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Relative Deprivation and Risky Behaviors
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Relative Deprivation and Risky Behaviors

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  • Ana I. Balsa
  • Michael T. French
  • Tracy L. Regan

Abstract

Relative deprivation, as measured by one?s socioeconomic status (SES) compared to that of a relevant peer group, has been associated with lower life and job satisfaction, as well as with adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine whether a student?s SES relative to her classmates has a direct effect on the frequency of drinking alcohol, drinking to intoxication, and smoking cigarettes. We further the existing literature by addressing selection and simultaneity bias, and by focusing on a reference group likely to exert the most influence on the subjects under study. We find that relative deprivation is positively and significantly associated with alcohol consumption, drinking to intoxication, and smoking for male adolescents, but not for females. Alternative variable definitions and robustness checks confirm the core findings. This study offers new insight into the reasons why adolescents engage in risky behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana I. Balsa & Michael T. French & Tracy L. Regan, 2012. "Relative Deprivation and Risky Behaviors," Documentos de Trabajo/Working Papers 1203, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economia. Universidad de Montevideo..
    • Handle: RePEc:mnt:wpaper:1203
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    Cited by:

    1. Oded Stark, 2020. "Relative deprivation as a cause of risky behaviors," The Journal of Mathematical Sociology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 138-146, July.
    2. Hyll, Walter & Schneider, Lutz, 2018. "Income comparisons and attitudes towards foreigners - Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 634-655.
    3. Xi Chen, 2015. "Relative deprivation and individual well-being," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 140-140, April.
    4. Guillermo Alves & Martín Leites & Gonzalo Salas, 2022. "See it to believe it. Experimental evidence on status good consumption among the youth," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 22-12, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    5. Inoue, Atsushi & Tanaka, Ryuichi, 2024. "The rank of socioeconomic status within a class and the incidence of school bullying and school absence," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    6. Kim, Jinho & Fletcher, Jason M., 2021. "The effects of relative body weight on socioemotional and schooling outcomes among female adolescents in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    7. Hong Zhang & Yongle Ding & Li Wei & Wenting Zhang, 2023. "Personal Relative Deprivation Reduces the Meaningfulness of Engaging in Prosocial Behavior (7,756 Words)," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 35-56, January.
    8. Chevalier, Arnaud & Marie, Olivier, 2024. "Risky moms, risky kids? fertility and crime after the fall of the wall," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    9. Stark, Oded, 2021. "Why reducing relative deprivation but not reducing income inequality might bring down COVID-19 infections," Journal of Government and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(C).
    10. Takahashi, Ana Maria, 2016. "Job stress in Japanese academia: The role of relative income, time allocation by task, and children," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 12-17.
    11. Michaela Paffenholz, 2024. "Adolescents’ Mental Health and Human Capital: The Role of Socioeconomic Rank," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_526, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    12. Jinyu Pan & Zhenzhi Yang, 2023. "Knowledge mapping of relative deprivation theory and its applicability in tourism research," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    13. Ana Maria Takahashi, 2014. "Job-related stress in academia: the role of relative deprivation, hours worked for different tasks, and children," Discussion Papers 1424, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    14. Filippo Temporin, 2020. "How Does Deprivation Affect Early-Age Mortality? Patterns of Socioeconomic Determinants of Neonatal and Postneonatal Mortality in Bolivia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(5), pages 1681-1704, October.
    15. Ana Balsa & Carlos Díaz, 2018. "Social interactions in health behaviors and conditions," Documentos de Trabajo/Working Papers 1802, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economia. Universidad de Montevideo..
    16. Punarjit Roychowdhury, 2018. "Visible consumption, relative deprivation, and health: evidence from a developing country," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(3), pages 1366-1380.
    17. Lucio Esposito & Sunil Mitra Kumar & Adrián Villaseñor, 2020. "The importance of being earliest: birth order and educational outcomes along the socioeconomic ladder in Mexico," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 1069-1099, July.
    18. Kiwoong Park, 2021. "Does Relative Deprivation in School During Adolescence Get Under the Skin? A Causal Mediation Analysis from the Life Course Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 285-312, February.
    19. Lucio Esposito & Shatakshee Dhongde & Christopher Millett, 2021. "Smoking habits in Mexico: Upward and downward comparisons of economic status," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1558-1575, August.
    20. Xiaomeng Zhang & Tianxin Wang & Zhenzhen Liu & Xiaomin Sun & Shuting Yang, 2022. "Relative Deprivation Leads to the Endorsement of “Anti-Chicken Soup” in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-11, October.
    21. Stark, Oded, 2023. "On a tendency in health economics to dwell on income inequality and underestimate social stress," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    22. Hyll, Walter & Schneider, Lutz, 2016. "Social Comparisons and Attitudes towards Foreigners. Evidence from the ‘Fall of the Iron Curtain’," IWH Discussion Papers 12/2016, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    relative deprivation; socio-economic status; risky behaviors; adolescents;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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