Defining Social Class Across Time and Between Groups.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull
; 43(11): 1530-1545, 2017 Nov.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28914151
ABSTRACT
We examined changes over four decades and between ethnic groups in how people define their social class. Changes included the increasing importance of income, decreasing importance of occupational prestige, and the demise of the "Victorian bargain," in which poor people who subscribed to conservative sexual and religious norms could think of themselves as middle class. The period also saw changes (among Whites) and continuity (among Black Americans) in subjective status perceptions. For Whites (and particularly poor Whites), their perceptions of enhanced social class were greatly reduced. Poor Whites now view their social class as slightly but significantly lower than their poor Black and Latino counterparts. For Black respondents, a caste-like understanding of social class persisted, as they continued to view their class standing as relatively independent of their achieved education, income, and occupation. Such achievement indicators, however, predicted Black respondents' self-esteem more than they predicted self-esteem for any other group.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Social Class
/
Ethnicity
/
White People
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Aspects:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
/
Equity_inequality
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Pers Soc Psychol Bull
Year:
2017
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States