Perceived classism and its relation with socioeconomic status, health, health behaviours and perceived inferiority: the Dutch Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel

Abstract

ObjectivesClassism might be the downside of the prevailing ideologies of individual responsibility for success. However, since studies into perceived classism have mainly been qualitative, little is known about its association with socioeconomic status, health, health behaviours and perceived inferiority, especially in more egalitarian countries. This study, therefore, examined the associations of perceived classism with socioeconomic status, health, health behaviours and perceived inferiority.MethodsWe used cross-sectional data (2012/2013) from the Dutch Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) (n = 1540; age 16–90; 46.9 % men).ResultsWe found that classism was perceived by 18.2 % of the participants, with the lowest income and occupation group most likely to perceive classism (22.0 and 27.5 %, respectively). Perceived classism was significantly associated with poor health (e.g. self-rated health OR = 2.44, 95 % CI = 1.76–3.38) and feelings of inferiority (e.g. shame OR = 4.64, 95 % CI = 3.08–6.98). No significant associations were found with health behaviours.ConclusionsTo further examine the role of perceived classism for socioeconomic differences in health and its association with country-level socioeconomic inequalities, prevailing ideologies, and objective opportunities for social mobility, we recommend more longitudinal and international studies with comparable measures of perceived classism.

Health inequality implications from a qualitative study of experiences of poverty stigma in Scotland

“…Several international studies suggest that such experiences may be associated with poorer health outcomes. In the United States for example, experiences of poverty and SEP-based stigma have been found to predict various markers of relatively poor mental health, including depressive symptoms, low self-esteem, and feelings of social anxiety and shame (Mickelson and Williams, 2008; Ren et al, 1999; Simons et al, 2017). Further still, one recent study reported that SEP-based discrimination predicts relatively poor sleep quality amongst African Americans (Van Dyke, Vaccarino, Quyyumi and Lewis, 2016).…”

Perception About Oral Health and Its Determinants in Women in Context of Prostitution in Medellín (Colombia): Expressions of Social Vulnerability

“…Discrimination has been defined as a structural determinant of health inequalities and people who have suffered experiences of racism, sexism or classism are more likely to have health problems (Borrell et al, 2010;Gil-Gonzalez et al, 2014;Simons, Koster, Groffen, & Bosma, 2016). In the case of women in the context of prostitution, they must face a cumulative vulnerability for being on a smaller scale in the structure of society and gender discrimination.…”

Development and Initial Validation of the Perceived Classism Experiences Scale

“…Self-rated health was measured through a single-question: “How would you describe your health, generally speaking?” Scores ranged from 1 ( poor ) to 5 ( excellent ), with higher scores indicating better self-rated health. A single-item measure of self-rated health has been widely used in the literature, has been found to be a unique predictor of mortality (Idler & Benyamini, 1997), and has been associated with perceived classism (Adler et al, 2000; Simons et al, 2017). The mean self-rated health for this sample was 3.63 in a 5-point scale.…”

“…Further, classism has been found to be a negative predictor of life satisfaction, GPA (Allan, Garriott, & Keene, 2016), and career self-efficacy (Shin & Lee, 2017). It has also been associated with self-rated health problems and feelings of inferiority in a Dutch sample (Simons, Koster, Groffen, & Bosma, 2017). Whereas support exists in the literature for the deleterious effects of classism on overall functioning, it has mostly focused on college settings, partly due to the lack of measurement tools validated with other populations.…”