Relationships among social position, values, and beliefs concerning physical health

Abstract

The purpose of the study was four-fold. First, the study sought to determine if a relationship existed between social position and physical health beliefs as measured by the Hollingshead Two Factor Index of Social Position and the Health Belief Survey. Second, the study sought to discover if a relationship existed between social position and value placed on good physical health as measured by the Hollingshead Index and the Value Survey. Third, the study sought to determine if any relationship between value placed on good physical health and individual physical health beliefs existed. Scores were obtained from the Value Survey and the Health Belief Survey. Fourth, the study sought to discover if any relationships existed among social position, value placed on good physical health, and individual physical health beliefs. Scores were obtained from the Hollingshead Index, the Value Survey, and the Health Belief Survey. The investigation was conducted using a descriptive design. The 0.05 probability level of significance was used for testing the null hypotheses. The study revealed that a relationship did exist between social position and individual physical health beliefs. As social position increased, the relationship between social position and each of the individual physical health beliefs increased. No relationship existed between social position and value placed on good physical health. Significant relationships existed between value placed on good physical health and individual physical health beliefs. As value placed on good physical health increased, so did the importance placed on the following physical health beliefs: health opinion, motivation to exert control, preventive health behaviors, and individual compliance with health care. As revealed by a multiple regression analysis, there were significant relationships among social position, value placed on good physical health, and individual physical health beliefs. It was recommended that further investigations should cover longer periods of time and should include hospital-based health education programs. Also, value placed on good physical health and physical health beliefs should be re-examined after a period of time to see if any permanent changes in these beliefs had occurred.