IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0084039.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating the Relationship between Socially-Assigned Ethnicity, Racial Discrimination and Health Advantage in New Zealand

Author

Listed:
  • Donna M Cormack
  • Ricci B Harris
  • James Stanley

Abstract

Background: While evidence of the contribution of racial discrimination to ethnic health disparities has increased significantly, there has been less research examining relationships between ascribed racial/ethnic categories and health. It has been hypothesized that in racially-stratified societies being assigned as belonging to the dominant racial/ethnic group may be associated with health advantage. This study aimed to investigate associations between socially-assigned ethnicity, self-identified ethnicity, and health, and to consider the role of self-reported experience of racial discrimination in any relationships between socially-assigned ethnicity and health. Methods: The study used data from the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey (n = 12,488), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of adults 15 years and over. Racial discrimination was measured as reported individual-level experiences across five domains. Health outcome measures examined were self-reported general health and psychological distress. Results: The study identified varying levels of agreement between participants' self-identified and socially-assigned ethnicities. Individuals who reported both self-identifying and being socially-assigned as always belonging to the dominant European grouping tended to have more socioeconomic advantage and experience less racial discrimination. This group also had the highest odds of reporting optimal self-rated health and lower mean levels of psychological distress. These differences were attenuated in models adjusting for socioeconomic measures and individual-level racial discrimination. Conclusions: The results suggest health advantage accrues to individuals who self-identify and are socially-assigned as belonging to the dominant European ethnic grouping in New Zealand, operating in part through socioeconomic advantage and lower exposure to individual-level racial discrimination. This is consistent with the broader evidence of the negative impacts of racism on health and ethnic inequalities that result from the inequitable distribution of health determinants, the harm and chronic stress linked to experiences of racial discrimination, and via the processes and consequences of racialization at a societal level.

