Socioeconomic and Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Prosocial Health Attitudes: The Case of HPV Vaccination for Boys

• In Event: 322 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 17. Sexual Health

Abstract

Research on pro-social behavior and altruism suggests that lower socioeconomic status (SES) and racial-ethnic minority individuals may be more willing to partake in health interventions that provide a greater overall benefit to their communities than to themselves. Examining the case of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in boys, we tested whether lower SES and racial-ethnic minority status were associated with more altruistic attitudes toward vaccination in parents and sons. Multivariate regression analyses of data from the University of North Carolina HPV Immunization in Sons Study (n=532 parents and n=409 sons) revealed that lower parent education was associated with viewing community benefit as an important reason for vaccinating sons. Altruistic community attitudes were also higher for Black parents as well as Black and Hispanic adolescent boys. Our findings highlight the salience of SES and race/ethnicity for shaping community-minded attitudes toward health interventions and suggest that altruism may act as countervailing mechanism for understanding disparities in vaccination.

Authors

• Andrea N. Polonijo, University of British Columbia

• Richard M. Carpiano, University of British Columbia

• Paul L. Reiter, The Ohio State University

• Noel T. Brewer, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill