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Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate, in their own beliefs and behaviors, the prototypes for belief and behavior encoded in cultural models. Low cultural consonance is associated with higher psychological distress. Cultural consonance also converges across some cultural domains. Cultural consonance in different domains may converge because of an individual’s access to socioeconomic resources, or cultural consonance in multiple cultural domains may occur because these domains are in turn meaningfully—or culturally—organized. These possibilities were investigated in two linked studies conducted in urban Brazil, using mixed methods. A cultural domain analysis indicated that several cultural domains are organized around a broader concept of “goals in life.” Cultural consonance in these cultural domains in turn forms a single factor of “cultural consonance in life goals,” which is associated with lower depressive symptoms. The implications of these results for the further study of...

Health disparities or health inequalities refer to enduring differences between population groups in health status, well-being, and mortality. Health inequalities have been described by race, ethnic group, gender, and social class. A variety of theories have been proposed to account for health inequalities, including access to medical care and absolute material deprivation. Several theorists (including Michael Marmot and Richard Wilkinson) have argued that relative deprivation is the primary factor. By this they mean the inability of individuals to achieve the kind of lifestyle that is valued and considered normative in their social context. In this article, we show that the concept and measurement of cultural consonance can operationalize what Marmot and Wilkinson mean by relative deprivation. Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate, in their own beliefs and behaviors, the prototypes for belief and behavior encoded in shared cultural models. Widely shared cultural models in society describe what is regarded both as appropriate and desirable in many different domains. These cultural models are both directive and motivating: people try to achieve the goals defined in these models; however, as a result of both social and economic constraints, some individuals are unable to effectively incorporate these cultural goals into their own lives. The result is an enduring loss of coherence in life, because life is not unfolding in the way that it, culturally speaking, “should.” The resulting chronic stress is associated with psychobiological distress. We illustrate this process with data collected in urban Brazil. A theory of cultural consonance provides a uniquely biocultural contribution to the understanding of health inequalities.

In this study in urban Brazil we examine, as a predictor of depressive symptoms, the interaction between a single nucleotide polymorphism in the 2A receptor in the serotonin system (-1438G/A) and cultural consonance in family life, a measure of the degree to which an individual perceives her family as corresponding to a widely shared cultural model of the prototypical family. A community sample of 144 adults was followed over a 2-year-period. Cultural consonance in family life was assessed by linking individuals' perceptions of their own families with a shared cultural model of the family derived from cultural consensus analysis. The -1438G/A polymorphism in the 2A serotonin receptor was genotyped using a standard protocol for DNA extracted from leukocytes. Covariates included age, sex, socioeconomic status, and stressful life events. Cultural consonance in family life was prospectively associated with depressive symptoms. In addition, the interaction between genotype and cultural consonance in family life was significant. For individuals with the A/A variant of the -1438G/A polymorphism of the 2A receptor gene, the effect of cultural consonance in family life on depressive symptoms over a 2-year-period was larger (beta = -0.533, P < 0.01) than those effects for individuals with either the G/A (beta = -0.280, P < 0.10) or G/G (beta = -0.272, P < 0.05) variants. These results are consistent with a process in which genotype moderates the effects of culturally meaningful social experience on depressive symptoms.

A valid and reliable anthropological measurement must be culturally appropriate for a particular social setting. Justifying the appropriateness of a measurement often depends on the skill of the researcher in describing the ethnographic setting. This has resulted in valuable research, but it is difficult to systematize and lacks transparency. Here the authors present a measurement model for anthropology that links structured ethnographic methods—cultural domain analysis and cultural consensus analysis—to the assessment of individual behavior and personal beliefs. These procedures are illustrated with the concept of cultural consonance, or the degree to which an individual approximates in his or her own behavior or belief the shared cultural model in some domain. The concrete steps taken to develop measures of cultural consonance in four domains (lifestyle, social support, family life, and national characteristics) are described, and the reliability and validity of these measures are evaluated. This describes a measurement model for anthropology.

In previous research in Brazil, we tested the hypothesis that cultural consonance is associated with arterial blood pressure. Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals are able to approximate in their own behaviors the prototypes for behavior encoded in shared cultural models. Individuals who had higher cultural consonance in the domains of lifestyle and social support had lower blood pressures. The aim of the current research was to replicate and extend these findings. First, a more extensive cultural domain analysis was carried out, improving the description of cultural models. Second, more sensitive measures of cultural consonance were developed. Third, data were collected in the same community studied previously. The following findings emerged: (a) cultural domain analysis (using a mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques) indicated that cultural models for these domains are widely shared within the community; (b) the associations of cultural consonance in these domains with arterial blood pressure were replicated; and, (c) the pattern of the associations differed slightly from that observed in earlier research. This pattern of associations can be understood in terms of macrosocial influences over the past ten years. The results support the importance of long-term fieldwork in anthropology.

Populations of African descent in North and South America have higher mean blood pressures and higher rates of hypertension than populations of European descent or populations in Africa. Within populations of African descent, darker skinned persons have higher blood pressures than lighter skinned persons. Whether examined within or between populations, there is an interaction between skin color and socioeconomic status (SES) in relation to blood pressure, with persons with dark skin color and low SES having the highest blood pressures. This interaction was examined in Brazil using a measure of a cultural dimension of SES called "cultural consonance in lifestyle." This measure was derived using cultural consensus analysis linked with social survey data. It was found that darker skinned Brazilians with lower cultural consonance in lifestyle had adjusted systolic blood pressures 16.2 mm Hg higher than darker skinned Brazilians with higher cultural consonance (P

The structure and distribution of cultural models within social groups have been studied in a variety of domains, using a variety of methods. In this article we examine cultural models of lifestyle in Brazil; here, lifestyle is defined as the accumulation of consumer goods and the adoption of behaviors that help to define one's social identity. Three issues are examined: (1) the structure and distribution of models of culturally appropriate lifestyles; (2) the association of these cultural models with actual behaviors, along with those factors that promote or inhibit adhering to the cultural ideal; and (3) the utility of using the Romney-Weller-Batchelder cultural consensus model for studying lifestyles. Results indicate that cultural models of lifestyle are highly structured and widely shared across socio-economic groups. Furthermore, a variety of economic, social, and psychological variables influence the individual's approximation to the cultural ideal. These results indicate that the extent to which c...