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Article Excerpt
Life satisfaction is an important concept as it has been widely considered to be a central aspect of human welfare (Haybron, 2005). It has been further defined as having a favorable attitude toward one's life as a whole. Sumner (1996) states that central to life satisfaction is, "a positive evaluation of the conditions of your life, a judgment that, at least on balance, it measures up favorably against your standards or expectations."
Literature regarding life satisfaction and race/ethnicity has focused on issues of racism. Despite overall improvements in racial attitudes and sociopolitical policy since the Civil Rights movement, racism remains pervasive in America (Clark, Anderson, Clark and Williams, 1999). Several researchers have documented stark disparities between African Americans and other racial groups with regard to quality of life indicators (Chatters, Taylor, & Neighbors, 1989; Ortega, Crutchfield & Rushing, 1983). Quality of life indicators include, but are not limited to, psychological and physical health status, socioeconomic status and life satisfaction.
Similar effects have been found for persons with disabilities. For example, Nosek, Fuhrer and Potter (1995) found a preponderance of studies indicating that persons with physical disabilities rate their satisfaction with life somewhat lower than individuals without disabilities. Decker and Schulz (1985) found that elderly spinal cord patients showed a lower degree of well-being than that of similarly aged people without disabilities. Within the population with spinal cord injuries, those who perceived they had a higher level of social support and judged their health to be good had a higher level of life satisfaction than those who had a lower level of social support and perceived poor health.
Although studies have been conducted looking at life satisfaction with regard to race and disability separately, no study has looked at the intersection of race and disability and how that intersection impacts life satisfaction. The purpose of this paper was to determine the effect of race and perceptions of racism and disability on life satisfaction through analysis of data collected from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
Life Satisfaction and Race
Much of the literature related to race and life satisfaction deals with issues of racism and racial discrimination. According to Thoits (1991), African Americans not only experience greater exposure to everyday stressors and chronic strains but must also endure those stressors that are unique to their race group membership. A few researchers have noted a relationship between chronic exposure to racism and poorer indexes of psychological and somatic health among African Americans (Utsey and Ponterotto, 1996; Broman, 1997; Krieger and Sidney, 1996; Outlaw, 1993). Another study by the National Study of Black Americans (Williams and Chung, 1997) found that individuals who reported experiencing racial discrimination had higher levels of chronic health problems, increased psychological distress, and lower levels of happiness and life satisfaction.
Life Satisfaction and Disability
Several studies have looked at the relationship between physical disability and life satisfaction. For example, Menhert, Krauss, Nadler & Boyd (1990) found that while 90% of 1,064 persons without physical disabilities were either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their lives, only 68% of 675 persons with physical disabilities had similar ratings. However, studies show that the relationship between extent of physical disability and extent of life satisfaction has been inconsistent (Nosek, Fuhrer, and Potter, 1995; Fuhrer, Rintala, Hart, Clearman, and Young, 1992). Within the population with spinal cord injuries, those who perceived they had a higher level of social support and judged their health to be good had a higher level of satisfaction than those who had a lower level of social support and perceived poor health.
The Intersection of Race and Disability Simultaneous oppression.
Stuart claims that for analysis of race and disability, the phrase "double oppression" is not appropriate (Smart, 1992). He further suggests that racism within disability is a part of a process of simultaneous oppression which African American people experience daily in Western society. It is also an experience which divides disabled people from their African American able-bodied peers. Stuart identifies three areas that were identified which consider African American people with disabilities' experiences as a distinct form of oppression. These are first, limited or no...
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