Race, Education Attainment, and Happiness in the United States

Abstract

Background and aims: As suggests by the Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDR) theory, education<br />attainment and other socioeconomic status (SES) indicators have a smaller impact on the health and<br />well-being of non-White than White Americans. To test whether MDR also applies to happiness, in the<br />present study, Blacks and Whites were compared in terms of the effect of education attainment on the<br />level of happiness among American adults.<br />Methods: General Social Survey (1972-2016) is a series of national surveys that are performed in the<br />United States. The current analysis included 54 785 adults (46 724 Whites and 8061 Blacks). The years<br />of schooling (i.e., education attainment) and happiness were the main independent variable and the<br />main dependent variable of interest, respectively. In addition, other parameters such as gender, age,<br />employment status, marital status, and the year of the survey were the covariates and race was the<br />focal effect modifier. Finally, the logistic regression model was used to analyze the data.<br />Results: Based on the results, high education attainment was associated with higher odds of happiness<br />in the pooled sample. Further, a significant interaction was found between race and education<br />attainment on the odds of happiness, showing a larger gain for Whites compared to Blacks. Racespecific<br />models also confirmed this finding (i.e., a larger magnitude of the effect of education for<br />Whites compared to Blacks).<br />Conclusion: Overall, the MDR theory also applies to the effect of education attainment on happiness.<br />Blacks' disadvantage in comparison to the Whites in gaining happiness from their education may be<br />due to the structural, institutional, and interpersonal racism and discrimination in the US. Therefore,<br />there is a need for economic and public policies that can minimize the Blacks' diminished returns of<br />education attainment and other SES resources.