Education, Social Status, and Health (Social Institutions and Social Change)

In examining why it is that people with higher socioeconomic status have better health than lower-status individuals, Mirowsky and Ross utilizes their strength in survey research on a broad national scale. Drawing on findings and ideas from many sciences, including demography, economics, social psychology, and the health sciences, they argue that education creates most of the association between higher social status and better health. People who are well educated feel in control of their lives, which encourages a healthy lifestyle. In addition, learned effectiveness, a practical end of that education, enables them to find work that is autonomous and creative, thereby promoting good health. The benefits of education to health are pervasive, cumulative, and self-amplifying, growing across the life course. In this book, the authors challenge received notions in medical sociology and public health, while extending the effects of social stratification.