Lay perceptions of health and environment inequalities and its associations to mental health

Abstract

Health inequalities are very well documented in epidemiological research: rich people live longer and have less diseases than poor persons. Recently, a growing amount of evidence from environmental sciences confirms that poor people are also more exposed to pollution and other environmental threats. However, research in the social sciences has shown a wide unawareness of health inequalities. In this paper, based on data collected in Portugal, we will analyse the consciousness of both health and environmental injustices and test one hypothesis for this social blindness. The results show, even more clearly than before, that public opinion tends to see rich and poor people equally susceptible to health and environmental events. Besides, those who have this equal view of the world present lower levels of depression and anxiety. Following cognitive adaptation theory, this “belief in an equal world” can be interpreted as a protective positive illusion about social justice, particularly relevant in one of the most unequal countries in Europe.