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Social inequality and health: the role of social capital
Author(s) -
Dahl Espen,
MalmbergHeimonen Ira
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01270.x
Subject(s) - social capital , socioeconomic status , neighbourhood (mathematics) , demographic economics , social position , social class , social inequality , health equity , social mobility , social determinants of health , psychology , inequality , sociology , population , social psychology , demography , economics , health care , economic growth , social relation , social science , mathematical analysis , market economy , mathematics
The aim of the article is to examine whether and to what degree the unequal distribution of social capital in the population explains the relationship between socioeconomic position and health in Norway. Theoretical insight and empirical evidence seem to suggest that social capital mediates the effect of socioeconomic position on health outcomes. However, only a few studies have addressed this question and those that have done so have used few and simple indicators of social capital. This study is based on a nationwide cross‐sectional survey (N = 3190) commissioned by Statistics Norway. The survey was designed to cover a comprehensive set of variables measuring different aspects of the theoretical construct of social capital. Two health outcomes, self‐perceived health and longstanding illness, were analysed. The results showed that the mediating role of social capital between socioeconomic position and health was negligible for both health outcomes. After controlling for socio‐demographic variables and socioeconomic position, only neighbourhood satisfaction and generalised trust showed a significant association with self‐perceived health, whereas none of the social capital variables had any significant association with longstanding illness. Some theoretical and methodological implications of the results are discussed.