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Perceived Discrimination and Self-Rated Health in South Korea: A Nationally Representative Survey

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  • Seung-Sup Kim
  • David R Williams

Abstract

Background: There is mounting evidence that discriminatory experiences can harm health. However, previous research has mainly focused on the health effects of racial discrimination in U.S. or European countries although there is pervasive discrimination by gender, age, education and other factors in Asian countries. Methods: We analyzed the data from the 7th wave of Korean Labor and Income Panel Study to investigate the association between perceived discriminatory experience and poor self-rated health in South Korea. Perceived discriminatory experiences were measured in eight situations through a modified Experience of Discrimination questionnaire. In each of eight situations, the lifetime prevalence of perceived discriminatory experience was compared between men and women and the main causes of those experiences were identified separately by gender. After adjusting for potential confounders, we examined the association between perceived discriminatory experience and poor self-rated health in each of eight social situations and also checked the association using the number of situations of perceived discriminatory experiences. Results: For both men and women, education level and age were the main sources of work-related perceived discriminatory experiences. Gender was one of the main causes among women across eight situations and more than 90% of women reported their gender as a main cause of discriminatory experience in getting higher education and at home. Discriminatory experiences in four situations were positively associated with poor self-rated health. The odds ratio for poor self-rated health for those exposed to one, two, three or four or more social situations of perceived discrimination were respectively 1.06 (95% CI : 0.87–1.29), 1.15 (95% CI : 0.96–1.55), 1.59 (95% CI : 1.19–2.14), and 1.78 (95% CI :1.26–2.51). Conclusion: There is consistent association between perceived discriminatory experience and poor self-rated health across eight social situations in South Korea.

Suggested Citation

  • Seung-Sup Kim & David R Williams, 2012. "Perceived Discrimination and Self-Rated Health in South Korea: A Nationally Representative Survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0030501
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030501
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    Cited by:

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    2. Nataliya Nerobkova & Soo Young Kim & Eun-Cheol Park & Jaeyong Shin, 2022. "Workplace Mistreatment and Health Conditions Prior and during the COVID-19 in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-11, October.
    3. Seung-Sup Kim & Yeonseung Chung & S V Subramanian & David R Williams, 2012. "Measuring Discrimination in South Korea: Underestimating the Prevalence of Discriminatory Experiences among Female and Less Educated Workers?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(3), pages 1-8, March.
    4. Javier Álvarez-Gálvez & María Luisa Rodero-Cosano & José A. Salinas-Pérez & Diego Gómez-Baya, 2019. "Exploring the Complex Associations Among Social Determinants of Health in Andalusia After the 2008 Financial Crisis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 873-893, January.
    5. Javier Alvarez-Galvez, 2016. "Measuring the effect of ethnic and non-ethnic discrimination on Europeans’ self-rated health," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 61(3), pages 367-374, April.
    6. Ji-Hye Kim & Sarah Soyeon Oh & Suk Won Bae & Eun-Cheol Park & Sung-In Jang, 2019. "Gender Discrimination in the Workplace: Effects on Pregnancy Planning and Childbirth among South Korean Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-12, July.
    7. Javier Alvarez-Galvez & Luis Salvador-Carulla, 2013. "Perceived Discrimination and Self-Rated Health in Europe: Evidence from the European Social Survey (2010)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-1, September.

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