The Science of Dignity

This book provides original evidence arguing for dignity as an indicator of public health, by offering a scientific framework for measuring dignity and its social determinants. Hitlin and Andersson show that dignity can be efficiently measured by using simple survey items that ask individuals whether there is ＂dignity＂ in their life or in how they are treated by others. National survey data show that unhappiness, sadness, anger, and lower general health are far more common for those reporting undignified lives. These differences in reported dignity come from inequalities in social and economic resources and from experiences of disrespect, threat, or life stress. Social groups with less power generally report lower levels of dignity linked to these multifaceted resource and stress inequalities, which are examined throughout the book. Hitlin and Andersson show that dignity possesses universal value for health and well-being in America, providing a scientific basis for collective consensus and social inspiration.

Steven Hitlin is a sociological social psychologist whose work spans morality, self and identity, the life course, and social theory. Before his faculty position at Iowa, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is author or co-author for several books and academic articles including Unequal Foundations: Inequality, Morality and Emotions Across Cultures (Oxford) and Moral Selves, Evil Selves: The Social Psychology of Conscience (Palgrave Macmillan).

Matthew A. Andersson is a sociologist who studies health inequalities across the life course. His research has been published in numerous publications in leading journals in the social and population health sciences. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University and a Presidential Graduate Research Fellow at The University of Iowa. He serves on the editorial boards of Society and Mental Health and Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.