IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v62y2006i6p1465-1473.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychosocial and neo-material dimensions of SES and health revisited: Predictors of self-rated health in a Canadian national survey

Author

Listed:
  • Dunn, James R.
  • Veenstra, Gerry
  • Ross, Nancy

Abstract

This study addresses questions concerning psychosocial processes of relative comparison in the production of socio-economic inequalities in health. Specifically, the importance for health of perceptions of status, different 'reference groups' and 'reference points' in such comparisons is problematized and investigated empirically. Using data from a cross-sectional telephone survey of the Canadian population in 2000 (n=1331), the paper investigates relationships between self-rated health status (SRHS) and: (1) 'actual' absolute socio-economic standing, (2) perceived relative socio-economic standing (relative to other Canadians and to Canadians of the previous generation), and (3) 'actual' relative socio-economic standing (relative to others in respondents' province of residence and neighbourhood of residence). Measures of actual absolute socio-economic status (SES) (household income, personal income and education) were strongly related to SRHS. Results for perceived relative SES were mixed. Perceived SES relative to all Canadians was a strong predictor of SRHS before and after controlling for age and gender while perceived SES relative to the previous generation was unrelated to SRHS. Actual relative income was strongly related to SRHS for all reference points (10th, 50th and 90th percentiles) in both reference groups analysed (neighbourhoods and provinces). Within neighbourhoods, however, comparisons with those at the top of the income ladder appeared to be somewhat more salient for SRHS than were comparisons to other levels. We conclude that there is some evidence of the importance of both psychosocial and neo-material aspects of SES for Canadians' self-rated health, but that further empirical research is needed that accounts for the numerous ways in which psychosocial processes of relative social comparison may take place.

