Inequality Shape Research Articles

The Impact of Socioeconomic Factors on Heart Disease: Analysis of Trends and Strategies for Improving Population Health

This article analyzes the influence of socioeconomic factors on cardiovascular diseases in order to identify trends and strategies for improving population health. Cardiovascular disease remains a significant public health problem worldwide, and its prevalence varies according to various socioeconomic determinants. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature and statistics, the article examines the relationship between socioeconomic factors such as income, education, employment, and access to health care and the occurrence and consequences of cardiovascular disease. In addition, changing trends in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease among different demographic groups and geographic regions are examined. The findings highlight the important role of socioeconomic factors in shaping inequalities in the burden of cardiovascular disease and highlight the importance of targeted interventions and policies to address these inequalities. By understanding the complex interaction between social status and cardiovascular disease, health systems and policymakers can develop more effective strategies to promote cardiovascular health and reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in populations around the world.

Inequalities in access to information: The case of cancer patients treated at the prefecture of Meknes-Morocco "Qualitative Research in Sociology".

If in the past the relationship between caregiver and patient was paternalistic based on the principle of protection, the advent of health democracy has made this relationship evolve to build it on the principles of equality and autonomy for the patient. However, this practice leaves something to be desired, given the forms of inequality in access to information that mark the relationship between caregiver and cancer patient. The objective of this qualitative study is to present a sociological view of the process of shaping inequalities in access to information and its determinants. The study took place in the medical prefecture of Meknes, with a target population consisting of cancer patients treated in public and private health establishments. A qualitative content analysis approach using semi-structured interviews was employed. A diversity of attitudes of the cancer patient with regard to the information, depending on whether the patient is strongly or weakly involved by the health professional in his or her illness or in the care he or she receives. In this case: a) active patient better informed; b) passive patient more or less informed; c) patient in denial who refuses to be informed. It seems that the issue of inequality of access to information is not a topical one, and yet it is given little consideration in the policies of the Ministry of Health, particularly in the fight against cancer in Morocco.

THE INTIMACY TRIPLE BIND: STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES AND RELATIONAL LABOUR IN THE INFLUENCER INDUSTRY

The careers of social media content creators, or influencers, live or die by their ability to cultivate and maintain an invested audience-community. To this end, they are encouraged to practise relational labour (Baym, 2018) to build authentic self-brands and intimacy with audiences. Drawing on a longitudinal ethnographic study of the London influencer industry (2017-2023), this paper examines relational labour through an intersectional feminist lens, foregrounding the ways in which structural inequalities shape relationships between creators and their audiences. This research found that the tolls of managing audience relationships are higher for marginalised creators—especially those who make critical leftist and feminist content—who find themselves on an uneven playing field in the challenges they face as well as the coping strategies at their disposal. Creators employed four key tactics to navigate relational labour and boundaries with audiences: (1) leaning into making rather than being content; (2) (dis)engagement with anti-fans through silence and digital self-harm; (3) retreating into private community spaces, away from the exposure of public platforms; and (4) turning off public comments. Marginalised creators find themselves in an intimacy triple bind, already at higher risk of trolling and harassment, yet under increased pressure to perform relational labour, adversely opening them up to further harms in the form of weaponised intimacy. Findings highlight the individualisation of risk and harm as a structural norm in the influencer industry, raising serious questions about the lack of accountability and responsibility that platforms show towards the creators who generate profit for them.

Why a feminist ethics of care and socio-ecological justice lens matter for global, interdisciplinary research on water security

In this conceptual analysis, we set out some of the negotiations and tensions that emerge when we try to build a shared understanding of water (in)security through the dual lenses of a feminist ethics of care and socio-ecological justice. We further reflect on how these theoretical lenses shape our work in practice—how do we actualise them in an international, interdisciplinary partnership? We actively seek to engage all our colleagues in how we understand the function of power and inequality in relation to the distribution of water resources and the ways in which intersectional inequalities shape access to, and availability of, water. We conclude that our international partnership will only add value to our understanding of water (in)security if we are able to identify not just how intersectional inequalities circumscribe differential access to water itself in a range of diverse contexts, but the ways socio-ecological justice and a feminist ethics of care are understood and in turn shape how we work together to achieve greater water security across diverse contexts.

