*Direct correspondence to Elizabeth Rigby, University of Houston, Department of Political Science, 447 Philip G. Hoffman Hall, Houston, TX 77204-3011 〈erigby@uh.edu〉. This author can provide data and coding information to those wishing to replicate the study. This project was funded by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars Program. We thank David Kindig, Larry Jacobs, and the anonymous reviewers of SSQ for helpful feedback.
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Public Responses to Health Disparities: How Group Cues Influence Support for Government Intervention†
Article first published online: 14 OCT 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00646.x
© 2009 by the Southwestern Social Science Association
Issue
Social Science Quarterly
Special Issue: Special Issue on Health Policy and Healthy Populations Special Issue Co-Editor: Pauline Vaillancourt Rosenau Assistant Managing Editor: Christina Hughes
Volume 90, Issue 5, pages 1321–1340, December 2009
Additional Information
How to Cite
Rigby, E., Soss, J., Booske, B. C., Rohan, A. M. K. and Robert, S. A. (2009), Public Responses to Health Disparities: How Group Cues Influence Support for Government Intervention. Social Science Quarterly, 90: 1321–1340. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00646.x
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Publication History
- Issue published online: 14 OCT 2009
- Article first published online: 14 OCT 2009
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Objective. To examine whether public support for government intervention to address health disparities varies when disparities are framed in terms of different social groups.
Method. A survey experiment was embedded in a public opinion poll of Wisconsin adults. Respondents were randomly assigned to answer questions about either racial, economic, or education disparities in health. Ordered logit regression analyses examine differences across experimental conditions in support for government intervention to address health disparities.
Results. Health disparities between economic groups received the broadest support for government intervention, while racial disparities in health received the least support for government intervention. These differences were explained by variation in how respondents' perceived and evaluated health disparities between different social groups.
Conclusion. Efforts to garner public support for policies aimed at eliminating health disparities should attend to the politics of social diversity, including the public's disparate perceptions and evaluations of health disparities defined by different social groups.