Health Insurance, Social Integration, and Social Cohesion

Abstract

Although irrational economic behavior may lead to economic inefficiencies, anthropologists and sociologists have long observed that such behavior may have significant psychological and social utility. In the previous chapter, we saw that even if health insurance is irrational from an economic perspective, it may have positive consequences for individuals not unlike those associated with ritual in preliterate societies. Some functional theorists argue, however, that ritual performs a more important service than simply to alleviate anxiety. (Indeed, some argue that rather than anxiety leading to ritualized behavior, it is the failure to perform ritualized behavior that leads to anxiety.) (See Radcliffe-Brown, 1938:46.) Although a rain dance does not lead to the objective that is intended (e.g., to produce rain and, thus, a good crop yield), it may have significant social benefits nevertheless. It brings people together to share in common group activity and thus enhances social integration. In doing so it also promotes a sense of group identity or social cohesion. Health insurance may also promote social integration and cohesion, though for different reasons.