Cultural capital and smoking in young adults: applying new indicators to explore social inequalities in health behaviour

Abstract

Cultural capital measures that include, but go beyond, educational attainment can improve prediction models of smoking in young male adults. New measures of cultural capital may thus contribute to our understanding of the social status-based resources that individuals can use towards health behaviours.

Cultural Capital: A Concept Analysis

“…National character's behavior and custom is examined such as access to education, employment, and familiarity for art among poor families, ethnic minorities, immigrants, and refugees (Fernandez‐Kelly, ; Gaddis, ; Hernandez & Grineski, ; Ovink & Veazey, ; Reese et al., ; Royal, ; Savage & Bennett, ; Slootmaeckers & Lievens, ; Spencer, ; Subiros, ; Weine, Ware, & Klebic, ; van de Werfhorst & Hofstede, ). These rubrics are reproduced through education and lifelong socialization (Gagne et al., ).…”

“…Regarding daily life, research has examined such norms as young people's healthy eating (Fismen et al, 2012); drinking alcohol (Allan et al, 2012); and orientation about higher education, job opportunities, and careers (Royal, 2012). Parents, friends, and schooling affect young peoples' behaviors regarding smoking (Gagne, Frohlich, & Abel, 2015;Haines et al, 2009). In terms of social groups, other research has examined membership of a religious organization (McNamara & Gonzales, 2011), identification toward nonheterosexual people (Slootmaeckers & Lievens, 2014), and sex-specific behaviors (Silva, 2005).…”

“…Socialization processes that create national dispositions also affect daily life. Family life (Gracia, 2015), schooling (Gagne et al, 2015), and occupation are highly socialized processes. Research has addressed harsh parenting by young mothers (Lee, 2009), Australian alcohol-drinking customs (Allan et al, 2012), bookstore workers (Wright, 2005), and Turkish death announcements in newspapers (Ergin, 2009) as socialized processes.…”

“…Daily behavior. Research has examined individuals' progress through smoking uptake, heavy smoking, persistent smoking, and lack of success in quitting (Gagne et al, 2015;Haines et al, 2009). High-risk behavior increases the likelihood of destructive physical, psychological, and social consequences (Dehghan Dehnavi et al, 2014;Hernandez & Grineski, 2012).…”

Expected or Completed? Comparing Two Measures of Education and Their Relationship with Social Inequalities in Health Among Young Adults

“…There is reason to believe that a measure of young adults' completed education may not fully capture the sociocultural, financial and psychological resources that it aims to operationalize, and that using the complementary measure of expected educational attainment can contribute to do so. Measures of expected educational attainment may better reflect young adults' social aspirations and current social milieu, and in turn, may allow for a more accurate measurement of social inequalities in health (van Soest & Pedersen, 2014 (Abel 2008, Gagné et al 2015.…”