Seeing Discrimination: How Different Definitions of Discrimination Relate to Health in U.S. Adults.

ABSTRACT: Research demonstrates that perceived discrimination negatively impacts health. Yet there is conflicting evidence about how an individual's definition of discrimination-separate from their experience of discrimination-shapes health disparities. Using a nationally representative survey experiment in which participants (N = 2,000) are asked to evaluate nine different scenarios of potential discrimination, we find that how a person labels these discrimination scenarios is significantly related to their self-rated health, even after controlling for sociodemographic factors. U.S. adults who are more likely to label the event as discrimination in cases where it is intentional have comparatively worse self-rated health, whereas those who are more likely to label discrimination in cases where it af

SUBMITTER: Valentino L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12821785 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature