Perception has its Own Reality: Subjective versus Objective Measures of Economic Distress

Widening economic inequality has heightened concerns about its potential health and social consequences, which may be affected by both objective and subjective aspects of inequality. Yet, socioeconomic disparities are typically measured by objective criteria without considering subjective measures....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Population and development review 2018-12, Vol.44 (4), p.695-722
Main Authors: Glei, Dana A., Goldman, Noreen, Weinstein, Maxine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol related mortality
Alcohols
Economic inequality
Economics
Health disparities
Health problems
Health status
Hopelessness
Inequality
Inflation
Labor market
Life expectancy
Life span
Mental health
Mortality
Psychological distress
Social cohesion
Social institutions
Socioeconomic factors
Suicide
White people
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Summary:Widening economic inequality has heightened concerns about its potential health and social consequences, which may be affected by both objective and subjective aspects of inequality. Yet, socioeconomic disparities are typically measured by objective criteria without considering subjective measures. Here, we quantify widening socioeconomic disparities in perceived economic distress since the mid-1990s, determine the extent to which growing disparities in perceptions can be explained by changes in objective measures, and investigate whether there is a racial/ethnic differential in perceptions net of objective circumstances. Our results suggest that disparities in perceived financial strain and employment uncertainty widened even more than expected based on changes in objective conditions. That is, perceptions among those at lower socioeconomic levels diverged from objective measures more than among those at higher socioeconomic status. As predicted by reference group theory, given the same objective economic and employment conditions, non-Latino whites reported more financial strain than minorities.
ISSN:0098-7921
1728-4457
DOI:10.1111/padr.12183