The psychology of social class: how socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour

Manstead, Antony ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7540-2096 2018. The psychology of social class: how socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour. British Journal of Social Psychology 57 (2) , pp. 267-291. 10.1111/bjso.12251

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Abstract

Drawing on recent research on the psychology of social class, I argue that the material conditions in which people grow up and live has a lasting impact on their personal and social identities, and that this influences both the way they think and feel about their social environment and key aspects of their social behaviour. Relative to middle-class counterparts, lower/working-class individuals are less likely to define themselves in terms of their socioeconomic status and are more likely to have interdependent self-concepts; they are also more inclined to explain social events in situational terms, as a result of having a lower sense of personal control. Working-class people score higher on measures of empathy and are more likely to help others in distress. The widely-held view that working-class individuals are more prejudiced towards immigrants and ethnic minorities is shown to be a function of economic threat, in that highly educated people also express prejudice towards these groups when the latter are described as highly educated and therefore pose an economic threat.their socioeconomic status and are more likely to have interdependent self-concepts; they are also more inclined to explain social events in situational terms, as a result of having a lower sense of personal control. Working-class people score higher on measures of empathy and are more likely to help others in distress. The widely-held view that working-class individuals are more prejudiced towards immigrants and ethnic minorities is shown to be a function of economic threat, in that highly educated people also express prejudice towards these groups when the latter are described as highly educated and therefore pose an economic threat.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0144-6665
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 February 2018
Date of Acceptance:	9 February 2018
Last Modified:	02 May 2023 14:14
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/109026

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