scholarly journals Race, Education Attainment, and Happiness in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shervin Assari
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Education Attainment ◽  
Race And Education ◽  
The Us ◽  
Main Independent Variable ◽  
Independent Variable

Background and aims: As suggests by the Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDR) theory, education attainment and other socioeconomic status (SES) indicators have a smaller impact on the health and well-being of non-White than White Americans. To test whether MDR also applies to happiness, in the present study, Blacks and Whites were compared in terms of the effect of education attainment on the level of happiness among American adults. Methods: General Social Survey (1972-2016) is a series of national surveys that are performed in the United States. The current analysis included 54785 adults (46724 Whites and 8061 Blacks). The years of schooling (i.e., education attainment) and happiness were the main independent variable and the main dependent variable of interest, respectively. In addition, other parameters such as gender, age, employment status, marital status, and the year of the survey were the covariates and race was the focal effect modifier. Finally, the logistic regression model was used to analyze the data. Results: Based on the results, high education attainment was associated with higher odds of happiness in the pooled sample. Further, a significant interaction was found between race and education attainment on the odds of happiness, showing a larger gain for Whites compared to Blacks. Racespecific models also confirmed this finding (i.e., a larger magnitude of the effect of education for Whites compared to Blacks). Conclusion: Overall, the MDR theory also applies to the effect of education attainment on happiness. Blacks’ disadvantage in comparison to the Whites in gaining happiness from their education may be due to the structural, institutional, and interpersonal racism and discrimination in the US. Therefore, there is a need for economic and public policies that can minimize the Blacks’ diminished returns of education attainment and other SES resources.

scholarly journals US Immigration Policy and the Case for Family Unity

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoya Gubernskaya ◽  
Joanna Dreby
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Separation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Family Based ◽  
Mixed Status Families ◽  
Mixed Status ◽  
Family Unity

As the Trump administration contemplates immigration reform, it is important to better understand what works and what does not in the current system. This paper reviews and critically evaluates the principle of family unity, a hallmark of US immigration policy over the past 50 years and the most important mechanism for immigration to the United States. Since 1965, the United States has been admitting a relatively high proportion of family-based migrants and allowing for the immigration of a broader range of family members. However, restrictive annual quotas have resulted in a long line of prospective immigrants waiting outside of the United States or within the United States, but without status. Further policy changes have led to an increasing number of undocumented migrants and mixed-status families in the United States. Several policies and practices contribute to prolonged periods of family separation by restricting travel and effectively locking in a large number of people either inside or outside of the United States. On top of that, increasingly aggressive enforcement practices undermine family unity of a large number of undocumented and mixed-status families. Deportations — and even a fear of deportation —cause severe psychological distress and often leave US-born children of undocumented parents without economic and social support. A recent comprehensive report concluded that immigration has overall positive impact on the US economy, suggesting that a predominantly family-based migration system carries net economic benefits. Immigrants rely on family networks for employment, housing, transportation, informal financial services, schooling, childcare, and old age care. In the US context where there is nearly no federal support for immigrants' integration and limited welfare policies, family unity is critical for promoting immigrant integration, social and economic well-being, and intergenerational mobility. Given the benefits of family unity in the US immigrant context and the significant negative consequences of family separation, the United States would do well to make a number of changes to current policy and practice that reaffirm its commitment to family unity. Reducing wait times for family reunification with spouses and children of lawful permanent residents, allowing prospective family-based migrants to visit their relatives in the United States while their applications are being processed, and providing relief from deportation and a path to legalization to parents and spouses of US citizens should be prioritized. The cost to implement these measures would likely be minor compared to current and projected spending on immigration enforcement and it would be more than offset by the improved health and well-being of American families.

scholarly journals Two Happiness Puzzles

2013 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angus Deaton ◽  
Arthur A Stone
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Relative Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us States ◽  
Income Effects ◽  
Life Evaluation ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World

We consider two happiness puzzles. First, many studies show that only relative income matters for well-being. Yet the Gallup data for the United States and from the rest of the world show no such result, at least for life evaluation. There may be relative income effects in hedonic well-being though other interpretations are available. Second, more religious people typically report higher experiential well-being but more religious places have worse well-being on average, both across US states and across countries. More religious states and counties in the US also have worse murder rates, deaths from cardiovascular disease and from cancer.

Pastoral Maya and the Maya Project: Building Maya Civil Society in the U.S.

