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International Journal of Epidemiologic Research
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2019 Spring;6(2):76-82doi:10.15171/ijer.2019.14
Race, Education Attainment, and Happiness in the United
States
Shervin Assari1,2,3*
ID
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
2Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109,
USA
3Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
http://ijer.skums.ac.ir
Original Article
Abstract
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 54 785 adults (46 724 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. Race-
specific 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.
Keywords: Blacks, Whites, Race, Ethnicity, Class, Socioeconomic status, Happiness
Received: 12 Dec. 2018
Accepted: 4 May 2019
ePublished: 21 June 2019
*Corresponding Author:
Shervin Assari,
Tel: +1-734-363-2678,
Email: assari@umich.edu
Introduction
Happiness (i.e., the feelings of joy and pleasure, as well as a
positive emotion, is considered a major human experience.
Research shows a close link between socioeconomic status
(SES) and happiness/positive emotions1 and positive
emotions are essential regardless of age, gender, race, and
ethnicity.2 Emotions such as happiness protect individuals
against depression, which is generally regarded as one of
the most chronic debilitating illnesses worldwide and in
the United States, in particular.3 Happiness and positive
emotions are under the influence of SES, particularly
education attainment4,5 while being essential for
maintaining a sense of well-being2 and self-esteem.6 Affect
correlates with SES. In other words, low SES individuals
are less happy1,3 while individuals with higher SES report
more positive affect.7,8
According to the Minorities’ Diminished Returns
(MDR) theory,9,10 the effects of SES indicators on a variety
of positive outcomes are systemically smaller for racial and
ethnic minority groups including the Blacks compared
to Whites.11 Empirical evidence suggests that education
has smaller effects on different factors such as income,12-14
alcohol drinking,15 cigarette smoking,16 eating habits,17
chronic medical disease,18 obesity,19 self-rated health,20-22
and mortality23-26 for Blacks compared to Whites.
However, it is not well understood if there is any relative
disadvantage of Blacks compared to Whites regarding the
link between high SES and happiness.27
MDR is attributed to economic14 and psychological28
processes that are connected to racism and discrimination.
For example, Whites achieve more tangible outcomes than
minority groups, including the Blacks because many social
Int J Epidemiol Res, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2019 77
Assari
and economic processes negatively affect the Blacks’ mental
health, even that of those who have successfully climbed
the social ladder (high SES). At each level of SES, the U.S.
society favors Whites to non-Whites and thus treats the
Blacks and the other minorities unfavorably, therefore,
high SES Blacks fail to gain as many positive outcomes
as they deserve due to their SES. In addition, Blacks have
worse access to the opportunity structure, and education
does not generate the same income and employment for
the Blacks compared to Whites. Everyday lives of high-
SES Blacks are also different from those of their high-SES
White counterparts since high SES Blacks experience more
not less28 prejudice and discrimination.29-31 It is argued
that racism operates across the levels and institutions that
are bound to the tangible health gains that follow SES for
Blacks.29,32,33
However, a large body of literature on MDR is related to
negative rather than positive outcomes, showing that high
SES better protects the Whites than the Blacks against
depression and depressive symptoms.18,34-36 For example,
some reports showed the increased risk of depression,18
anxiety,37 and suicide34 among high SES Blacks. Further,
in studies with nationally representative samples, high
education36 and income35 were associated with the high
risk of major depressive disorder35,36 and depressive
symptoms18 for youth35 and adults.18,36 These results are
replicated in cross-sectional35,36 and longitudinal18 studies,
which are the extreme cases of MDR where SES not only
shows no a positive effect but also correlates with poor
outcomes.1
Objectives
The main aim of this investigation was to compare Black
and White American adults for the effect of education
attainment on their happiness. In line with previous
studies38 and informed by the MDR theory,9,10 high
education attainment is expected to result in greater
achievement for Whites than Blacks.
Methods
Design and Setting
Using a cross-sectional survey design, this analysis used
data from the General Social Survey (GSS; 1972-2016).
