Subjective Social Status and Objective Health Among Older People in England. A Longitudinal Approach With Biomarkers

Subjective social status has a known association with health, whereby better health outcomes are observed for those with higher perceived status. However, in this article we offer new evidence on the status–health relationship using a rigorous methodological approach that considers both observed and unobserved confounders. We use 14 years of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging and derive a measure of allostatic load with biomarkers as an objective measure of health. We apply ‘within–between’ panel regression models which 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, optimism, and parental education the ‘between’ association between subjective status and allostatic also load disappears. These results suggest that perceived status is not a pathway to health, in and of itself, among older people.

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Supplemental Material for Subjective Social Status and Allostatic Load in Mothers 1 Year After Birth

Health Psychology ◽

10.1037/hea0001148.supp ◽

2022 ◽

Keyword(s):

Social Status ◽

Allostatic Load ◽

Subjective Social Status

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Is It a Masterpiece? Social Construction and Objective Constraint in the Evaluation of Excellence

Social Psychology Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0190272517738092 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 80 (4) ◽

pp. 289-309 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Stoyan V. Sgourev ◽

Niek Althuizen

Keyword(s):

Social Construction ◽

Social Status ◽

Subjective Social Status ◽

Visual Exploration ◽

Online Experiment ◽

Objective Reality ◽

The Status ◽

Over Time ◽

Art Evaluation

A key question in scholarship on evaluation is the extent to which the role of social construction is constrained by objective reality. This question is addressed in an analysis of the evaluation of artistic excellence. In an online experiment, we manipulate the subjective social status (both artwork and artist) and the degree of aesthetic complexity of the artwork. The results confirm the independent role of the objective aesthetic factor in art evaluation. Most importantly, we document an interaction between subjective and objective factors whereby aesthetic complexity serves as a credibility lever, amplifying or attenuating the credibility of the status labels. Excessive praise (i.e., a masterpiece by a world-famous artist) tends to reduce the appreciation of aesthetically simple artworks when status labels are questioned. However, the association of aesthetic complexity with the capacity to provoke thought may encourage respondents to take the paintings more seriously. Complexity is typically discouraged for standard products, but it can be instrumental in the process of singularization by stimulating visual exploration and sustaining interest over time.

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Abstract P396: Association of Subjective Social Status With Allostatic Load in The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.141.suppl_1.p396 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 141 (Suppl_1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Amanda C McClain ◽

Linda Gallo ◽

Carmen R Isasi ◽

Robert Kaplan ◽

Michelle I Cardel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Social Status ◽

Allostatic Load ◽

Subjective Social Status ◽

Health Study ◽

Metabolic System ◽

Lower Odds ◽

Logistic Regression Models ◽

One Step ◽

The U.S

Introduction: Subjective social status (SSS) is inversely related to allostatic load (AL) markers, but little is known in Hispanics/Latinos. We assessed the hypotheses that SSS would be inversely associated with total AL and subsystem scores, regardless of objective socioeconomic status (OSS). Methods: Data were from baseline of the HCHS/SOL (n = 12,722, aged 18-74y). We assessed SSS using a 10-step ladder. Participants identified on which step they stood in relation to other people in the U.S. Higher scores indicated higher SSS (range: 1-10). Participants self-reported OSS as household income, educational attainment, and employment status. AL was comprised of 16 physiological markers from the parasympathetic (n=2; heart rate variability), inflammation (n=2; C-reactive protein, white blood cell), metabolic (anthropometrics, lipids, glucose, insulin resistance; n=8), and cardiopulmonary (blood and pulse pressures, resting heart rate, lung function; n=4) subsystems. Each marker was assigned a score of 1 if the value exceeded clinical cut-offs (or high-risk quartiles) or the participant reported taking medication to alter the marker. Otherwise, the marker was assigned a score of 0. Scores were summed across the 16 markers to create an AL score (0-16), with higher scores indicating higher AL. Scores were then dichotomized as high (vs. low) if scores were ≥ AL and subsystem medians. Multivariate-adjusted, survey-weighted linear and logistic regression models tested the association of SSS with AL and subsystem scores. Results: Sample means (95% CI) for SSS and AL were 4.4 (4.3-4.5) and 4.2 (4.1-4.3), respectively. A one-step increase on the SSS ladder was associated with lower AL ((β(SE): -0.1(0.02), p=0.003) and metabolic system (-0.04(0.01), p=0.001) scores. After adjusting for OSS, the association between SSS and AL was attenuated (-0.03(0.02), p=0.09), but remained significant for metabolic system scores (-0.03(0.01), p=0.01). When modeling dichotomized AL, a one-step increase was associated with lower odds of high AL (Odds Ratio (OR); 95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 0.94 (0.91-0.98), p=0.001), high parasympathetic system (0.96 (0.93-1.00), p=0.03), and high metabolic system (0.95 (0.92-0.98)) scores. After adjusting for OSS, higher SSS remained associated with lower odds of high AL (0.95 (0.92-0.99), p=0.01) and high metabolic system (0.96 (0.92-0.99), p=0.01) scores, but the association between SSS and lower parasympathetic subsystem scores was attenuated (0.97 (0.94-1.00), p=0.08). SSS was not associated with inflammation or cardiopulmonary subsystems. Conclusions: Among Hispanics/Latinos living in the U.S, OSS attenuated the relationship between SSS and AL. SSS may be influencing AL through the metabolic system, and could provide unique psychological and biobehavioral targets for reducing metabolic risk disparities among Hispanics/Latinos living in the U.S.