Managing an ageing workforce: workplace retention practices and early labour market exit

This study addresses a critical gap in our understanding of how the employer and workplace context influences the working career of older employees. Leveraging linked employer–employee data, this study examines the impact of workplace retention practices on an early labour market exit for employees aged fifty-five to sixty-four in Denmark. The findings reveal that, for those eligible for early retirement, work environment adaptation, re-employment of retired employees, and positive views of older employees’ productivity significantly contribute to avoiding early retirement. However, these workplace retention practices do not influence unemployment, emphasizing their effectiveness in postponing early retirement rather than mitigating job loss. Moreover, the analysis shows that employees with managerial roles and high skill levels benefit more from workplace retention practices in terms of avoiding both early retirement and unemployment. This finding highlights the employer’s key role in shaping inequalities in an ageing workforce by selectively providing opportunities to extend working lives.

Becoming and being a masters athlete: Class, gender, place and the embodied formation of (anti)-ageing moral identities

Once discouraged or viewed as dangerous, Masters athletes are now seen as exemplars of how people should age. This paper qualitatively examines the sporting pathways, embodied experiences and the moral formation of ageing identities among ‘young-old’ athletes competing in the 16th Australian Masters Games. Held in regional Tasmania (Australia), the Games attracted over 5000 participants competing across 47 sports over an 8-day period. Contributing to a critical body of scholarship on Masters athletes, the paper shows that class and gender inequality shape processes of becoming and being a Masters athlete that are rarely acknowledged in the ‘heroic ageing’ accounts the participants narrate. Further, the paper develops a unique spatial perspective on Masters sport that recognises the potential of the Games to disrupt place-based stigma but also identifies its class dimensions both as a site of middle-class shame and consumer opportunity for affluent sports tourists. We draw upon Allen-Collinson's concept of ‘intense embodiment’ to spotlight the sensory pleasures, pain and injuries of training and competing as an older athlete but also as an important lens for analysing the construction of ageing moral identities that can stigmatise and exclude the inactive old.

Book Review: Walking Mannequins: How Race and Gender Inequalities Shape Retail Clothing Work by Joya Misra and Kyla Walters

Book Review: <i>Walking Mannequins: How Race and Gender Inequalities Shape Retail Clothing Work</i> by Joya Misra and Kyla Walters

Economic and health literacy inequalities in patient-reported experiences of cancer care

Abstract Background Patients’ economic status and level of health literacy may influence their experiences with healthcare services. However, few studies have examined how these factors shape inequalities in patient-reported experiences measures (PREMs), particularly in cancer care. Thus, we investigated whether experiences of cancer care differed according to patients’ economic status and level of health literacy. Methods We used data from 3,220 adult patients diagnosed with cancer collected by the Swiss Cancer Patient Experiences (SCAPE) study in eight Swiss hospitals from September 2021 to February 2022. Logistic regressions were used to investigate the association between patients’ economic status and health literacy and 30 different outcomes, in separate models for each outcome. The outcomes covered eight different areas of cancer care experiences. Models were adjusted for patients’ age, gender, education level and self-rated health. Since hospitals were located in two different linguistic regions of Switzerland, we tested interaction effects between the regions and economic status and health literacy. Results In the sample, 30.6% of patients experienced economic hardship and 25.7% had a low health literacy. Patients with low economic status and low health literacy had worse experiences of cancer care for 21 outcomes and 24 outcomes, respectively, compared to patients reporting higher economic status and higher health literacy. No differences were found between linguistic regions in the effects of these two predictors. Discussion: Our study showed that economic and health literacy factors generated inequalities in patients’ experiences of cancer care: patients with lower economic status and health literacy were negatively affected in their cancer care experiences. Hence, disadvantaged patients may require specific attention in order to enhance their experiences with healthcare services, and promote a more equal treatment of patients in cancer care. Key messages • Few studies have investigated inequalities in patients’ experiences with cancer care, while factors such as economic status and health literacy may affect care experiences. • Patients who face economic hardship and with low health literacy showed a worse cancer care experience. These disadvantaged patients may require specific attention to improve their care experience.

