Culture, socioeconomic status, and coronary heart disease risk factors in an African American community

In this paper cultural influences are examined in the relationship between socioeconomic status and health. Cultural definitions of material lifestyles are investigated as a correlate of disease risk in an African American community in the rural South. A new technique-called "cultural consensus analysis"-is used to test for a cultural model of lifestyles indicative of success. Survey data are then used to operationalize the degree to which individuals adhere in their own behavior to that cultural model; this measure is referred to as "cultural consonance in lifestyle." Cultural consonance in lifestyle is more strongly associated with hypertension and smoking (but not serum lipids) than are conventional measures of socioeconomic status (occupation, income, and education). These results suggest that the extent to which individuals are unable to live in accordance with cultural norms regarding lifestyles may contribute to the risk of coronary heart disease in the African American community.