Culture, inequality, and health: evidence from the MIDUS and MIDJA comparison.
This article seeks to forge scientific connections between three overarching themes (culture, inequality, health). Although the influence of cultural context on human experience has gained notable research prominence, it has rarely embraced another large arena of science focused on the influence social hierarchies have on how well and how long people live. That literature is increasingly focused psychosocial factors, working interactively with biological and brain-based mechanisms, to account for why those with low socioeconomic standing have poorer health. Our central question is whether and how these processes might vary by cultural context. We draw on emerging findings from two parallel studies, Midlife in the U.S. and Midlife in Japan, to illustrate the cultural specificity evident in how psychosocial and neurobiological factors are linked with each other as well as how position in social hierarchies matters for psychological experience and biology. We conclude with suggestions for future multidisciplinary research seeking to understand how social hierarchies matter for people's health, albeit in ways that may possibly differ across cultural contexts.
Institute on Aging, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2245 MSC, 1300 University Ave., Madison, WI 53706 USA.
Carol D
CD
Ryff
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 418 Psych Bldg. 1202 W. Johnson St., Madison, WI 53706 USA.
Yuri
Y
Miyamoto
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA.
Jennifer Morozink
JM
Boylan
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 153 Harlow Primate Lab, 22 N. Charter St., Madison, WI 53715 USA.
Christopher L
CL
Coe
Department of Communications, Tokyo Woman's Christian University, 2-6-1 Zempukuji, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 167-8585 Japan.
Mayumi
M
Karasawa
Department of Mental Health, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Kunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 Japan.
Norito
N
Kawakami
Department of Mental Health, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Kunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 Japan.
Chiemi
C
Kan
Institute on Aging, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2245 MSC, 1300 University Ave., Madison, WI 53706 USA.
Gayle D
GD
Love
Northwestern University Foundations of Health Research Center, 1801 Maple Ave., Ste. 2450, Evanston, IL 60201 USA.
Cynthia
C
Levine
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Bldg. 420, Standford, CA 94305 USA.
Hazel R
HR
Markus
University of California-San Francisco, 3333 Calif. St., Laurel Heights, Box 0848, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA.
Jiyoung
J
Park
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 6118 Institute for Social Research, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 USA.
Shinobu
S
Kitayama
Culture; Health; Inequality; MIDJA; MIDUS