Abstract
Socioeconomic status (SES) accounts for disparities in health and well-being. Recent studies consider the effects of individuals’ subjective standing in society (i.e., subjective SES) as well as the traditional (objective) indicators of SES (i.e., income, education, occupational status), in predominantly Western samples. This study presents a comprehensive investigation of associations of objective and subjective SES with individuals’ perceived health and well-being in a representative sample of young adults (aged 18–35; N = 3016) from a non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) population (i.e., Turkey), employing polynomial regressions and plotting the results onto a three-dimensional plane. Findings confirmed the value of polynomial regression to understanding the relationship of different types of SES with perceived health and well-being. For instance, while perceived overall health was descriptively greater when objective-SES exceeded subjective-SES, the reverse was the case for happiness, one indicator of well-being. Our findings also suggest an additive effect of the two types of socioeconomic status on majority of the outcome variables; individuals’ perceptions of overall health, life satisfaction, happiness, and financial satisfaction were enhanced when they reported higher scores on both objective and subjective SES.
Highlights
IntroductionRecent studies consider the effects of individuals’ subjective standing in society (i.e., subjective Socioeconomic status (SES)) as well as the traditional (objective) indicators of SES (i.e., income, education, occupational status), in predominantly Western samples
Socioeconomic status (SES) accounts for disparities in health and well-being
Assessed as individuals’ own perceptions of where they stand in the society compared to others, it has been shown in two recent meta-analyses that, subjective SES1 is significantly associated with various health outcomes during adolescence (Quon & McGrath, 2014) and adulthood (Cundiff & Matthews, 2017)
Summary
Recent studies consider the effects of individuals’ subjective standing in society (i.e., subjective SES) as well as the traditional (objective) indicators of SES (i.e., income, education, occupational status), in predominantly Western samples. This study presents a comprehensive investigation of associations of objective and subjective SES with individuals’ perceived health and well-being in a representative sample of young adults (aged 18–35; N = 3016) from a non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) population (i.e., Turkey), employing polynomial regressions and plotting the results onto a three-dimensional plane. Our aim is to provide a systematic investigation of how these two-types of assessments of individuals’ socio-economic status (objective vs subjective SES) are associated with their perceived health and wellbeing, the most frequently studied outcomes of social status. Employing a representative sample of Turkish young adults, this study provides an opportunity to test the basic premises of the extant literature in a non-WEIRD population (Henrich, Heine & Norenzayan, 2010)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
