Political influence associates with cortisol and health among egalitarian forager-farmers

Abstract

Background and objectives: Low social status increases risk of disease due, in part, to the psychosocial stress that accompanies feeling subordinate or poor. Previous studies report that chronic stress and chronically elevated cortisol can impair cardiovascular and immune function. We test whether lower status is more benign in small-scale, relatively egalitarian societies, where leaders lack coercive authority and there is minimal material wealth to contest.Methodology: Among Tsimane’ forager-horticulturalists of lowland Bolivia, we compare informal political influence among men with urinary cortisol, immune activation (innate and acquired), and morbidity as assessed during routine medical exams.Results: After controlling for potential confounds, we find that politically influential men have lower cortisol, and that this association is partly attributable to access to social support. Cortisol is positively associated with men’s income, which may reflect chronic psychosocial stress from market involvement. Greater influence is also associated with lower probability of respiratory infection, which is a frequent source of morbidity among Tsimane’. Among men who lost influence over a 4-year period, cortisol and probability of respiratory infection were higher the greater the decline in influence.Conclusions and implications: Deleterious effects of low status on health are not merely ‘diseases of civilization’ but may result from how (even subtle) status differences structure human behavior.

Transition to a market economy and chronic psychosocial stress in northern Laos: An exploratory study of urinary free cortisol in rural residents

“…Men in Na Lae, that is, the village with the highest degree of integration into the market economy, may have experienced more stress due to competition for cash, which may promote cortisol secretion in association with stress related to social evaluation (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004). This result is consistent with those of previous studies of the Tsimané in Bolivia (von Rueden et al, 2014) and Garisakang in Papua New Guinea (Konečná & Urlacher, 2017), where men with greater market involvement showed higher cortisol levels. In contrast, women in Na Lae did not show a significantly higher UFC concentration than those in the other two villages.…”

Transition to a market economy and chronic psychosocial stress in northern Laos: An exploratory study of urinary free cortisol in rural residents

“…Men in Na Lae, that is, the village with the highest degree of integration into the market economy, may have experienced more stress due to competition for cash, which may promote cortisol secretion in association with stress related to social evaluation (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004). This result is consistent with those of previous studies of the Tsimané in Bolivia (von Rueden et al, 2014) and Garisakang in Papua New Guinea (Konečná & Urlacher, 2017), where men with greater market involvement showed higher cortisol levels. In contrast, women in Na Lae did not show a significantly higher UFC concentration than those in the other two villages.…”

Broadening horizons: Sample diversity and socioecological theory are essential to the future of psychological science

“…Tsimane extraversion is also greater among physically stronger men and women, as similarly observed in the United States (75). Similarly, despite their relatively egalitarian social and political structure, Tsimane men of higher social status had lower levels of the hormone cortisol and better health than men of low status, similar to findings in WEIRD populations with more rigid stratification (88).…”

Not All Stress Is the Same: Variable Associations Between Psychosocial Stressors and Urinary Cortisol Rhythms in a Small‐Scale Subsistence Society

“…A similar trend can also be seen in other traditional communities in central Mexico and Samoa that undergo the same transition toward a more market-integrated lifestyle (Dressler et al 1987;James et al 1987). While studies in Laos, Papua New Guinea and the Tsimane show a positive correlation between a higher degree of market integration and morning cortisol in men, this was often linked to higher income (Kibe et al 2024;Konečná and Urlacher 2017;von Rueden et al 2014). Interestingly, in this study the novel stressor resulted in a distinct cortisol rhythm compared to stressors such as food insecurity and was correlated with lower morning levels.…”

Transition to a market economy and chronic psychosocial stress in northern Laos: An exploratory study of urinary free cortisol in rural residents

“…Men in Na Lae, that is, the village with the highest degree of integration into the market economy, may have experienced more stress due to competition for cash, which may promote cortisol secretion in association with stress related to social evaluation (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004). This result is consistent with those of previous studies of the Tsimané in Bolivia (von Rueden et al, 2014) and Garisakang in Papua New Guinea (Konečná & Urlacher, 2017), where men with greater market involvement showed higher cortisol levels. In contrast, women in Na Lae did not show a significantly higher UFC concentration than those in the other two villages.…”

Broadening horizons: Sample diversity and socioecological theory are essential to the future of psychological science

“…Tsimane extraversion is also greater among physically stronger men and women, as similarly observed in the United States (75). Similarly, despite their relatively egalitarian social and political structure, Tsimane men of higher social status had lower levels of the hormone cortisol and better health than men of low status, similar to findings in WEIRD populations with more rigid stratification (88).…”

Not All Stress Is the Same: Variable Associations Between Psychosocial Stressors and Urinary Cortisol Rhythms in a Small‐Scale Subsistence Society

“…A similar trend can also be seen in other traditional communities in central Mexico and Samoa that undergo the same transition toward a more market-integrated lifestyle (Dressler et al 1987;James et al 1987). While studies in Laos, Papua New Guinea and the Tsimane show a positive correlation between a higher degree of market integration and morning cortisol in men, this was often linked to higher income (Kibe et al 2024;Konečná and Urlacher 2017;von Rueden et al 2014). Interestingly, in this study the novel stressor resulted in a distinct cortisol rhythm compared to stressors such as food insecurity and was correlated with lower morning levels.…”

Transition to a market economy and chronic psychosocial stress in northern Laos: An exploratory study of urinary free cortisol in rural residents

“…Men in Na Lae, that is, the village with the highest degree of integration into the market economy, may have experienced more stress due to competition for cash, which may promote cortisol secretion in association with stress related to social evaluation (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004). This result is consistent with those of previous studies of the Tsimané in Bolivia (von Rueden et al, 2014) and Garisakang in Papua New Guinea (Konečná & Urlacher, 2017), where men with greater market involvement showed higher cortisol levels. In contrast, women in Na Lae did not show a significantly higher UFC concentration than those in the other two villages.…”

Broadening horizons: Sample diversity and socioecological theory are essential to the future of psychological science

“…Tsimane extraversion is also greater among physically stronger men and women, as similarly observed in the United States (75). Similarly, despite their relatively egalitarian social and political structure, Tsimane men of higher social status had lower levels of the hormone cortisol and better health than men of low status, similar to findings in WEIRD populations with more rigid stratification (88).…”

Not All Stress Is the Same: Variable Associations Between Psychosocial Stressors and Urinary Cortisol Rhythms in a Small‐Scale Subsistence Society

“…A similar trend can also be seen in other traditional communities in central Mexico and Samoa that undergo the same transition toward a more market-integrated lifestyle (Dressler et al 1987;James et al 1987). While studies in Laos, Papua New Guinea and the Tsimane show a positive correlation between a higher degree of market integration and morning cortisol in men, this was often linked to higher income (Kibe et al 2024;Konečná and Urlacher 2017;von Rueden et al 2014). Interestingly, in this study the novel stressor resulted in a distinct cortisol rhythm compared to stressors such as food insecurity and was correlated with lower morning levels.…”