Exploring the Latino Paradox

Abstract

The authors examined the contributions of economic status (ES) and citizenship status to health differences between European Americans, Latino Americans, and noncitizen Latinos. The investigation was framed using social identity and comparison theories. Southern California residents ( N = 2,164) were randomly selected to complete a telephone interview. Increases in ES predicted health improvements for European Americans across ES levels. For Latino citizens and noncitizens, ES improvements had no effect on objective health. For subjective health, the Latino paradox existed at the lowest ES level for Latino Americans and did not exist for noncitizens. For objective health, the paradox existed in both Latino groups at low ES and additionally for Latino Americans at mid-ES. The study findings suggested that compared to Latinos, improvements in ES have a stronger positive impact on the health of European Americans, which is likely due to the social comparisons being made by each cultural group.

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