Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status, Their Discrepancy, and Health: Evidence from East Asia
1Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, USA.
Social Indicators Research
|September 28, 2020
Summary
Subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) predicts health beyond objective measures (OSS). However, status discrepancies did not significantly impact health outcomes in this East Asian study, challenging traditional social inequality hypotheses.
Area of Science:
- Sociology
- Public Health
- Health Disparities
Background:
- Socioeconomic status (SES) is a known determinant of health.
- Subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) may predict health independently of objective SES (OSS).
- The role of status discrepancies in health outcomes requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the independent contributions of OSS and SSS to health outcomes.
- To investigate the association between status discrepancies and health.
- To assess the predictive power of SSS over OSS in East Asian populations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized nationally representative data from the 2010 East Asian Social Survey (China, Japan, South Korea).
- Employed a non-linear statistical technique (diagonal mobility model).
- Simultaneously modeled OSS, SSS, and status discrepancy for three health outcomes.
Main Results:
- SSS explained additional health variation beyond OSS in most instances.
- Status discrepancy was not significantly associated with any of the studied health outcomes.
- The predictive power of SSS over OSS was not driven by status discrepancy in this context.
Conclusions:
- Subjective socioeconomic status is a significant predictor of health, independent of objective measures.
- Status discrepancy does not appear to be a key factor influencing health outcomes in East Asia.
- Findings challenge the social inequality hypothesis and inform future research on SES and health.
Keywords:
Diagonal mobility modelHealth disparitiesInternational Socio-Economic IndexSocial inequalityMore Related Videos
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