Subjective Socioeconomic Status, Cognitive Abilities, and Personal Control: Associations With Health Behaviours

Area of Science:

• Health Psychology
• Socioeconomic Determinants of Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Socioeconomic status (SES) is a known determinant of health behaviors.
• The distinct roles of subjective (SSES) and objective (OSES) socioeconomic status require further elucidation.
• Cognitive abilities and personal control perceptions may influence this relationship.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate SSES and OSES as predictors of health behaviors.
• To examine cognitive abilities as potential confounders.
• To explore personal control perceptions as mediators in the SES-health behavior link.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study with 197 adults (aged 30-50) recruited via Prolific.
• Assessed health behaviors using the Good Health Practices Scale.
• Analyzed SSES, OSES, cognitive abilities (intelligence, memory), and personal control.

Main Results:

• SSES was the strongest predictor of health behaviors (beta = 0.19, p < 0.01).
• Education (OSES indicator) predicted behaviors (beta = 0.16, p < 0.05), but income did not.
• Cognitive abilities, specifically memory (beta = -0.17, p < 0.05), were negatively associated with health behaviors, contrary to expectations.

Conclusions:

• SSES is a significant predictor of health behaviors, independent of OSES.
• Cognitive abilities did not confound the relationship between socioeconomic indicators and health behaviors.
• The negative association between cognitive abilities and health behaviors warrants further investigation into psychological mechanisms underlying health disparities.