The Mental Health Consequences of Variation in the Receipt of Respect, Honor, and Esteem

• In Event: 50214 - Mental Health and Stratification/Inequality

Abstract

Status defined as a comparative social ranking in terms of esteem, honor, and respect is, as Ridgeway (2019) points out, “everywhere.” People pursue it, value it, and feel depleted if they do not receive as much as they think they should. And, of course, it is something that the famous American comedian Rodney Dangerfield never got enough of – respect. Interestingly, this aspect of social hierarchy has not been directly studied in research on health and mental health inequalities even though multiple theoretical orientations would lead us to predict that it could matter greatly. We build on the useful innovation of Adler and colleagues (2000) that gathers people’s self-reports about where they stand on a 10-rung ladder in terms of their education, income, and occupational standing. We ask instead about the respect/honor/esteem that people receive from other people. A person ranks highest on a ladder if others look up to them, listen carefully to what they have to say , and think well of them; lowest if they are looked down upon, ignored, and not well regarded. We include this ladder measure, the traditional MacArthur ladder, and variables assessing exposure to disrespect, exclusion, and shaming in a nationally representative U.S. sample (N=1209). Our study reveals two key findings: First, experiences of disrespect, exclusion, and shaming strongly correlate with ladder placement, suggesting self-placement in terms of respect/honor/esteem reflects lived experience. Second, ladder placement significantly predicts anxiety and depression even when controlling for the MacArthur ladder and traditional measures of SES suggesting a need to take this dimension into account to fully assess the importance of hierarchical placement on people’s mental health.

Authors

• Bruce G Link, University of California-Riverside

• Matthew Andersson, Baylor University