Since 1972, the University of Chicago has conducted the
GSS in order to monitor the societal change and social
trends of American society over time.
General Social Survey
The GSS has gathered data on contemporary American
society over more than four decades and monitored the
trends regarding the attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs of the
Americans. The GSS helps us understand how the structure
and function of the U.S. society are generally changing and
in terms of race, class, and gender, in particular. The data
further provide an excellent opportunity to run time series
and compare the U.S. subgroups, and finally, to compare
the United States with its peer industrial countries. Over
the past decades, GSS has become a unique source of
scholarly works in the fields of sociology, economics,
policy-making, and demography, among others. GSS
collects data on major social issues such as race relations,
the quality of life, and trust in U.S. institutions as well.39
Analytical Sample
The current study included 54 785 adults who were either
Whites (n = 46 724) or Blacks (n = 8061).
Study Measures
Study variables included race, age, gender, education
attainment, employment status, marital status, the year of
survey, and happiness.
Education Attainment. This variable was measured as the
years of schooling, varying from 0 to 22. Moreover, it was
treated as an interval measure. In other words, a higher
score reflected higher education attainment/the years of
schooling.
Happiness. It was measured using a single item that
measured general happiness and read as “Taken all together,
how would you say things are these days – would you say
that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?”
The response options included (1) Very happy, (2) Pretty
happy, and (3) Not too happy. The item was asked from
1972 to 2010.
Demographic Variables. Gender, age (years), employment
status, marital status, and the year of the survey were the
study covariates. Age was an interval variable which was
measured in years and gender was a dichotomous measure
[males =0 (reference group) and females =1].
Study Year. The year of study was operationalized as an
interval variable ranging from 1972 to 2016.
Socioeconomic Status. Two SES covariates, namely,
employment and marital status were included in this
study. Employment was measured as an ordinal variable
and contained eight categories as “(1) Working Full-time,
(2) Working Part-time, (3) Temporarily Not Working,
(4) Unemployed, Laid Off, (5) Retired, (6) School, (7)
Keeping House, and (8) Other”. Working Full-time was
considered as the reference group. Additionally, marital
Status was assessed as a nominal variable and encompassed
five categories including (1) Married, (2) Widowed, (3)
Divorced, (4) Separated, and (5) Never Married”. The first
option was the reference category.
Race. The self-identified race was the focal moderating
variable that was treated as a dichotomous variable (i.e.,
non-Hispanic Whites =0 [the reference group] and
Blacks =1).
Statistical Analysis
Data were analyzed using the Stata, version 15. The
frequency (%) and mean (standard error: SE) were
Int J Epidemiol Res, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2019
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Assari
reported to describe the participants, overall, and by race.
In addition, four logistic regressions were used including
two models in the pooled sample (Model 1 and Model
2) and two models specific to the racial groups (Model
3 and Model 4). In all models, happiness (1= being very
happy/pretty happy and 0= not too happy) and education
attainment (the years of education) were the primary
outcome (dependent variable) and the primary predictor
(independent variable), respectively, and age, gender,
employment status, marital status, the year of survey
were the covariates. Model 1 only had the main effects
while Model 2 included the race by education attainment
interaction term. Finally, Model 3 and Model 4 estimated
the effects of education attainment on happiness in
Whites and Blacks, respectively. The odds ratio (OR), SE,
95% confidence interval (CI), z-value, and P values were
reported based on the obtained data.
Results
Descriptive Statistics
This study included 54 785 adults who were either White
(n = 46 724) or Black (n = 8061). Blacks were less happy
compared to Whites who had higher education attainment.
Pooled Sample Multivariable Models
Table 1 shows the results of the two logistic regression
models, both in the overall sample. Based on Model 1 that
included no interaction term, high education attainment
was associated with higher odds of happiness independent
of race, age, gender, employment status, marital status, and
the year of the survey. Conversely, Model 2 demonstrated
an interaction between race and education attainment
on happiness, suggesting a smaller effect of education on
happiness for Blacks compared to Whites.
