The Psychological Mediators of Social Inequalities in Health
Self-efficacy in Europe and Russia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12819519 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Нина Русинова (0000-0001-8904-551X, Institute of Sociology, corresponding author), В В Сафронов (0000-0002-5971-1777, Institute of Sociology) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 30-53 |
| Publication date | 2018-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociological Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1562-2495 • E-ISSN: 1684-1581 |
| Publisher | Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FCTAS RAS) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.19181/socjour.2018.24.4.6096 |
| OpenAlex | W2907145116 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
This study is devoted to psychologically mediating the social structuring of health. According to theoretical views, which have not yet received a convincing justification, the decline in the social status of an individual is accompanied by the loss of the psychological resources necessary to overcome the difficulties of life and the stresses caused by them, which leads to deteriorating health in the lower social strata. The verification of this assumption was carried out using data from the European Social Survey — representative surveys of the population of 27 countries conducted in 2012–2013. Studying indirect psychological effects has demonstrated that in many of these countries such a psychological characteristic as self-efficacy is indeed a mediator of the social structuring of health, especially prominent in many post-communist societies, but not in the most developed western countries where mediating effects turned out to be weak or completely absent. A two-level analysis of psychological mediation, depending on the factors of the economic well-being of countries, the development of a social state and cultural identity, does not support the assumption of the importance of an individualistic culture for the manifestation of mediation, and convincingly demonstrates that indirect effects are related to the social and economic context. In countries with a strong economy and social state, the distribution of psychological resources is barely related to the social structure — the relative well-being of the lower social strata, due to the developed system of state social guarantees, allows for many of them to maintain self-respect and optimism. Psychological resources, the distribution of which does not reflect social stratification, lose the role of a mediator. In the less developed part of Europe, where the lower strata cannot rely on comprehensive government assistance, the hardships of life and the stresses they generate lead to a loss of faith in themselves and in the possibility of changes for the better among people with low status, resulting in psychological resources acting as a mediator of health social structuring
Context (archaeology · Development economics · Economics · European Social Survey · Geography · Mediation · Optimism · Political science · Politics · Population · Social science · Sociology · Health disparities and outcomes · Health, psychology, and well-being · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Psychology · Social Psychology
Are psychosocial factors mediators of socioeconomic status and health connections?
Objective and subjective socioeconomic status and susceptibility to the common cold.
Psychosocial Resources and the SES‐Health Relationship
Self-Esteem and Socioeconomic Status
The effects of daily stress on positive and negative mental health
Optimism and Physical Health
The Role of Psychosocial Processes in Explaining the Gradient Between Socioeconomic Status and Health
Contribution of Psychosocial Factors to Socioeconomic Differences in Health
Depressive symptoms, socio-economic background, sense of control, and cultural factors in University students from 23 Countries
Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health in 22 European Countries
Socioeconomic Status in Childhood and Adulthood
Stability in Perceived Control
Examining dynamic links between perceived control and health
Education, psychosocial resources, and metabolic syndrome variables in Latinas
Psychological factors as mechanisms for socioeconomic disparities in health
Social inequalities in health
Powerlessness, health and mortality
Understanding the association between socioeconomic status and physical health
The persistence of health inequalities in modern welfare states
Low control beliefs, classical coronary risk factors, and socio-economic differences in heart disease in older persons
Socioeconomic factors, material inequalities, and perceived control in self-rated health
| Highly cited | No |
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