Fig. 1

Illustration of the ladder used in the “MacArthur” Scale of Subjective Social Status Retrieved from www.macses.ucsf.edu [21] (used with the author’s written permission)

Social status value: At the top of the ladder are the people who are the best off, those who have the most money, the most education, and the best jobs. At the bottom are the people who are the worst off, those who have the least money, least education, worst jobs, or no job

Community status value: Think of this ladder as representing where people stand in their communities. People define community in different ways; please define it in whatever way is most meaningful to you. At the top of the ladder are people who have the highest standing in their community. At the bottom are the people who have the lowest standing in their community

“Please place an ‘X’ on the rung that best represents where you think you stand on the ladder”