Americans overestimate social class mobility

By Michael W. Kraus, Jacinth J. X. Tan. 2015

242 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract In this research we examine estimates of American social class mobility—the ability to move up or down in education and income status. Across studies, overestimates of class mobility were large and particularly likely among younger participants and those higher in subjective social class—both measured (Studies 1–3) and manipulated (Study 4). Class mobility overestimates were independent of general estimation errors (Study 3) and persisted after accounting for knowledge of class mobility assessed in terms of educational attainment and self-ratings. Experiments revealed that mobility overestimates were shaped by exposure to information about the genetic determinants of social class—a faux science article suggesting genetic constraints to economic advancement increased accuracy in class mobility estimates (Study 2)—and motivated by needs to protect the self—heightening the self-relevance of class mobility increased overestimates (Study 3). Discussion focused on both the costs and benefits of overestimates of class mobility for individuals and society.

Subfields: Health, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4f7e33bee0e151062b7b9ea7b7e59d090d216f25

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Citations in the corpus

The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour (2018, background): “American participants have been found to overestimate the degree of social mobility in the United States (Davidai & Gilovich, 2015; Kraus & Tan, 2015), and Shariff, Wiwad, and Aknin (2016) have shown, using a combination of survey and experimental methods, that higher perceived mobility leads to…”
Richer (and Holier) Than Thou? The Effect of Relative Income Improvements on Demand for Redistribution (2017, background): “This finding is interesting given research showing that Americans tend to overestimate the level of social mobility in the United States (Kraus and Tan, 2015).”
White Male Power and Privilege: The Relationship Between White Supremacy and Social Class (2017, background): “This sense of uncontrollability or unpredictability may come from problems on the job, relationships, racism, classism, transportation, or inconsistent pay for their work (Kraus & Tan, 2015; Liu, 2011).”
Unpacking the inequality paradox: The psychological roots of inequality and social class. (2018, background): “…perceptions of the real economic conditions that individuals experience remain positively biased; people view economic inequality as far less severe than is actually the case (Davidai & Gilovich, 2015; Kraus & Tan, 2015; Norton & Ariely, 2011; Norton & Kiatpongsan, 2013; Shariff et al., 2016).”
Perceptions of Socioeconomic Mobility Influence Academic Persistence among Low Socioeconomic Status Students (2017, unknown): “…people’s thoughts about mobility tend to center on the prospect of moving up (versus moving down) the socioeconomic ladder (Davidai & Gilovich, 2015; Kraus & Tan, 2015), the prospect of socioeconomic mobility should be more consequential for those at the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder than…”
The rich—love them or hate them? Divergent implicit and explicit attitudes toward the wealthy (2017, background): “Notably, people’s perceptions about their own economic reality are often not accurate, and Americans tend to underestimate the disparities between wealth groups as well as overestimate upward social mobility (DiPrete, 2007; Kraus & Tan, 2015; Norton & Ariely, 2011).”