Subjective social status among young working women in Sweden: how is it established and how does it affect health and well-being? A qualitative interview study.

Abstract

Background: Mental ill-health has increased among young people in Sweden in recent years, particularly among young women. One contributing factor could be a striving for high social status, communicated around the clock on social media platforms. The aim of the study was to explore how young working women in Sweden perceive social status and how it relates to their own health and well-being.

Methods: The study sample included 15 women aged 25-35 years, recruited from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, a cohort derived from a representative sample of the Swedish working population. Maximum variation purposeful sampling was employed to achieve rich information in the data. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: The analysis identified two main themes. The first theme, the qualities and processes of subjective social status, consisted of the subthemes material and personal resources and interpersonal and contextual interplay, and described aspects affecting social status, such as income, gender, and social life, as well as processes such as external influence and comparison. The second theme, the influence of subjective social status on health and well-being consisted of the subthemes being judged by oneself and others and strategies to reduce negative impact, and encompassed emotional responses to social status and approaches and attitudes to regulate its impact.

Conclusions: The results indicate that subjective social status in young working women today is established through dynamic and interactive processes involving several important aspects beyond traditional socioeconomic measures. The findings regarding the impact of gender and foreign background on subjective social status suggest a need for continued efforts to strengthen equality and integration in Swedish society. The impact of processes around establishing and displaying subjective social status on well-being and health appears to vary, depending on each individual's approach and active management of, e.g., social media.