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A Decline in the Social Status of the Working Class? Conflicting Evidence for 8 Western Countries, 1987–2017

Comparative Political Studies ◽

10.1177/00104140211047400 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 001041402110474

Author(s):

Daniel Oesch ◽

Nathalie Vigna

Keyword(s):

Working Class ◽

Social Status ◽

Subjective Social Status ◽

European Social Survey ◽

Radical Right ◽

Skilled Workers ◽

Social Survey ◽

Conflicting Evidence ◽

The Status ◽

Unskilled Workers

The consensus view among political scientists is that the subjective social status of low-skilled workers has declined over the last decades, and this status loss of the working class is seen as contributing to the rise of the radical right. We examine the micro-foundation of this claim by tracing the evolution of subjective status for different social classes in Europe and the US. We use all available survey rounds of the International Social Survey Programme 1987–2017 and replicate findings with the European Social Survey 2002–2016. While unskilled workers perceive their status to be lower than members of the middle class everywhere, we find no relative or absolute fall in their subjective social status over time. Unskilled workers were at the bottom of the status hierarchy in the 1990s and 2010s. Our findings throw doubt on the narrative that sees workers’ falling subjective social status as a prominent driver behind the rise of the radical right.

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Social status and biological dysregulation: The “status syndrome” and allostatic load

Social Science & Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.002 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 118 ◽

pp. 143-151 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Melvin Seeman ◽

Sharon Stein Merkin ◽

Arun Karlamangla ◽

Brandon Koretz ◽

Teresa Seeman

Keyword(s):

Social Status ◽

Allostatic Load ◽

The Status

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Cultural omnivorousness and status inconsistency in Chile: the role of objective and subjective social status

10.31235/osf.io/k762z ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Francisco Olivos ◽

Peng Wang

Keyword(s):

Social Status ◽

Latent Class ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Subjective Social Status ◽

Sociological Research ◽

Cultural Consumption ◽

Cultural Participation ◽

Status Inconsistency ◽

The Status

Sociological research has long shown that cultural participation is socially stratified. We build on this literature to discuss the role of the subjective and objective dimensions of stratification, and how they are linked to practices of social distinction through cultural consumption. The aim of this study is to understand (1) the effect of subjective and objective social status on patterns of cultural participation, and (2) the implications of the status inconsistency between objective and subjective social status. We use a probabilistic and representative sample of the Chilean urban population over the age of 18. Latent class analyses show that a significant proportion of Chileans can be considered cultural omnivores. Multinomial diagonal reference models suggest that omnivorousness is positively predicted by subjective and objective social status. Moreover, regarding inconsistency, objective social status is prominent in the explanation of omnivorousness for both status-underestimating (SSSOSS). These findings provide important insights for discussing the implications of status inconsistency on cultural consumption.

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The Social Status of the elderly from a Comparative Perspective: distinctions of Post-communist Countries

Sociological Journal ◽

10.19181/socjour.2021.27.4.8641 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 8-31

Author(s):

Maksim Rudnev

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Social Status ◽

Age Groups ◽

The Elderly ◽

European Social Survey ◽

Communist Regime ◽

The Social ◽

The World ◽

The Status ◽

Communist Countries

Social status reflects the hierarchical position of social groups within society, their prestige as perceived by members of their society. The existing literature shows that age groups differ in their status considerably across countries, and that their status is linked to socio-economic modernization. This study investigates the determinants of elderly people’s status in post-communist countries in comparison to other countries. Using two large international datasets — from the World Values Survey (58 countries) and European Social Survey (29 countries) — as well as multilevel regressions, we found that elderly people in post-communist countries were at the bottom of the status hierarchy. Compared to other regions of the world, this low status was only in part explained by country modernization level, implying that some other factors may have had an effect. Moreover, only in postcommunist countries the perceived status of older people decreased with respondent’s age. We suggest that the low status of older people in post-communist countries was caused by the social and economic transformations that followed the fall of the communist regime — which led to the older generation losing human capital — and then exacerbated by the ageist legacy of the Soviet industrialist ideology. Finally, we insist that the very low status of older people is a problem of society as a whole rather than this particular age group.

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