Status inconsistency and mental health: A random effects and instrumental variables analysis using 14 annual waves of cohort data

Abstract

Status inconsistency refers to a discrepancy between the position a person holds in one domain of their social environment comparative to their position in another domain. For example, the experience of being overeducated for a job, or not using your skills in your job. We sought to assess the relationship between status inconsistency and mental health using 14 annual waves of cohort data. We used two approaches to measuring status inconsistency: 1) being overeducated for your job (objective measure); and b) not using your skills in your job (subjective measure). We implemented a number of methodological approaches to assess the robustness of our findings, including instrumental variable, ra..