Relação entre adesão a crenças meritocráticas e a renda familiar / Relationship between adherence to meritocratic beliefs and family income / Relación entre adherencia a las creencias meritocráticas y al ingreso familiar

A meritocracia pode ser considerada uma ideologia que coopera na justifi-cação das desigualdades entre as classes existentes no sistema econômico. Isso se dá com a valorização de características como a competitividade, a habilidade e o esforço individual, desconsiderando fatores históricos, culturais e socioeconômicos. O objetivo da pesquisa foi caracterizar a adesão a crenças meritocráticas, vinculando as respostas obtidas à condição social do partici-pante. Uma amostra de 1.233 adultos respondeu uma entrevista estruturada, indicando o grau de concordância com três sentenças a respeito do papel do esforço individual para o sucesso, a relação entre habilidade e remuneração e a desigualdade social. Os resultados indicaram que a renda dos indivíduos está associada à percepção da lógica meritocrática, posto que sujeitos com maiores rendas tenderam a questionar as generalizações, mas não deixam de aderir a sua lógica com veemência, valorizando esforço e manutenção das diferenças salariais pautadas no valor social agregado a determinadas habilidades. Já sujeitos com menor acesso a recursos demonstraram crer na meritocracia com menores questionamentos, emergindo assim as características ideológicas da meritocracia e as concepções dominantes de classes sociais mais abastadas.

Meritocracy can be considered an ideology that cooperates to justify the inequalities between the classes existing in the economic system. This is done by valuing characteristics such as competitiveness, ability and individual effort, disregarding historical, cultural and socioeconomic factors. The aim of the research was to characterize adherence to meritocratic beliefs, linking the responses obtained to the social conditions of participants. A sample of 1.233 adults completed a structured interview, indicating the degree of agreement with three sentences regarding the role of individual effort for success, the rela-tionship between ability and remuneration, and social inequality. The results indicated that the income of the individuals is associated with the perception of the meritocratic logic, since subjects with higher incomes tended to question the generalizations, but they did not stop adhering to their logic with vehemence, valuing effort and maintenance of wage differences based on social value added to certain skills. In contrast, subjects with less access to resources have shown to believe in meritocracy with less questioning, thus emerging the ideological characteristics of meritocracy and the dominant conceptions of more affluent social classes.

La meritocracia puede considerarse una ideología que coopera para justi-ficar las desigualdades entre clases en el sistema económico. Esto ocurre con la valoración de características como la competitividad, la habilidad y el esfuerzo individual, sin tener en cuenta los factores históricos, culturales y socioeconómicos. El objetivo de la investigación fue caracterizar la adhesión a las creencias meritocráticas, vinculando las respuestas obtenidas con la condición social del participante. Una muestra de 1.233 adultos respondió a una entrevista estructurada, indicando el grado de acuerdo con tres oraciones con respecto al papel del esfuerzo individual para el éxito, la relación entre la habilidad y la remuneración y la desigualdad social. Los resultados indicaron que el ingreso de los individuos está asociado con la percepción de la lógica meritocrática, ya que los sujetos con mayores ingresos tienden a cuestionar las generalizaciones, pero se adhieren fuertemente a su lógica, valoran el esfuerzo y mantienen las diferencias salariales basadas en el valor social. agregado a ciertas habilidades. Ya los sujetos con menos acceso a los recursos mostraron creer en la meritocracia con preguntas menores, surgiendo así las características ideológicas de la meritocracia y las concepciones dominantes de las clases sociales más ricas.

The association between psoriasis and health-related quality of life, work productivity, and healthcare resource use in Brazil

Abstract: Background: Psoriasis is a chronic, immune mediated inflammatory condition that affects a significant amount of the global population. Yet geographic variability in the consequences of psoriasis warrants region-level analyses. Objective: The current study contributes to the psoriasis outcomes literature by offering a comprehensive assessment of the humanistic and economic burden in Brazil. Methods: The 2012 Brazil National Health and Wellness Survey (N=12,000) was used to assess health-related quality of life (Short Form-12, version 2), work productivity, and healthcare resource use associated with experiencing psoriasis vs. no psoriasis, along with varying levels of psoriasis severity. Results: A total of 210 respondents reported diagnosis of psoriasis (N=157, 42, and 11 reporting mild, moderate, and severe psoriasis, respectively). Compared with controls, respondents with psoriasis reported diminished mental component summary scores and health utilities, as well as increased presenteeism, activity impairment, and physician visits over the past six months, adjusting for covariates. Among those with psoriasis, physical health decreased as psoriasis severity increased. Although work productivity and healthcare resource utilization did not differ with psoriasis severity, the high rates of productivity loss (e.g. 45.5% presenteeism in the severe psoriasis group) suggest an economic burden. Study limitations: Cost analyses were not performed, and cross-sectional patient-reported data limit causal conclusions and may reflect reporting biases. Conclusions: Nevertheless, these results suggest a significant burden to patients with psoriasis across both humanistic and economic outcomes. The association between psoriasis and mental health aspects and health utilities were particularly strong and exceeded what would be considered clinically meaningful.