Vulnerability and social class: differential patterns of personality and social support over the social classes

One of the most consistent findings in epidemiologic research is a negative relation between social class and health. Health complaints are generally more common in the lower social classes. Psychosocial, together with material, cultural and behavioral factors, are among those factors, which could explain part of the socioeconomic differences in health. It is argued that integrating psychosocial factors and social class into explanatory models for differences in health would broaden insight in the development of these differences. A first step towards this integration is the examination of whether these variables are inter-related. In this study, we examined the relation between social class on the one hand, and personality and social support on the other hand. The research question was answered in a random sample of 2663 men, aged 30–70 yr, from the northern part of the Netherlands. It was found that most of the personality and support scales were related to social class. The strongest relation was found for hostility, as measured by the Buss Durkee Hostility Inventory (Buss & Durkee, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 343–349, 1957). Moreover, a clear pattern was found, indicating that lower-class subjects are in many respects in an adverse position. The findings argue for an integration of social class and psychosocial factors when studying health.