An Interdisciplinary Framework for Understanding the Multidimensionality of Social Class.

Social Class;Intersectionality;Identity;Privilege;Psychology;Social Sciences;Psychology

Sanders, Melissa RobinDessel, Adrienne ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Social Class;    Intersectionality;    Identity;    Privilege;    Psychology;    Social Sciences;    Psychology;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/93886/mrsander_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

This dissertation explores the multidimensional aspects of social class - as a representation as well as a practice embedded in a network of beliefs and expectations – using qualitative and quantitative methods. Social class identity in higher educational settings is explored, and the ways in which social class identity relates to perceptions of hierarchy and privilege are examined. Innovative multimodal methodological approaches to the measurement of social class are presented. Aspects of social class were tested in a series of studies. A set of studies explored measurement issues regarding social class. The interchangeability of objective, subjective, and projective measurements of class was examined, as was the impact of context-level variables on individuals’ perceptions of how objective and subjective operationalizations of social class converged. Qualitative analysis showed that individuals use contextual mechanisms to establish their own class location. Qualitative analysis also showed that though class is felt and salient to American college students, there is little formal discourse about class due to existing linguistic taboos and stereotypes. A second set of studies examined how intersections of race and class in higher educational settings related to the endorsement of system legitimizing or system challenging beliefs. Across two studies, Social Dominance Orientation (SDO; a system legitimizing ideology) and John Henryism (JH; a measure of active personal coping) were predicted by Race x Class. Findings showed that class privileged people of color endorsed SDO most strongly and JH least strongly. Qualitative investigation showed that class privileged students of color naturalized and legitimized social hierarchy with greater frequency than class targeted students of color.The remaining studies explored the relationships between ideological perspectives on social hierarchy, awareness of privilege and marginalization, and intersectional consciousness. Those from privileged background had the highest levels of SDO. SDO negatively correlated with privilege awareness and intersectional consciousness, but the relationship between SDO and intersectional consciousness was mediated by privilege awareness. Thus, social class in part may shape whether we see economic disparities as fair, which is related to differences in beliefs about privilege and different levels of understanding of how social identities simultaneously function and mutually reinforce each other.