Suggested Citation

  • Dunn, James R. & Veenstra, Gerry & Ross, Nancy, 2006. "Psychosocial and neo-material dimensions of SES and health revisited: Predictors of self-rated health in a Canadian national survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(6), pages 1465-1473, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:6:p:1465-1473
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00416-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lynch, John, 2000. "Income inequality and health: expanding the debate," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(7), pages 1001-1005, October.
    2. Wilkinson, Richard G., 2000. "Deeper than "neoliberalism". A reply to David Coburn," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(7), pages 997-1000, October.
    3. Wildman, John, 2003. "Income related inequalities in mental health in Great Britain: analysing the causes of health inequality over time," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 295-312, March.
    4. Cheng, Y. H. & Chi, I. & Boey, K. W. & Ko, L. S. F. & Chou, K. L., 2002. "Self-rated economic condition and the health of elderly persons in Hong Kong," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(8), pages 1415-1424, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kolarcik, Peter & Geckova, Andrea Madarasova & Orosova, Olga & van Dijk, Jitse P. & Reijneveld, Sijmen A., 2009. "To what extent does socioeconomic status explain differences in health between Roma and non-Roma adolescents in Slovakia?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1279-1284, April.
    2. Veenstra, Gerry & Vanzella-Yang, Adam, 2022. "Interactions between parental and personal socioeconomic resources and self-rated health: Adjudicating between the resource substitution and resource multiplication theories," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    3. Yang Li & Jan E. Mutchler, 2022. "Poverty and self‐rated health in later life: The mediating role of material hardship," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(3), pages 521-533, May.
    4. Chunping Han, 2014. "Health Implications of Socioeconomic Characteristics, Subjective Social Status, and Perceptions of Inequality: An Empirical Study of China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 495-514, November.
    5. Bongki Woo & Kaipeng Wang & David T. Takeuchi, 2018. "Perceived Social Position of Asian Americans: Neighborhood Context and Social Comparison," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 1075-1087, August.
    6. Cox, Matthew & Boyle, Paul J. & Davey, Peter G. & Feng, Zhiqiang & Morris, Andrew D., 2007. "Locality deprivation and Type 2 diabetes incidence: A local test of relative inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1953-1964, November.
    7. Wolff, Lisa S. & Subramanian, S.V. & Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores & Weber, Deanne & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2010. "Compared to whom? Subjective social status, self-rated health, and referent group sensitivity in a diverse US sample," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2019-2028, June.
    8. Schaerer, Michael & Foulk, Trevor & du Plessis, Christilene & Tu, Min-Hsuan & Krishnan, Satish, 2021. "Just because you're powerless doesn't mean they aren't out to get you: Low power, paranoia, and aggression," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-20.
    9. Eric TC Lai & Ruby Yu & Jean Woo, 2020. "The Associations of Income, Education and Income Inequality and Subjective Well-Being among Elderly in Hong Kong—A Multilevel Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-14, February.
    10. Wilkinson, Richard G. & Pickett, Kate E., 2007. "The problems of relative deprivation: Why some societies do better than others," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1965-1978, November.
    11. Irina, Mozhaeva, 2009. "Multidimensional health modeling: Association between socioeconomic and psychosocial factors and health in Latvia," MPRA Paper 34634, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Aug 2010.
    12. Florence Jusot & Michel Grignon & Paul Dourgnon, 2007. "Psychosocial resources and social health inequalities in France: Exploratory findings from a general population survey," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 189, McMaster University.
    13. Jean Woo & Ruth Chan & Jason Leung & Moses Wong, 2010. "Relative Contributions of Geographic, Socioeconomic, and Lifestyle Factors to Quality of Life, Frailty, and Mortality in Elderly," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, January.
    14. Irina, Mozhaeva, 2009. "Multidimensional health modeling: Association between socioeconomic and psychosocial factors and health in Latvia," MPRA Paper 24626, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Aug 2010.
    15. Garbarski, Dana, 2010. "Perceived social position and health: Is there a reciprocal relationship?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(5), pages 692-699, March.
    16. Präg, Patrick & Mills, Melinda C. & Wittek, Rafael, 2016. "Subjective socioeconomic status and health in cross-national comparison," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 84-92.
    17. Veenstra, Gerry & Vanzella-Yang, Adam, 2020. "Family income and self-rated health in Canada: Using fixed effects models to control for unobserved confounders and investigate causal temporality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    18. Subramanyam, Malavika & Kawachi, Ichiro & Berkman, Lisa & Subramanian, S.V., 2009. "Relative deprivation in income and self-rated health in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 327-334, August.
    19. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7007 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Yang Li & Dario Spini & Dimitrios Lampropoulos, 2023. "Beyond Geography: Social Quality Environments and Health," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 365-379, April.
    21. Ruby Yu & Cecilia Tong & Jason Leung & Jean Woo, 2020. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in Frailty in Hong Kong, China: A 14-Year Longitudinal Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-16, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cox, Matthew & Boyle, Paul J. & Davey, Peter G. & Feng, Zhiqiang & Morris, Andrew D., 2007. "Locality deprivation and Type 2 diabetes incidence: A local test of relative inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1953-1964, November.
    2. Pilar García Gómez & Ángel López Nicolás, 2005. "Socio-economic inequalities in health in Catalonia," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 175(4), pages 103-121, december.
    3. Esposito, Lucio & Villaseñor, Adrián, 2017. "Relative deprivation: Measurement issues and predictive role for body image dissatisfaction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 49-57.
    4. Christopher T. Whelan & Bertrand Maître, 2012. "Material Deprivation, Economic Stress and Reference Groups in Europe: An Analysis of EU-SILC2009," Working Papers 201206, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    5. Zheng Xie & Adrienne N Poon & Zhijun Wu & Weiyan Jian & Kit Yee Chan, 2015. "Is Occupation a Good Predictor of Self-Rated Health in China?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    6. Paula K. Lorgelly & Joanne Lindley, 2008. "What is the relationship between income inequality and health? Evidence from the BHPS," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(2), pages 249-265, February.
    7. Miething, Alexander, 2013. "A matter of perception: Exploring the role of income satisfaction in the income–mortality relationship in German survey data 1995–2010," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 72-79.
    8. Wildman, John, 2003. "Modelling health, income and income inequality: the impact of income inequality on health and health inequality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 521-538, July.
    9. Hong Zou & Qianqian Xiong & Hongwei Xu, 2020. "Does Subjective Social Status Predict Self-Rated Health in Chinese Adults and Why?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 443-471, November.
    10. Jutz, Regina, 2020. "Health inequalities in Eastern Europe. Does the role of the welfare regime differ from Western Europe?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    11. Daniel Gray, 2014. "Financial Concerns and Overall Life Satisfaction: A Joint Modelling Approach," Working Papers 2014008, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    12. Bjornstrom, Eileen E.S., 2011. "The neighborhood context of relative position, trust, and self-rated health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 42-49, July.
    13. Ling, Davina C., 2009. "Do the Chinese "Keep up with the Jones"?: Implications of peer effects, growing economic disparities and relative deprivation on health outcomes among older adults in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 65-81, March.
    14. Christopher J. Boyce & Andrew J. Oswald, 2012. "Do people become healthier after being promoted?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(5), pages 580-596, May.
    15. Batana, Yélé Maweki, 2010. "Evolution of social inequalities in health in Quebec?," MPRA Paper 20710, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Ioana van Deurzen & Wim van Oorschot & Erik van Ingen, 2014. "The Link between Inequality and Population Health in Low and Middle Income Countries: Policy Myth or Social Reality?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-22, December.
    17. Ọláyínká Oyèkọ́lá, 2023. "Democracy Does Improve Health," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 105-132, February.
    18. Andrew M. Jones & Angel López Nicolás, 2004. "Measurement and explanation of socioeconomic inequality in health with longitudinal data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(10), pages 1015-1030, October.
    19. Pak, Tae-Young & Choung, Youngjoo, 2020. "Relative deprivation and suicide risk in South Korea," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    20. Fatin Aminah Hassan & Nobuaki Minato & Shuichi Ishida & Norashidah Mohamed Nor, 2017. "Social Environment Determinants of Life Expectancy in Developing Countries: A Panel Data Analysis," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(5), pages 105-105, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:6:p:1465-1473. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.