Some social and physical correlates of intergenerational social mobility: Evidence from the West of Scotland collaborative study

Mainstream sociological studies of intergenerational social mobility have e mphasised social factors such as education and the material and cultural re sources of the family of origin as the main influences on the chances and d irection of social mobility. Medical sociology in contrast has been more in terested in its physical correlates such as height and health status. Data from the West of Scotland Collaborative study allow an examination of the r elationship between social mobility and both social and physical factors. H eight, education and material circumstances in the family of origin, indexe d as the number of siblings, were each independently associated with the ch ances of both upward and downward social mobility in this dataset. In each case the net effect of this social mobility was to constrain the social dis tribution of these variables. Any role which these factors may play in indi rect health selection, it is argued, cannot account for social class differ ences in adult health.