Race-Specific Multivariable Models
The results of the two logistic regression models, each in
one race, are presented in Table 2. Model 3 and Model 4,
performed in Whites and Blacks, respectively, revealed
that high education attainment was related to the higher
odds of happiness regardless of age, gender, and the year
of the survey for both groups. However, the magnitude of
the association was larger for Whites compared to Blacks.
Discussion
The results of the current study indicated that high
education attainment increased happiness overall,
however, this effect was disproportionately larger for
Whites compared to Blacks. Based on the results, the
MDR theory could apply to happiness.
Supporting the MDR theory,9,10,19 we found smaller
effects of education attainment on happiness among the
Blacks than Whites. An extensive body of research has
shown similar patterns for the effects of SES on other
economic and health outcomes.24,29,34,40-44 An increase
in education attainment leads to an increase in income,
but the boosting effect of education on income is not
comparable between Whites and Blacks.12,13 As a result,
highly educated Blacks experience higher obesity, poor
sleep, physical inactivity,15 depression,18 suicide,34 and
mortality24 compared to highly educated Whites. Similar
results are found for individuals43 and families, that is, the
transgenerational effects.44-47
Most traditional theories that connect SES to the
outcomes focused on the universal effects of SES
resources. Link and Phelan’s (1995) Fundamental Cause
Theory suggests that SES is a fundamental determinant
and the root cause of positive outcomes, including the
affect, emotions, and mental health.48 The same theory
conceptualizes racism as a fundamental cause as well.45
Despite the emphasis of the mainstream literature on the
gains of SES, there is substantial evidence suggesting that
high SES may operate as a risk factor for poor mental
health outcomes for the Blacks.11,18,19,32,34,43,44 What makes
MDR distinct from the other theories is that it focuses
on group differences in gains instead of the universal
effects.9,10
The MDR theory does not argue that racial and ethnic
groups are inherently different in their abilities to turn
their education attainment to tangible positive outcomes.
In our point of view, such interpretation should be avoided
since it is considered racist. Therefore, we need to fix the
unfair social system that has historically oppressed Blacks
instead of blaming the victims. In addition, Blacks gain
less from their education, not because of their culture,
morality, or traits, but the fact that their lives have been
and are still affected by systemic racism. Slavery is over,
but racism continues.47
Limitations and Strengths
Our study had several limitations. One main weakness
of this study was the unbalanced sample size of the
Blacks and Whites although this is usually the case in
health disparities research. Further, we only focused on
the effect modification of race while neglecting other
potential moderating factors such as gender, ethnicity, and
nativity. Accordingly, it is very important to compare the
diminished returns for Black men and women, as some
literature has shown SES as a risk factor for Black men but
not Black women.20,35 SES may differently influence the
emotion and affect among the Black males and females.
Furthermore, the present study used a cross-sectional
design and longitudinal studies should be conducted in
this regard as well. Moreover, our study failed to control
several potential confounders such as wealth and childhood
SES. Despite the above-mentioned limitations, this study
contributes to the MDR literature10,19 by showing that
it also applies to happiness. Some strengths of our study
included the national scope (nationally representative
samples) and large sample size.
