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. 2015 Fall;12(2):349-373.
doi: 10.1017/S1742058X15000120.

RACE AS LIVED EXPERIENCE: The Impact of Multi-Dimensional Measures of Race/Ethnicity on the Self-Reported Health Status of Latinos

John A Garcia  1 , Gabriel R Sanchez  2 , Shannon Sanchez-Youngman  2 , Edward D Vargas  3 , Vickie D Ybarra  2
Affiliations

RACE AS LIVED EXPERIENCE: The Impact of Multi-Dimensional Measures of Race/Ethnicity on the Self-Reported Health Status of Latinos

John A Garcia et al. Du Bois Rev. 2015 Fall.

Abstract

A growing body of social science research has sought to conceptualize race as a multidimensional concept in which context, societal relations, and institutional dynamics are key components. Utilizing a specially designed survey, we develop and use multiple measures of race (skin color, ascribed race, and discrimination experiences) to capture race as "lived experience" and assess their impact on Latinos' self-rated health status. We model these measures of race as a lived experience to test the explanatory power of race, both independently and as an integrated scale with categorical regression, scaling, and dimensional analyses. Our analyses show that our multiple measures of race have significant and negative effects on Latinos' self-reported health. Skin color is a dominant factor that impacts self-reported health both directly and indirectly. We then advocate for the utilization of multiple measures of race, adding to those used in our analysis, and their application to other health and social outcomes. Our analysis provides important contributions across a wide range of health, illness, social, and political outcomes for communities of color.

Keywords: Ascribed race; Discrimination; Ethnicity; Lived Experience; Race; Self-Reported Health; Skin Color.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The Substantive Impact of Skin Color on Health Status Note: Controlling for Discrimination, Ascribed Race Categories, Age, Education, Income, Gender, Health Insurance, Nativity, Language of Interview, and Mexican Origin
Figure 2
Figure 2
The Substantive Impact of Discrimination on Health Status Note: Controlling for Skin Color, Ascribed Race Categories, Age, Education, Income, Gender, Health Insurance, Nativity, Language of Interview, and Mexican Origin.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The Substantive Impact of Race as Lived Experience Scale on Health Status Note: Controlling for Age, Education, Income, Gender, Health Insurance, Nativity, Language of Interview, and Mexican Origin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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