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lopez ◽  
Alan LeBaron
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
State University ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
Immigration Laws ◽  
Community Project ◽  
Human Rights Organizations ◽  
The Us

Guatemalan Maya living in the United States as refugees, migrants, or immigrants without official documents do not entirely escape the troubles they previously faced in Guatemala, such as political and social disadvantages, language barriers, and maintaining identity; moreover additional problems result from the complexities of coping with the US immigration system and the likelihood of incarceration and deportation. This situation becomes more ambiguous with the mixed reception they receive from the United States, where some segments of law and society constantly strive to make survival improbable, and other segments such as churches, employers, and human rights organizations strive to protect. Among the multitude of organizations created within this contentious field of "pro" and "anti" is Pastoral Maya, best described as a "self-help" organization for Maya immigrants; and the Maya Heritage Community Project (the Maya Project) at Kennesaw State University. These two organizations have distinct but overlapping goals and methods designed to defend Maya fundamental human rights to life, security, and well-being. Of course, achieving such lofty goals has been problematic, and with anti-immigration laws and high unemployment of recent years many people have had hopes for the future dashed. But positive signs for the Maya exist, for an increasingly sophisticated Maya leadership has emerged with experience and with the security of having obtained documents of residence. These leaders hope to take advantage of their relatively safe space in the United States to promote a force for change that will lift up the Maya in the United States and in Guatemala. The Pastoral Maya organization has developed a particularly strong leadership that strives for these goals.

Individualism, Collectivism, and Well-being Among a Sample of Emerging Adults in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 216769682110545
Author(s):  
John B. Nezlek ◽  
Ashley Humphrey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
The Us ◽  
Individualism And Collectivism

An increasing body of research suggests that emerging adults living in Western societies are becoming more individualistic and such increases in individualism are associated with reduced well-being. The present study examined relationships between well-being and individualism and collectivism among 1906 emerging adults in the US, aged 18–25. We measured individualism and collectivism distinguishing horizontal and vertical dimensions of these constructs, and we measured well-being in terms of depression, anxiety, self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, and neuroticism. Regression analyses found that individualism was negatively related to well-being, and these relationships varied somewhat between horizontal and vertical individualism. Horizontal collectivism was positively related to all measures of well-being, and vertical collectivism was positively related to three measures. These findings increase our understanding of the roles individualism and collectivism play in the psychological well-being of emerging adults, including the importance of distinguishing horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism.

scholarly journals Are Gritty People Happier than Others?: Evidence from the United States and South Korea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hye Won Kwon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Sense Of Control ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Psychological Measures ◽  
The Us

AbstractGrit, which refers to perseverance and passion to pursue long-term goals, has been highlighted as a predictor of better life outcomes, including subjective well-being. For grit to be useful for well-being research, we need to know more about its properties across cultures and determine whether it has a relationship to well-being outcomes beyond other existing psychological measures. Using survey data from the United States and South Korea (N = 1008), this study examines the measurement of grit across cultures as having two dimensions: perseverance of effort and consistency of interest. It then explores the distinctive utility of grit in explaining an individual’s subjective well-being beyond well-established psychological measures such as conscientiousness and sense of control. The results show that gritty people report better subjective well-being; this positive relationship between grit and subjective well-being is largely driven by the perseverance dimension of grit. This dimension accounts for a unique variance in subjective well-being beyond the sense of control in both country samples and variance beyond conscientiousness in the US sample. By contrast, the consistency dimension of grit adds little to our understanding of subjective well-being in either country. Relying on the global grit score, which aggregates the scores of the two dimensions, may obscure the unique role of the perseverance dimension in understanding subjective well-being.

scholarly journals United States: “National Egoism” Policy under the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 145-157
Author(s):  
L. F. Lebedeva
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Many Instruments ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
New Policies ◽  
National Economies

The rising “national egoism” in the US economic policy has been taken place since D. Trump’s inauguration (January 20, 2017), with focus on protectionist measures, priorities for domestic production; on encouraging US companies to invest at home instead of foreign markets; control the fields of foreign investors in the American economy, etc. Covid-19 pandemic seems to have a massive impact on global diffusion of “national egoism” practices, making states more isolationist. The outbreak of the coronavirus has already become an important factor of influence on the national economies and relations between them. The article reviews the ways COVID 19 pandemic is intensifying the economic policies of President D. Trump based on nationalism, pointing out the trade and investment restrictions, their global effects. In light of the uncertainty about the pandemic’s duration and its economic impact, the paper is focusing on the immediate and more long-term global consequences of the US economic policy. All sorts of US government policy innovations during Trump’s presidency, including imposing and threatening to impose sanctions (which become usual, as to the US policy, before pandemic), tariff protections have their effects, spreading around the globe. Most of the new policies have become even more important under coronavirus pandemic, particularly concerning major strategic competitors of the United States. The American approaches to developing new rules and updating existing ones for the international connections, new import and export control actions are designed to promote economic objectives and political objectives as well. Being a powerful political and economic actor US have many instruments to influence the relations between countries. At the same time reinforced “national egoism” practices can make the economic and international trade recovery even more sluggish in the post – pandemic world.

