Chapter 23

We have two major goals in this chapter. First, we seek to briefly summarize current knowledge and unanswered questions regarding interactions between social and psychological factors, physiological processes, and health. Rather than offering a comprehensive review, we aim to increase sociologists' familiarity with this body of research by presenting representative findings from two of the most well-developed areas: the immune system and the cardiovascular system. We begin with a brief "primer" on traditional and emerging views on physiologic responses to stress. After which, we describe typical findings from research linking psychosocial factors to functioning and pathophysiology of the immune and cardiovascular systems, respectively, and highlight new directions in research of particular relevance to sociology.

Our second major goal is to delineate and discuss implications of this rapidly developing area for medical sociology. We argue that this area of research has implications not only for those interested in stress research but also for a much wider range of medical sociologists. Simply put, societal values and beliefs about why people get sick and how we should care for them once they are sick not only shape the way health care is structured and provided, they also influence virtually every major societal institution as well as individuals' everyday lives. To demonstrate the potential value of incorporating knowledge about physiological mechanisms into sociological research, we consider two examples: the SES health gradient and gender differences in health. We conclude with a discussion of the potential impact of research on the physiologic pathways between psychosocial factors and health.