Self-selection or situational stratification? A quasiexperimental study on social class differences in health behaviors in China

Abstract

Fundamental cause theory suggests that differences in social status lead to health inequalities, with lifestyle serving as the intermediary mechanism. This study uses multiple waves of data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) to first explore differences in drinking, smoking, and physical exercise across different social classes and finds that managers have significantly greater tendencies toward risky health behaviors such as drinking and smoking. Subsequently, the study examines changes in class differences in drinking behavior with respect to the anticorruption policy. The results show that neither lifestyle transition theory nor the self-selection mechanism can fully explain the phenomenon of managers drinking more. Health stratification is not a simple reflection of the socioeconomic status gradient, and there is an urgent need to rethink the theoretical framework of social stratification that emphasizes microlevel individual practices as a direct reflection of macrostructural positions.