United States Korean Policy and World Order

1980 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel S. Kim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
World Order ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Repressive Regime

The role of the United States in South Korea traditionally viewed as one of peacemaking and stabilizing force in a volatile region of Asia, when scrutinized from a normative perspective (using the world order values of peace, economic well-being and social justice), makes it clear that past and present US support for the Republic of Korea (ROK) has served precisely the opposite purpose. By channeling massive amounts of military and economic aid into South Korea, and by stationing troops there, the US has helped frustrate the goal of unification and preserved the corrupt and repressive regime of President Park Chung Hee. US encouragement of Japanese investment in South Korea has resulted in a classic case of economic dependency: unfavorable balance of trade and growth without development. The paper comes to the conclusion that as long as the US persists in maintaining its presence in Korea and its anachronistic global perceptions, American foreign policy cannot hope to serve human needs or further a just and peaceful world order.

scholarly journals Racial bias confrontation in the United States: What (if anything) has changed in the COVID-19 era, and where do we go from here?

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-269
Author(s):  
Christopher K. Marshburn ◽  
Abigail M. Folberg ◽  
Chelsea Crittle ◽  
Keith B. Maddox
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
The United States ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
The Us ◽  
Current Article

Contemporary racial inequities rooted in historically biased systems (e.g., policing) have largely been confronted by those directly affected. We argue, however, that the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic created a context that led many White Americans to recognize the direct impact that systems and structures have on individuals – particularly in the case of systemic anti-Black racism. This recognition was accompanied by large-scale confrontation actions (in the form of mass protests) throughout the US. The current article uses the Confronting Prejudiced Responses (CPR) model to outline conditions that fostered White Americans’ shift in awareness surrounding racial inequity and the consequences of this perception change. Furthermore, we describe how reactions to confrontation efforts may depend on the messenger, message, modality and audience. Finally, we provide recommendations for individuals and organizations to support confrontation efforts aimed at reducing biased behavior and policies.

scholarly journals The Unceasing Significance of Colorism: Skin Tone Stratification in the United States

Daedalus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-90
Author(s):  
Ellis P. Monk
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skin Tone ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Past Century ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Life Chances

Abstract For many decades now, social scientists have documented immense ethnoracial inequalities in the United States. Much of this work is rooted in comparing the life chances, trajectories, and outcomes of African Americans to White Americans. From health to wealth and nearly every measure of well-being, success, and thriving one can find, White Americans remain ahead of Black Americans. What this focus on ethnoracial inequality between “groups” obscures, however, is long-standing skin tone inequality within groups. In this essay, I trace the trajectory of colorism and skin tone stratification in the United States over the past century. Next, I high-light the contemporary persistence of skin tone stratification, not only among African Americans, but among Latinx and Asian Americans as well. I conclude by arguing that future research on colorism will be essential to understand comprehensively the significance of race/ethnicity in a demographically shifting United States (such as immigration and “multiraciality”).

scholarly journals Risk for Disability and Poverty Among Central Asians in the United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Siordia ◽  
Athena K. Ramos
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
English Language ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Us

Understanding the disability-poverty relationship among minority groups within the United States (US) populations may help inform interventions aimed at reducing health disparities. Limited information exists on risk factors for disability and poverty among “Central Asians” (immigrants born in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian regions of the former Soviet Union) in the US. The current cross-sectional analysis used information on 6,820 Central Asians to identify risk factors for disability and poverty. Data from the 2009-2013 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) file from the American Community Survey (ACS) indicate that being married, non-Latino-white, and having higher levels of educational attainment are protective against disability and poverty. In contrast, older age, residing in the Middle Atlantic geographic division, and having limited English language ability are risk factors for both disability and poverty. Research should continue to develop risk profiles for understudied immigrant populations. Expanding knowledge on the well-being of Central Asians in the US may help impact public health interventions and inform health policies.

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