Whitehall

Hey, I’m here to talk to you about economic inequality again. If you read the last post, you understand the goal of this project, and if you haven’t, hopefully you’ll go and take a look. So let’s get started.

            I’d like to start small— so a very local instance of economic inequality, just to convince you of how individuals respond to, even the slightest, disparity. And because, we all love social experiments, let me introduce you to the Whitehall Study. The Whitehall Study was conducted in order to uncover the effect that socioeconomic status has on a “society”, in this case, a government body of employment, a perfect test sample, where there’s a clearly outlined hierarchy.   

            The experiment examined about 18,000 male civil servants over a period of 10 years (1967-1977), between the ages 20 and 64, and shockingly found, that between the top and bottom levels of employment, the mortality rate was three times greater for those working at lower levels of income.^{1 2}

There are a couple things to keep in mind:

a) The ages were generally well distributed, it’s not like all of the older workers were at the bottom

b) Workers at “lower levels of income” still earned a comfortable wage— clearly defined as the middle class, so it wasn’t a question of whether their needs were being met

c) External health factors like smoking, preexisting conditions, etc. haven’t been able to explain the correlation between status within the organization and the health of those individuals

What’s suspected is that inequality impacted the health of that organization. That because within the organization, there was a clear dominance and subordination complex that any hierarchy creates. And because, humans are constantly viewing themselves through the eyes of others, knowing that they were subordinate put a considerable amount of stress and pressure on themselves.

            And why is stress so bad? I’m glad you asked. Biologically, it’s explained easy enough. It’s one of the most powerful influences on health, because when you’re stressed your body is prone to default to a “fight or flight mode”; biologically, stress is perceived as preparation for an incoming threat. While our heart rate and awareness goes up, it trades off with functions designed for daily maintenance like the buildup of tissue or immune system. Over a long term, the effects of chronic stress are dire.³

            That’s something to think about— even within a single institution; clearly defined inequality has a tremendous impact on individuals, even to physical health. It’s not just about violence in poorer neighborhoods, miles away from your life (I’ll be sure to talk about that later).

            Something that you may have not picked up on is the lack of influence that the absolute amount of money meant to these individuals. It was all relative, and relative disparity is everywhere. Which begs the question, how has inequality affected you?

Cites!

1. Davey Smith, G., M.J. Shipley & G. Rose. 1990. Magnitude and causes of socioeconomic

differentials in mortality: further evidence from the Whitehall Study. J. Epidemiol.

Comm. Hlth. 44: 265–270.

2. Rose, G. & M. Marmot. 1981. Social class and coronary heart disease. Br. Heart J.

45: 13–19.

3. Wilkinson, Richard B. "Why Is Violence More Common Where Inequality Is Greater?" SAO/NASA ADS: ADS Home Page. Equality Trust Foundation. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004NYASA1036....1W>.