Socioeconomic status, income inequality, and health complaints: A basic psychological needs perspective
Journal article
Di Domenico, Stefano I. and Fournier, Marc A.. (2014). Socioeconomic status, income inequality, and health complaints: A basic psychological needs perspective. Social Indicators Research. 119(3), pp. 1679 - 1697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0572-8
Authors | Di Domenico, Stefano I. and Fournier, Marc A. |
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Abstract | Socioeconomic status ( SES ) and income inequality are now recognized as important determinants of health, and there is growing interest in uncovering the intermediary psychosocial pathways through which the socioeconomic context affects physical well-being ( Marmot in The status syndrome: how social standing affects our health and longevity, Henry Holt, New York, 2004; Wilkinson and Pickett in The Spirit Level: why more equal societies almost always do better, Allen Lane, London, 2009 ). We adopted the applied framework of self-determination theory ( SDT; Deci and Ryan in Psychol Inq 11:227–268, 2000 ) and hypothesized that fulfillment of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness would mediate the relationships that SES and income inequality have to self-rated health. An online community sample of American participants ( N = 1,139 ) completed a detailed demographic survey and provided self-reports of need fulfillment and health complaints. Structural equation models controlled for impression management and self-deceptive enhancement. Controlling for sex and age, need fulfillment was predicted positively by subjective SES and objective household income and negatively by state-level income inequality; in turn, need fulfillment predicted lower levels of health complaints. These findings suggest that SDT provides a useful framework for the study of SES, income inequality, and health, and that basic psychological needs are an important mechanism through which socioeconomic contexts influence health. |
Keywords | socioeconomic status; income inequality; health; self-determination theory; basic psychological needs |
Year | 2014 |
Journal | Social Indicators Research |
Journal citation | 119 (3), pp. 1679 - 1697 |
Publisher | Kluwer Academic Publishers |
ISSN | 0303-8300 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0572-8 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-84892425581 |
Page range | 1679 - 1697 |
Research Group | Institute for Positive Psychology and Education |
Publisher's version | File Access Level Controlled |
Place of publication | Netherlands |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/86xv9/socioeconomic-status-income-inequality-and-health-complaints-a-basic-psychological-needs-perspective
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