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Values and Perceptions of the Islamic and Middle Eastern Publics pp 181–208Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Social Structure versus Perception: A Cross-National Comparison of Self-Rated Health in Egypt, Iran, Jordan, and the United States

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Abstract

In the historical traditions of sociology one finds ample evidence that well-being relates to broader social processes. This association was proposed in Marx’s theory of alienation, Durkheim’s studies of suicide, and Weber’s focus on life-chances as the key factor defining one’s position in the social hierarchy. Over time, sociological inquiries increasingly attended to different aspects of well-being, with health constituting one branch of scholarship. In the classical tradition, however, determinants of health were constructed almost exclusively in terms of variations in such social structural arrangements as age, gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. These factors are certainly important. People become ill, and their location in social stratification with regard to age, gender, race/ethnicity, and social class influences the nature of medical attention they receive. Furthermore, people of high socioeconomic status stand a better chance of remaining healthy because they may access higher quality housing, food, and material conditions that enhance life-circumstances. There are, however, considerable variations among individuals within each of these structural arrangements.

Direct correspondence to Kristine J. Ajrouch (KAjrouch@emich.edu) and Mansoor Moaddel (MMoaddel@emich.edu), Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197. This study has been supported by Grants from The National Science Foundation (SES-0097282) the Ford Foundation, and Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, and the National Institute of Aging (R03 AG19388-01).

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Authors
  1. Kristine J. Ajrouch
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  2. Mansoor Moaddel
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Eastern Michigan University and Research Affiliate at Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, USA

    Mansoor Moaddel (Professor of Sociology) (Professor of Sociology)

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© 2007 Mansoor Moaddel

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Ajrouch, K.J., Moaddel, M. (2007). Social Structure versus Perception: A Cross-National Comparison of Self-Rated Health in Egypt, Iran, Jordan, and the United States. In: Moaddel, M. (eds) Values and Perceptions of the Islamic and Middle Eastern Publics. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230603332_8

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