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Table 1. A Summary of the Pooled Sample Logistic Regression Models
OR (SE) 95% CI Z P
Model 1 (Main Effect Model)
Race (Black) 0.63 (0.02) 0.59 - 0.67 -13.99 < 0.001
Age 1.00 (0.00) 1.00 - 1.00 1.55 0.122
Gender (female) 1.19 (0.04) 1.12 - 1.27 5.87 < 0.001
Marital status
Married 1.00
Widowed 0.40 (0.02) 0.36 - 0.43 -19.52 < 0.001
Divorced 0.35 (0.01) 0.33 - 0.38 -26.54 < 0.001
Separated 0.26 (0.02) 0.23 - 0.29 -23.12 < 0.001
Never married 0.47 (0.02) 0.44 - 0.51 -19.51 < 0.001
Employment status
Working full-time 1.00
Working part-time 0.82 (0.04) 0.75 - 0.90 -4.13 < 0.001
Temp not working 0.59 (0.05) 0.50 -0.70 -6.05 < 0.001
Unemployed, laid off 0.34 (0.02) 0.30 - 0.38 -18.91 < 0.001
Retired 0.82 (0.04) 0.74 - 0.90 -4.03 < 0.001
School 0.95 (0.08) 0.81 - 1.11 -0.67 0.501
Keeping House 0.66 (0.03) 0.60 - 0.71 -9.84 < 0.001
Other 0.35 (0.03) 0.30 - 0.40 -14.54 < 0.001
Education (1-20) 1.08 (0.00) 1.07 - 1.09 17.66 < 0.001
Intercept 4.16 (0.38) 3.49 - 4.97 15.77 < 0.001
Model 2 (Interaction Model)
Race (Black) 1.15 (0.14) 0.91 - 1.45 1.15 0.251
Age (y) 1.00 (0.00) 1.00 - 1.00 1.42 0.155
Gender (female) 1.20 (0.04) 1.13 - 1.27 6.04 < 0.001
Marital status
Married 1.00
Widowed 0.40 (0.02) 0.36 - 0.43 -19.55 < 0.001
Divorced 0.35 (0.01) 0.33 - 0.38 -26.43 < 0.001
Separated 0.26 (0.02) 0.23 - 0.29 -23.27 < 0.001
Never married 0.47 (0.02) 0.44 - 0.51 -19.45 < 0.001
Employment status
Working full-time 1.00
Working part-time 0.82 (0.04) 0.74 - 0.90 -4.23 < 0.001
Temp not working 0.59 (0.05) 0.50 - 0.70 -6.13 < 0.001
Unemployed, laid off 0.34 (0.02) 0.30 - 0.38 -18.90 < 0.001
Retired 0.82 (0.04) 0.74 - 0.90 -4.08 < 0.001
At school 0.94 (0.08) 0.80 - 1.11 -0.73 0.468
Keeping house 0.66 (0.03) 0.60 - 0.71 -9.85 < 0.001
Other 0.35 (0.03) 0.30 - 0.40 -14.56 < 0.001
Education attainment (1-20) 1.10 (0.01) 1.08 - 1.11 18.11 < 0.001
Education attainment (1-20) × race (Black) 0.95 (0.01) 0.93 - 0.97 -5.25 < 0.001
Intercept 3.59 (0.34) 2.98 - 4.32 13.53 < 0.001
Future Research
All variables of the study were limited to the individual
level, however, community-level factors may also have
a role in this respect. Therefore, neighborhood and
community factors should also be investigated in future
studies. Additionally, some contextual factors such as
neighborhood and workplace racial composition are
needed to be included in similar research. Similarly,
personality and life purposes are among the most salient
determinants of the sense of happiness. Depression and
bipolar disorders are other factors that may alter the sense
of happiness as well. Future research should include and
further evaluate all the above-mentioned constructs.
Finally, this study only focused on education attainment.
Future research should also include other SES factors such
as wealth, income, employment, and marital status.
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Implications for Policy and Practice
True equality is impossible unless we establish a context
in which the very same SES indicators can generate
the very equal returns across the racial groups. In the
current system, equal education consistently results in
unequal gains for the Black than White Americans. As
a result, solutions should target racism across the levels
and institutions. Such policies should go beyond merely
equalizing the racial groups in terms of SES but eliminate
the processes that cause inequality in translating the SES
into the outcomes. Therefore, there is a need to eliminate
the additional societal barriers in the lives of Blacks and
other racial and ethnic minority groups. In the absence of
such policies, the majority group continues gaining more
positive outcomes from the available resources.