How does economic inequality shape conspiracy theories? Empirical evidence from China.

Conspiracy theories tend to be prevalent, particularly in societies with high economic inequality. However, few studies have examined the relationship between economic inequality and belief in conspiracy theories. We propose that economic inequality leads people to believe conspiracy theories about economically advantaged groups (i.e., upwards conspiracy theories) and that moral evaluations of those groups mediate this relationship. Study 1 (N = 300) found support for these ideas in a survey among Chinese residents. Study 2 (N = 160) manipulated participants' perceptions of economic inequality in a virtual society. The manipulation shaped moral evaluations of economically advantaged groups, and conspiracy beliefs, in the predicted manner. In Study 3 (N = 191) and Study 4 (N = 210), we experimentally manipulated participants' perceptions of economic inequality in real Chinese society and replicated the results of Study 2. In addition, in Study 4, we find that economic inequality predicts belief in conspiracy theories about economically disadvantaged groups (i.e., downward conspiracy theories), which was mediated by anomie. We conclude that perceived economic inequality predicts conspiracy theories about economically advantaged groups and that moral evaluations account for this effect. Also, upward and downward conspiracy theory beliefs are associated with different psychological processes.

Economic inequality reduces sense of control and increases the acceptability of self-interested unethical behavior.

Societies worldwide are witnessing higher levels of economic inequality. While prior work has examined ethical judgments toward inequality itself (e.g., "is inequality unethical?"), less is known about how inequality shapes judgments of unethical behavior (e.g., "is unethical behavior more acceptable?"). In two correlational studies, we find that higher objective (Study 1; n = 127,953) and subjective (Study 2; n = 806) inequality is associated with greater acceptability of self-interested unethical behavior. In Studies 3a-6b (total N = 4,851; preregistered), we manipulated perceived inequality and test several mediating pathways. Results point toward the importance of sense of control as a mechanism: Under conditions of high inequality, individuals report a lower sense of control, which increases the acceptability of self-interested unethical behaviors. As a supplement, we also explore associations regarding why high inequality reduces sense of control (reduced perceptions of social mobility) and why sense of control is associated with greater acceptability of unethical behavior (greater situational attributions). Overall, our results suggest inequality changes ethical standards by reducing one's sense of control, providing evidence for another pathway through which inequality harms societies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Mental Health across the Early Life Course at the Intersection of Race, Skin Tone, and School Racial Context.

Prior research documents higher levels of depressive symptoms among Black Americans relative to Whites. Yet, we know less about the role of other dimensions of stratification (e.g., skin tone) in shaping mental health inequality between Black and White adults, and whether mental health trajectories by race and skin tone among Black adults are contingent upon social contexts in childhood and adolescence. To address these gaps, this study asks: 1) to what extent do self-identified race and interviewer-rated skin tone among Black respondents shape inequalities in depressive symptoms between Black and White Americans across ages 12-42? 2) Are trajectories of depressive symptoms by race and skin tone among Black respondents contingent on school racial contexts (e.g., school racial composition)? Using five waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and growth curve models, results suggest trajectories of depressive symptoms across ages 12-42 vary by race, school racial context, and skin tone among Black respondents. Specifically, Black students rated as having very dark, dark, and medium brown skin who attended high proportion Black schools in adolescence experienced lower levels of depressive symptoms than their White and light-skinned Black counterparts, particularly across the teen years and early 20s. Conversely, attending higher proportion White schools led to increases in depressive symptoms across earlier ages for Black students, particularly those who fell within the middle of the skin color continuum. Findings highlight competing advantages and disadvantages of navigating racialized spaces in childhood/adolescence for Black Americans of different skin tones.

