Cultural and social capitals as factors in self-rated health

Abstract

The present-day epidemiological situation has once again drawn attention of the scientific community and policy makers to the importance of understanding of the social sources of biological risks. During the past few decades the empirical research into heath disparities has revealed the complex links existing between the socioeconomic status of an individual and his or her health. There are several theoretical models that explain health disparities chiefly focusing on various facets of the socioeconomic status and their effects on health. Those models point to the unequal distribution of health across different groups within a population, but they remain rather limited in terms of accounting for the mechanisms of its maintenance. Although the idea of the effects of socioeconomic status on health is not new and dates back at least as far as 19th c. social medicine, the body of knowledge regarding the social patterns of health, disease and mortality has increased considerably since then. Burgeoning new approaches to health disparities as well as incorporation of data from the epidemiological, medical, genetic and similar connected disciplines have enriched the sociological knowledge and changed the very conceptualization of health. The methodological means of assessing the social factors in health should be enhanced accordingly. The present study contributes to this empirical literature. The aim of the present study was to explore the factor of the cultural and social capitals in self-rated health status among the adult Ukrainians. During 2020–2021 the authors have conducted a two-phase mixed methods study employing the results of semi-structured interviews (n = 10) to develop a survey instrument (n = 156). The results pointed to the gradual data structure in self-rated health based on the cultural capital criterion. Individuals who were more knowledgeable in terms of healthy lifestyle habits and capable of translating this knowledge into practice adhering to it in their lifestyle, also had higher scores on all other forms of capital. This finding supports the notion that health is linked to the cultural taste which forms the status distinctions. As for the mechanisms of the interaction of capitals, it was found that cultural capital in the domain of health is connected to the variables of the cultural capital in the domain of diet and healthy habits, as well as with the social support aspect of the social capital. Cultural capital variables are intercorrelated among themselves, as well as with such aspects of social capital as social support and useful contact networks. Social capital emerged as a multidimensional construct with multiple interrelated compounds. The relationship between social and cultural capitals was mediated via social support availability.