Conclusions
The magnitude of the link between education attainment
and happiness is unequal across the racial groups,
indicating that Blacks gain less happiness than Whites
from their increase in education attainment.
Ethical Approval
The GSS study protocol was approved by the University
Table 2. A Summary of Ethnic-Specific Logistic Regression Models
OR (SE) 95% CI Z P
Model 3 (Whites)
Age 1.00 (0.00) 1.00 - 1.00 -0.41 0.684
Gender (female) 1.24 (0.04) 1.16 - 1.32 6.18 0.000
Marital status
Married 1.00
Widowed 0.37 (0.02) 0.33 - 0.41 -18.89 < 0.001
Divorced 0.34 (0.01) 0.31 - 0.37 -25.06 < 0.001
Separated 0.20 (0.01) 0.18 - 0.23 -22.33 < 0.001
Never married 0.47 (0.02) 0.43 - 0.51 -17.04 < 0.001
Employment status
Working full-time 1.00
Working part-time 0.85 (0.05) 0.76 - 0.94 -3.07 0.002
Temp not working 0.66 (0.07) 0.54 - 0.80 -4.21 < 0.001
Unemployed, laid off 0.32 (0.02) 0.28 - 0.36 -17.16 < 0.001
Retired 0.84 (0.05) 0.75 - 0.94 -3.14 0.002
School 1.02 (0.10) 0.84 - 1.24 0.20 0.844
Keeping House 0.68 (0.03) 0.61 - 0.75 -7.76 < 0.001
Other 0.32 (0.03) 0.27 - 0.38 -13.69 < 0.001
Education (1-20) 1.09 (0.01) 1.08 - 1.10 17.22 < 0.001
Intercept 4.03 (0.41) 3.30 - 4.91 13.69 < 0.001
Model 4 (Blacks)
Age (y) 1.01 (0.00) 1.00 - 1.01 3.90 < 0.001
Gender (female) 1.07 (0.07) 0.95 - 1.21 1.14 0.254
Marital status
Married 1.00
Widowed 0.58 (0.06) 0.46 - 0.72 -4.97 < 0.001
Divorced 0.47 (0.04) 0.39 - 0.56 -8.24 < 0.001
Separated 0.43 (0.04) 0.35 - 0.53 -8.26 < 0.001
Never married 0.58 (0.05) 0.50 - 0.68 -6.83 < 0.001
Employment status
Working full-time 1.00
Working part-time 0.71 (0.07) 0.59 - 0.87 -3.39 0.001
Temp not working 0.41 (0.07) 0.29 - 0.58 -5.02 < 0.001
Unemployed, laid off 0.40 (0.04) 0.32 - 0.49 -8.32 < 0.001
Retired 0.77 (0.09) 0.61 - 0.96 -2.29 0.022
At school 0.80 (0.12) 0.60 - 1.06 -1.55 0.122
Keeping house 0.60 (0.05) 0.51 - 0.71 -6.07 < 0.001
Other 0.43 (0.06) 0.32 - 0.58 -5.68 < 0.001
Education attainment (1-20) 1.06 (0.01) 1.04 - 1.08 5.94 < 0.001
Intercept 2.32 (0.46) 1.57 - 3.42 4.24 < 0.001
Int J Epidemiol Res, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2019 81
Assari
of Chicago Institutional Review Board (IRB) and all GSS
participants provided informed consent. Furthermore, the
study was funded by the National Science Foundation.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures
The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgment
Shervin Assari was partly supported by the National
Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
(4P60MD006923-05; PI = Vickie Mays), the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(D084526-03), the National Cancer Institute (CA201415
02; Co-PI = Ritesh Mistry), and the National Institute on
Drug Abuse (DA035811-05; PI = Marc Zimmerman).
Special thanks go to Hamid Helmi, Wayne State University,
for his help in editing the final draft of this paper. The
General Social Survey was performed by the University of
Chicago and funded by the National Science Foundation.
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