The Role of Family Background and Education in shaping inequalities. Evidence from the Spanish regions

Family background characteristics and educational resources are crucial in shaping individuals’ income and therefore a potential source of income inequality and inequality of opportunity. This article analyses inequalities in the Spanish diverse regions using data from the European Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Along this article we analyse the relevance of family background characteristics in shaping individuals’ opportunities as well as the role education plays in income inequality. Our findings show that family background characteristics are of great importance in shaping individuals’ performance and opportunities of achieving a certain level of income, well-being and education; also, educational variables at regional level, such as the education expenditure per student, are highly correlated to the levels of inequality. In view of the results, it would be advisable to implement public policies targeting vulnerable groups to ensure equal opportunities and invest in education given its potential as equalizer of income inequality.

The intimacy triple bind: Structural inequalities and relational labour in the influencer industry

The careers of social media content creators, or influencers, live or die by their ability to cultivate and maintain an invested audience-community. To this end, they are encouraged to practise what has been framed as ‘emotional labour’ (Hochschild, 2002 [1983]) and ‘relational labour’ (Baym, 2018), commodifying their personalities, lives and tastes in order to build ‘authentic’ self-brands and intimacy with audiences. Drawing on an ethnographic study of the London influencer industry (2017–2023), this article examines emotional/relational labour through an intersectional feminist lens, foregrounding the ways in which structural inequalities shape relationships between creators and their audiences. The tolls of managing audience relationships are higher for marginalised creators – especially those making stigmatised and less brandable content genres – who find themselves on an uneven playing field in the challenges they face as well as the coping strategies at their disposal. These creators are in an intimacy triple bind, already at higher risk of trolling and harassment, yet under increased pressure to perform relational labour, adversely opening them up to further harms in the form of weaponised intimacy. This article explores four key tactics that creators employ in response to such conditions, as they navigate relational labour and boundaries with audiences: (1) leaning into making rather than being content; (2) (dis)engaging with anti-fans through silence; (3) retreating into private community spaces, away from the exposure of public platforms; and, in parallel, (4) turning off public comments. The adverse experiences of marginalised creators who speak about their identities and experiences online raise serious concerns about the viability of content creation as a career for these groups, as well as the lack of accountability and responsibility that platforms show towards the creators who generate profit for them.

News “Attraction” and Digital Inequalities: Incidental News Exposure and the Equalization or Stratification of Political Information

Understanding the impact of digital media on news inequalities is critical for democracy. The literature on incidental exposure challenges the idea that major platforms shrink information gaps, and research has turned to the identification of variables that explain how those gaps widen or persist. We use Latent Class Analysis to operationalize the metaphor of “attracting the news” and investigate incidental exposure as both an individual trait and temporal state. We link the top stories on Facebook during an election cycle with incidental exposure measures to explore news attraction, incidental exposure, and news engagement. We find some evidence incidental exposure may close information gaps, but that it does not close engagement gaps. Results contribute to theory about how digital media shape inequalities in news consumption and engagement.

Leveraging opportunity of low carbon transition by super-emitter cities in China

Chinese cities are core in the national carbon mitigation and largely affect global decarbonisation initiatives, yet disparities between cities challenge country-wide progress. Low-carbon transition should preferably lead to a convergence of both equity and mitigation targets among cities. Inter-city supply chains that link the production and consumption of cities are a factor in shaping inequality and mitigation but less considered aggregately. Here, we modelled supply chains of 309 Chinese cities for 2012 to quantify carbon footprint inequality, as well as explored a leverage opportunity to achieve an inclusive low-carbon transition. We revealed significant carbon inequalities: the 10 richest cities in China have per capita carbon footprints comparable to the US level, while half of the Chinese cities sit below the global average. Inter-city supply chains in China, which are associated with 80% of carbon emissions, imply substantial carbon leakage risks and also contribute to socioeconomic disparities. However, the significant carbon inequality implies a leveraging opportunity that substantial mitigation can be achieved by 32 super-emitting cities. If the super-emitting cities adopt their differentiated mitigation pathway based on affluence, industrial structure, and role of supply chains, up to 1.4 Gt carbon quota can be created, raising 30% of the projected carbon quota to carbon peak. The additional carbon quota allows the average living standard of the other 60% of Chinese people to reach an upper-middle-income level, highlighting collaborative mechanism at the city level has a great potential to lead to a convergence of both equity and mitigation targets.

