Racial and Ethnic Inequalities in Health: Environmental, Psychosocial, and Physiological Pathways

An alternative approach focused on health outcomes is offered, and it is demonstrated how nongenetic biological, environmental, and social pathways can explain much of the racial and ethnic differences.

Abstract

In Chapter 13 of the Bell Curve, Herrnstein and Murray (H&M) note that "ethnic differences in cognitive ability are neither surprising nor in doubt."1 This is largely true. What is not so obvious is (1) the causes of such differences, (2) their immutability, and (3) the consequences of ethnic and racial differences in cognitive ability. H&M argue that the causes are largely genetic, that cognitive ability is more or less fixed over an individual's lifetime, and that it effects a wide array of social consequences, ranging from unemployment to family income, etc. There are, of course, alternative explanations for ethnic and racial differences in cognitive ability and for their consequences. H&M's favorite statistical tool of multiple regression is not the only way to explore such values. In this chapter we offer an alternative approach focused on health outcomes, and we demonstrate how nongenetic biological, environmental, and social pathways can explain much of the racial and ethnic differences.KeywordsRacial DifferenceAllostatic LoadPhysiological SubstrateEthnic InequalityPsychosocial AdversityThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.