How Your Social Status Can Make You Sick

Host Shirin Ghaffary Shirin dives deep into the research to figure out how your position in society affects your health.

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss a video!
And follow us on Instagram and Twitter!

Financial inequality has been in the news A LOT recently. It was the rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street movement that began back in 2011, and it was at the center of Bernie Sanders’ campaign when he ran for president.

This inequality creates what is typically called a social status ladder, with rich people at the top and poorer people toward the bottom. Research shows that your position on the ladder is actually one of the most powerful predictors of health.

But it’s so much MORE than just how much money you have or how fancy your education is. It’s how you FEEL you compare to other people -- your subjective social status.

We’ve scoured the research, looking at human and animal studies, to find out how your subjective social status actually affects your health.

SOURCES
Allianz Global Wealth Report 2015
Whitehall Study in the British Medical Journal
Subjective Social Status and Adolescent Health: The Role of Stress and Sleep
Status Syndrome: A Challenge to Medicine
Social Status Alters Immune Regulation And Response To Infection In Macaques

About KQED
KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. An NPR and PBS member station based in San Francisco, KQED is home to one of the most listened-to public radio stations in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services, and an award-winning education program helping students and educators thrive in 21st-century classrooms. A trusted news source, leader, and innovator in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places, and ideas.

Funding for KQED’s education services is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Koret Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, the Crescent Porter Hale Foundation, the Silver Giving Foundation, Campaign 21 donors, and members of KQED.

Funding for Above the Noise is provided in part by S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, David Bulfer and Kelly Pope, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, The Koret Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Smart Family Foundation, The Vadasz Family Foundation and the members of KQED.

[nobel]

why should we be focusing on subjective social status, when actual social inequality is the undeniable cause for said health issues between classes? Besides how would we solve and control for these impacts of "subjective social status"... it feels very individualistic to the person, as oppose to the concrete effects of the separation of social class.

[lifenoggin]

Really excited for this series!!! Great video!

[KQEDDeepLook]

It's refreshing to see arguments made with some real research behind them. Congrats on the new series! I can't wait to see what Shirin and Myles have in store next.

[Melissacz]

I think that there's a very real argument that your socioeconomic status can determine how much access you have to information, resources, and aid that can prevent and treat health conditions.

[wealthiness]

I think this is true, I'm broke right now trying to keep up with expenses, I got sick 3-4 times in the past 3 months no matter how healthy I tried to be

[jeffreymealo]

It makes me sick that Above The Noise doesn't have more views. Keep up the great work :)

[siaprice]

When I was in middle school I didn't have a lot of friends because people were mean to me and I didn't feel happy as much but when I got to high school and started looking better and got many followers and viewers on Instagram I started feeling better about myself and my self esteem went up also.

[OrionAwesomeClips]

Yeah, I've seen some of my friends obsessed with social status, like my friends would always talk about being lower status when they are obviously not, making them more depressed most of the time.

[chonk]

I think we should counteract this gap with expanded social programs like health care for all and higher minimum wage.

[OuterRem]

Hey you guys are really killing it, please keep up the good work. I'm gonna try to make it through the backlog of videos I've missed, since I just got here.

[therealturtletony]

I'm convinced I have to change my values for the worst to attain higher status. I'm better than I make myself out to be in public, but I think presenting myself better than I believe I actually am is necessary. If you want high status, fake it til you make it. Your soul dies in the process, but no one cares about you when you're genuine. Everyone wants to change you

[rae]

I struggle with letting go of what people care about me socially. I just want people to see me as a human. I'm a transgender woman, and that can not only sometimes be stressful in public, but weirdly it can feel like a whole kind of social class of its own. It's natural to feel on the defensive when faced with some kind of overt or covert hostility, however real or imaginary. When that gets overwhelming, I try to remember to take a deep breath and either be kind or neutral instead of reacting, because it absolutely affects my week-to-week mental health left unchecked. Honestly, a little hack I sometimes use is to take comfort in being "just another working class person" so that I'm just another person figuring things out. I hadn't really realized that though until this video!

[juliecornfield]

I learned about social class in my sociology class and this point was never brought up...interesting and unique perspective!

[Thessalin]

Hi there! Joe sent me over. I'm going to subscribe and watch all of your videos while I"m working monotonous paperwork! Thanks!

[TheTheEunice]

reminds me of the soda tax in the 2016 California propositions-- tax disproportionately affects the lower class the most

[ColinJonesPonder]

Debt stress will get you no matter where you are on the social ladder.

[skifri]

Minor point...

I think it's worth pointing out that while the rich are getting richer (thanks in part to technology making the global marketplace being a few clicks away for any individual... something totally unprecedented) the poor ARE NOT getting poorer. This is a phony phrase thrown around by lazy partisans.

There have always been destitute and starving, but studies are showing that this is actually DECREASING, not increasing.

[AZOffRoadster]

Above The Noise Epigenetics would make a good companion video subject.

[soundmadeit]

That's what they are doing with us minorities

[JaapVersteegh]

Sweden second? I thought Sweden had this great social system. Or is it all because of the Ikea guy that single handedly destroys the metric...