Creating Content for Instagram: Digital Feminist Activism and the Politics of Class

This article explores some of the classed dynamics of doing digital feminist activism. Based on 30 qualitative in-depth interviews with feminist activists, who are based in Germany and the UK, the article examines the ways in which class background and class inequalities shape feminists’ experiences of being politically active on Instagram. Taking Instagram’s visual focus as a starting point for analysis, the article demonstrates the know-how and editorial skills required to produce visually appealing content. Access to this form of expertise is not equally available, however, and class background affects —though does not determine— who feels confident and at ease in producing visually engaging content. Shifting to a different set of knowledges, the second part of the article homes in on a widely shared sense amongst the activists that they had to know and say the “right” things when taking part in activism online. Self-education was deemed an important feature of doing digital feminist activism, and this article critically explores the classed, but also racialised politics of digital “learning cultures”, and the ways in which the apparent requirement “to know” may have exclusionary effects.

Do corruption and inequality shape sustainable development? Evidence from the post-soviet countries

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the role of corruption and income inequality in three-dimensional sustainable development in the post-Soviet countries.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is based on dynamic panel regression with the fixed effects approach.FindingsThe authors' findings depict that increasing corruption and income inequality undermine sustainable development. Specifically, increasing corruption and income inequality negatively affect sustainable development. Moreover, unemployment and trade liberalization negatively impact sustainable development, whereas foreign direct investments (FDIs) positively affect sustainable development.Practical implicationsPolicy implications enclose galvanizing strong institutions and redistributive policy mechanisms that the bottom income groups enjoy in promoting sustainable development to keep away the distressful phase of corruption and income inequality.Originality/valueThis is the first paper on corruption, income inequality and sustainable development in the post-Soviet countries employing a sustainable development index (SDI), which is calculated by considering three factors including economic, social and environmental development.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0065

The reproduction and perpetuation of workplace gender inequality in male-dominated industries through biased executive ideologies: a study of the Australian transport and logistics industry

ABSTRACT Workplace gender inequality remains a major cause of workplace and employment disadvantage for women, particularly in traditionally male-dominated industries. We draw on a study of the Australian transport and logistics industry to examine the conundrum that despite growing awareness of, pressure against, and supposedly increasing policy action against workplace gender inequality, little progress has been made over many decades. This study is premised on the view that understanding, and addressing, the root cause is the key to effective solutions. We applied Wynn’s executive ideology on gender inequality theoretical framework to investigate the core factors sustaining workplace gender inequalities in the industry. We find that particular unconscious biased executive conceptualisations of workplace gender inequalities shape organisational gender policies. Consequently, instead of eradicating, they reinforce and reproduce embedded attitudes and processes through the policies they adopt. We argue that to effectively address workplace gender inequality, it is the organisation and the industry, rather than the individual and society that must be the primary focus of executive strategy and action.

Walking Mannequins: How Race and Gender Inequalities Shape Retail Clothing Work

Walking Mannequins: How Race and Gender Inequalities Shape Retail Clothing Work

The Ball of La Laguna

The Ball of La Laguna was an infamous cross-dressing ball that ended in a police raid, media scandal, and public uproar on the night of January 31, 1959, in Lima, Peru. Hundreds of maricón (queer) couples attended the ball sporting masculine and feminine attire — unaware of the moral panic that would soon unfold across the city. How did class, race, and gender inequalities shape La Laguna? How did they shape heteronormative reactions to the ball? How can we understand the meanings of (homo)sexuality and cross-dressing at the ball? This essay answers these questions by conducting a content analysis of five newspapers, two magazines, a cartoon, an invitation to the ball, a video advertisement, and three oral history interviews. The Ball of La Laguna reveals that the class, race, and gender inequalities that have structured Peruvian society since colonial times also structured maricón social worlds and the policing of their communities. All attendees experienced homophobic treatment in the aftermath of the ball, but Indigeneity, femininity, and a lower-class status compounded these inequalities. La Laguna enables us to describe maricón social worlds in mid-twentieth-century Lima from an intersectional class, race, and gender perspective, which contributes to the growing literature on cross-dressing practices in twentieth-century Latin America and, more broadly, to the hemispheric turn in queer studies.