Honors Program
Document Type
Thesis
Date of this Version
Spring 3-2020
Citation
Nigrin, Caleb. 2020. "Does Money Buy Healthiness: An Examination of the Effects of Socioeconomic Indicators on Physical and Mental Health."
sociology, socioeconomic status, health, physical health, mental health, education, income
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of socioeconomic status indicators on physical and mental health. This study hypothesizes that higher socioeconomic status indicators are correlated with better physical and mental health while examining the extent of these relationships. In order to determine this, previous literature regarding health and socioeconomic status will be evaluated. The results of the General Social Survey (2016) will be used to test the effects of socioeconomic status on health using regression analysis. The responses of 1418 participants were used in this analysis, controlling for age, gender, race, political ideology, and religiosity. Two regressions will test each dependent variable. Regressions will include one model for each indicator of socioeconomic status and one model that tests the effect of all indicators together. When attempting to determine the effects of education, family income, and individual income on physical and mental health outcomes, a trend was discovered in which higher education and income have been linked to better physical and mental health.
Comments
Copyright Caleb Nigrin 2020.