MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status – Youth Version

Factor: Being Valued in Community

Age: Teen

Duration: Less than 3 minutes

Reading Level: 6th-8th grade

What

Developed by pediatrician Elizabeth Goodman and her colleagues (2001), the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status – Youth Version (MacArthur SSS Scale – Youth) is two-item instrument that measures a how a young person perceives their family’s and their own social standing.

Who

Researchers have used this scale with African-American, Asian-American, European-American, Latinx-American, and Native-American adolescents and young adults from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds (e.g., Brown, et al., 2008; Goodman, et al., 2003). The measure has also been translated into Spanish for use with Mexican adolescents (Ritterman, et al., 2009) and into other languages for use outside the United States. (e.g., Karvonen & Rahkonen, 2011).

How

INSTRUCTIONS

Respondents first view a drawing of a ladder with 10 rungs and either read or hear the following:

“Imagine that this ladder pictures how American society is set up. At the top of the ladder are the people who are the best off — they have the most money, the highest amount of schooling, and the jobs that bring the most respect. At the bottom are people who are the worst off — they have the least money, little or no education, no job, or jobs that no one wants or respects. Now think about your family. Please tell us where you think your family would be on this ladder. Mark the rung that best represents where your family would be on this ladder.”

Respondents then view a second drawing of a 10-rung ladder and either read or hear the following:

“Now assume that the ladder is a way of picturing your school. At the top of the ladder are the people in your school with the most respect, the highest grades, and the highest standing. At the bottom are the people whom no one respects, no one wants to hang around with, and have the worst grades. Where would you place yourself on this ladder? Mark the rung that best represents where you would be on this ladder.”

To score this measure, researchers simply note the number of the rung (1-10) the respondent marked on each ladder.

Why It Matters

A family’s objective socioeconomic status (SES) — its parents’ education levels, jobs prestige, and income — strongly shapes its children’s mental health, physical health, and adult socioeconomic status (Adler, et al., 1994; Hemmingsson, Lundberg, & Diderichsen, 1999). Yet many adolescents do not know or want to report their parents’ education level, occupation, or income.

The two-item MacArthur SSS Scale – Youth Version is not only shorter and more reliable than many objective SES measures, but also predicts certain aspects of health better. For example, studies show that the MacArthur SSS Scale, compared to objective SES measures, better predicts adolescent overweight and obesity, depression, physical symptoms, and self-rated health (Chen & Paterson, 2006; Goodman, et al., 2001; Goodman, et al., 2003; Lemeshow, et al., 2008; Quon & McGrath, 2014). In addition, studies that first measure adolescents’ SSS and then later examine their health strongly suggest that SSS plays a causal role in shaping health and wellbeing (e.g., Lemeshow, et al., 2008).

HEADS UP

A recent meta-analysis suggests that the MacArthur SSS Scale – Youth Version is most strongly related to health outcomes that are closely tied to psychological processes, including depression, obesity, and physical symptoms (Quon & McGrath, 2014).

SEE ALSO

MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status – Adult Version

References

Adler, N. E., Epel, E. S., Castellazzo, G., & Ickovics, J. R. (2000). Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: Preliminary data in healthy, White women. Health Psychology, 19(6), 586-592.

Brown, R. A., Adler, N. E., Worthman, C. M., Copeland, W. E., Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (2008). Cultural and community determinants of subjective social status among Cherokee and White youth. Ethnicity & Health, 13(4), 289-303.

Chen, E., & Paterson, L. Q. (2006). Neighborhood, family, and subjective socioeconomic status: How do they relate to adolescent health? Health Psychology, 25(6), 704.

Goodman, E., Adler, N. E., Kawachi, I., Frazier, A. L., Huang, B., & Colditz, G. A. (2001). Adolescents’ perceptions of social status: Development and evaluation of a new indicator. Pediatrics, 108(2), e31-e31.

Goodman, E., Adler, N. E., Daniels, S. R., Morrison, J. A., Slap, G. B., & Dolan, L. M. (2003). Impact of objective and subjective social status on obesity in a biracial cohort of adolescents. Obesity, 11(8), 1018-1026.

Hemmingsson, T., Lundberg, I., & Diderichsen, F. (1999). The roles of social class of origin, achieved social class and intergenerational social mobility in explaining social-class inequalities in alcoholism among young men. Social Science & Medicine, 49(8), 1051-1059.

Karvonen, S., & Rahkonen, O. (2011). Subjective social status and health in young people. Sociology of Health & Illness, 33(3), 372-383.

Lemeshow, A. R., Fisher, L., Goodman, E., Kawachi, I., Berkey, C. S., & Colditz, G. A. (2008). Subjective social status in the school and change in adiposity in female adolescents: Findings from a prospective cohort study. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 162(1), 23-28.

Quon, E. C., & McGrath, J. J. (2014). Subjective socioeconomic status and adolescent health: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology, 33(5), 433.
Ritterman, M. L., Fernald, L. C., Ozer, E. J., Adler, N. E., Gutierrez, J. P., & Syme, S. L. (2009). Objective and subjective social class gradients for substance use among Mexican adolescents. Social Science & Medicine, 68(10), 1843-1851.