Suggested Citation

  • Donna M Cormack & Ricci B Harris & James Stanley, 2013. "Investigating the Relationship between Socially-Assigned Ethnicity, Racial Discrimination and Health Advantage in New Zealand," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0084039
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084039
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0084039
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0084039&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0084039?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wendy D. Roth, 2010. "Racial Mismatch: The Divergence Between Form and Function in Data for Monitoring Racial Discrimination of Hispanics," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1288-1311, December.
    2. Abdulrahim, Sawsan & James, Sherman A. & Yamout, Rouham & Baker, Wayne, 2012. "Discrimination and psychological distress: Does Whiteness matter for Arab Americans?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2116-2123.
    3. Tracy MacIntosh & Mayur M Desai & Tene T Lewis & Beth A Jones & Marcella Nunez-Smith, 2013. "Socially-Assigned Race, Healthcare Discrimination and Preventive Healthcare Services," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(5), pages 1-7, May.
    4. Harris, Ricci & Cormack, Donna & Tobias, Martin & Yeh, Li-Chia & Talamaivao, Natalie & Minster, Joanna & Timutimu, Roimata, 2012. "The pervasive effects of racism: Experiences of racial discrimination in New Zealand over time and associations with multiple health domains," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(3), pages 408-415.
    5. Krieger, N., 2012. "Methods for the scientific study of discrimination and health: An ecosocial approach," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(5), pages 936-945.
    6. Veenstra, Gerry, 2011. "Mismatched racial identities, colourism, and health in Toronto and Vancouver," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(8), pages 1152-1162.
    7. Wendy D. Roth, 2010. "Racial Mismatch: The Divergence Between Form and Function in Data for Monitoring Racial Discrimination of Hispanics," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(s1), pages 1288-1311.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ricci Harris & Donna Cormack & James Stanley & Ruruhira Rameka, 2015. "Investigating the Relationship between Ethnic Consciousness, Racial Discrimination and Self-Rated Health in New Zealand," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, February.
    2. Chin, Marshall H. & King, Paula T. & Jones, Rhys G. & Jones, Bryn & Ameratunga, Shanthi N. & Muramatsu, Naoko & Derrett, Sarah, 2018. "Lessons for achieving health equity comparing Aotearoa/New Zealand and the United States," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(8), pages 837-853.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Veenstra, Gerry, 2011. "Mismatched racial identities, colourism, and health in Toronto and Vancouver," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(8), pages 1152-1162.
    2. Ricci Harris & Donna Cormack & James Stanley & Ruruhira Rameka, 2015. "Investigating the Relationship between Ethnic Consciousness, Racial Discrimination and Self-Rated Health in New Zealand," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Reuben Allen, 2015. "Alternative Methods to Enumerate Data on Race in Puerto Rico," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(2), pages 608-628, June.
    4. Andrew Penner & Aliya Saperstein, 2015. "Disentangling the Effects of Racial Self-identification and Classification by Others: The Case of Arrest," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(3), pages 1017-1024, June.
    5. JooHee Han, 2020. "Does Skin Tone Matter? Immigrant Mobility in the U.S. Labor Market," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 705-726, April.
    6. Aliya Saperstein & Aaron Gullickson, 2013. "A “Mulatto Escape Hatch” in the United States? Examining Evidence of Racial and Social Mobility During the Jim Crow Era," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(5), pages 1921-1942, October.
    7. T. Janevic & D. Gundersen & K. Stojanovski & J. Jankovic & Z. Nikolic & B. Kasapinov, 2015. "Discrimination and Romani health: a validation study of discrimination scales among Romani women in Macedonia and Serbia," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(6), pages 669-677, September.
    8. Stanley R. Bailey & Aliya Saperstein & Andrew Penner, 2014. "Race, color, and income inequality across the Americas," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(24), pages 735-756.
    9. Rademakers, Robbert & van Hoorn, Andre, 2020. "Choosing Your Ethnicity: A Longitudinal Analysis of Ethnic Identity Choice and Intra-Individual Ethnicity Change," MPRA Paper 99184, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Wendy D. Roth, 2018. "Establishing the Denominator: The Challenges of Measuring Multiracial, Hispanic, and Native American Populations," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 677(1), pages 48-56, May.
    11. Perreira, Krista M. & Telles, Edward E., 2014. "The color of health: Skin color, ethnoracial classification, and discrimination in the health of Latin Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 241-250.
    12. Yufei Mandy Wu & Jens Kreitewolf & Rachel Kronick, 2023. "The Relationship between Wellbeing, Self-Determination, and Resettlement Stress for Asylum-Seeking Mothers Attending an Ecosocial Community-Based Intervention: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(22), pages 1-19, November.
    13. Bécares, Laia & Cormack, Donna & Harris, Ricci, 2013. "Ethnic density and area deprivation: Neighbourhood effects on Māori health and racial discrimination in Aotearoa/New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 76-82.
    14. Samson, Frank L., 2015. "Racial resentment and smoking," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 164-168.
    15. Dušan Drbohlav & Dagmar Dzúrová, 2017. "Social Hazards as Manifested Workplace Discrimination and Health (Vietnamese and Ukrainian Female and Male Migrants in Czechia)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, October.
    16. Farah N. Mawani & Patricia O’Campo & Peter Smith, 2022. "Opportunity Costs: Underemployment and Mental Health Inequities Between Immigrant and Canadian-Born Labour Force Participants: A Cross-Sectional Study," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1443-1470, September.
    17. Thayer, Zaneta M. & Kuzawa, Christopher W., 2015. "Ethnic discrimination predicts poor self-rated health and cortisol in pregnancy: Insights from New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 36-42.
    18. Julie S. Armin & Heather J. Williamson & Andria Begay & Jennifer Etcitty & Agnes Attakai & Kim Russell & Julie A. Baldwin, 2022. "Adapting a Cancer Screening Education Program for Native American Women with Disabilities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-15, July.
    19. Webel, Allison R. & Cuca, Yvette & Okonsky, Jennifer G. & Asher, Alice K. & Kaihura, Alphoncina & Salata, Robert A., 2013. "The impact of social context on self-management in women living with HIV," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 147-154.
    20. Sara Ali & Danah Elsayed & Saadia Elahi & Belal Zia & Rania Awaad, 2022. "Predicting rejection attitudes toward utilizing formal mental health services in Muslim women in the US: Results from the Muslims’ perceptions and attitudes to mental health study," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(3), pages 662-669, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0084039. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.