptual foundations of public health, outline a proposed framework for precision public health and describe its operationalization within research and practice. Social position shapes individuals' unequal experiences of the social determinants of health. Thus, in our formulation, precision public health investigates how multiple dimensions of social position interact to confer health risk differently for precisely defined population subgroups according to the social contexts in which they are embedded, while considering relevant biological and behavioural factors. It leverages this information to uncover the precise and intersecting social structures that pattern health outcomes, and to identify actionable interventions within the social contexts of affected groups. We contend that studies informed by this framework offer greater potential to improve health than current conceptualizations of precision public health that do not address root causes. Moreover, expanding beyond master categories of social position and operationalizing these categories in more precise ways across time and place can enrich public health research through greater attention to the heterogeneity of social positions, their causes and health effects, leading to identification of points of intervention that are specific enough to be useful in reducing health inequities. Failure to attend to this level of particularity may mask the true nature of health risk, the causal mechanisms at play and appropriate interventions. Conceptualized thus, precision public health is a research endeavour with much to offer by way of understanding and intervening on the causes of poor health and health inequities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana Lee Olstad
- Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Lynn McIntyre
- Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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13
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Engzell P, Ichou M. Status Loss: The Burden of Positively Selected Immigrants. INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REVIEW 2019. [DOI: 10.1177/0197918319850756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Immigrants experience an ambiguous social position: on the one hand, they tend to be positively selected on resources from the origin country; on the other, they often occupy the lower rungs of the status ladder in receiving countries. This study explores the implications of this ambiguity for two important individual outcomes: subjective social status and perceived financial situation. We study the diverse sample of immigrants in the European Social Survey and use the fact that, due to country differences in educational distributions, a given education level can entail a very different rank in the sending and receiving countries. We document a robust relationship whereby immigrants who ranked higher in the origin than in the destination country see themselves as being comparatively worse off. This finding suggests that the social position before migration provides an important reference point by which immigrants judge their success in the new country.
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Affiliation(s)
- Per Engzell
- University of Oxford
- SOFI, Stockholm University
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14
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Zang E, Bardo AR. Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status, Their Discrepancy, and Health: Evidence from East Asia. SOCIAL INDICATORS RESEARCH 2018; 143:765-794. [PMID: 32982014 PMCID: PMC7517660 DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-1991-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/30/2018] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Socioeconomic status (SES) is largely understood to be a fundamental determinant of health. Recently, subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) has emerged as a potentially important predictor of health above and beyond traditional (i.e., objective) SES indicators (OSS). The current study adds to this emerging body of research by examining the potentially important role of status discrepancies for health outcomes. We used nationally representative data from three East Asian countries (China, Japan, and South Korea) (2010 East Asian Social Survey) and a non-linear statistical technique (i.e., diagonal mobility model) to simultaneously model the independent contributions of OSS and SSS and their discrepancy for three health outcomes. Findings showed that SSS does, in fact, explain additional variation in health net of OSS in most cases, and status discrepancy is not associated with any of the three health outcomes. While status discrepancy was not found to be a driving factor in determining the predictive power of SSS net of OSS (at least in East Asia), the present study adds robustness to the accumulating evidence that challenges the social inequality hypothesis and provides a basis from which future research can build and contribute further to the understanding surrounding socioeconomic status and health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Zang
- Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, USA
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15
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It's "the Joneses": the influence of objective and subjective socioeconomic status on subjective perceptions of aging. Eur J Ageing 2018; 16:121-128. [PMID: 30886566 DOI: 10.1007/s10433-018-0475-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Positive subjective perceptions of aging predict various well-being, physical health, mental health, and longevity outcomes. Thus, it is important to consider what factors contribute to their formation. Socioeconomic status (SES) has been hypothesized to be one such factor, but past research has been mixed. We propose that subjective assessments of SES may better predict subjective perceptions of aging than traditional objective measures (e.g., income and education). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of objective and subjective indicators of SES on subjective perceptions of aging. Participants (n = 296) from the Mindfulness and Anticipatory Coping Everyday study were recruited with a Human Intelligence Task on Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participants reported on their SES (i.e., income, education, and subjective social status) and subjective perceptions of aging (i.e., attitudes toward own aging, subjective age, and awareness of age-related gains and losses). Data were analyzed via hierarchical multiple regression with demographic and health variables entered first, followed by income and education, then subjective social status. Results demonstrated that although objective measures of SES did not contribute to predicting subjective perceptions of aging, those who rated themselves subjectively higher in their community social standing were more likely to possess positive aging attitudes, younger subjective ages, more awareness of age-related gains, and fewer awareness of age-related losses. These findings suggest that perceptions of doing better than one's neighbors (i.e., "the Joneses") may matter more for understanding subjective perceptions of aging than objective indicators of social status.
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16
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Bierman A, Lee Y, Schieman S. Chronic Discrimination and Sleep Problems in Late Life: Religious Involvement as Buffer. Res Aging 2018; 40:933-955. [DOI: 10.1177/0164027518766422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The association between chronic discrimination and sleep problems is important to examine in older adults because sleep is highly reactive to stress and impaired sleep has diverse adverse health effects. The association between chronic discrimination and sleep problems may, however, be confounded by a number of time-stable influences, and this association may also vary by religious involvement. In three waves (2006, 2010, and 2014) of the Health and Retirement Study ( N = 7,130), the overall association between chronic discrimination and sleep problems is negated in econometric models that control for all time-stable sources of confounding. Religious involvement does not modify this association for men, but a significant association is found among women who do not attend religious services. These analyses suggest that the association between chronic discrimination and sleep quality in late life is substantially inflated due to unobserved time-stable confounders, although women who do not attend religious services may be at risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Bierman
- Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Yeonjung Lee
- Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Scott Schieman
- Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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