Author:
Hitlin Steven,Andersson Matthew A.
Abstract
Abstract
Dignity is anything but a lofty term. It is treated by survey respondents as a practical, real experience. Dignity relates to numerous psychological, social, and economic resources that individuals accumulate over a lifetime and the forms of stress they encounter in life, all of which are shaped by social groups and their power differences in society. Advantages are not destiny, nor are disadvantages, but they determine typical outcomes and sources of ease or difficulty. The brief dignity survey items offer an efficient indicator signaling a new, robust avenue for understanding complex individual experiences in society that give rise to major health problems. Future research into dignity should continue to clarify the universal and group-specific roots of dignity and sources of stability and change in dignity across the life course. Even amid diverse moralities, dignity demonstrates universal value in America. By foregrounding life’s sanctity, dignity provides a scientific basis for collective consensus and social inspiration.
Publisher
Oxford University PressNew York
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