Discrimination and Health: Does Hiring, Promoting, and Firing Discrimination Relate to Biological Dysregulation and Cardiovascular Disease?

Abstract

Research on discrimination and health typically examines broad discrimination and cross-sectional health outcomes using subjective self-report measures. We examined three different types of specific job-related discrimination (hiring, promoting, and firing discrimination) and their time-lagged objective health outcomes, specifically biological dysregulation (i.e., allostatic load) and cardiovascular disease. To test hypotheses, we analyzed three waves of MIDUS data (MIDUS II, MIDUS II biomarker project, and MIDUS III). Results showed that discrimination in firing significantly predicted biological dysregulation, while discrimination in hiring and discrimination in promoting did not. In addition, discrimination in hiring, promoting, and firing did not significantly predict general cardiovascular disease. This study sheds light on time-lagged health consequences from specific job-related discrimination in the workplace and underscores the detrimental effect of discrimination in firing on allostatic load in comparison to discrimination in hiring or discrimination in promoting.