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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
Subjective Social Class And Life Satisfaction: Role Of Class Consistency And Identity Uncertainty, Bek Wuay Tang, Jacinth Jia Xin Tan
Subjective Social Class And Life Satisfaction: Role Of Class Consistency And Identity Uncertainty, Bek Wuay Tang, Jacinth Jia Xin Tan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Drawing on a recent perspective that inconsistent class identities can negatively impact psychological outcomes, the current research explored if the relative benefit of higher subjective social class for life satisfaction would differ depending on whether it is consistent with one’s objective social class. In Study 1, across two independent samples from Singapore (n = 1,045) and the United States (n = 492), higher subjective social class predicted higher life satisfaction more strongly among those high in objective social class, but less strongly among those low in objective social class. In Study 2, these patterns were replicated in another large U.S. …
The Association Between Objective And Subjective Socioeconomic Standing And Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus, Nichelle C. Carpenter, Nancy E. Adler
The Association Between Objective And Subjective Socioeconomic Standing And Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus, Nichelle C. Carpenter, Nancy E. Adler
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This meta-analysis tested if the links between socioeconomic status (SES) and subjective well-being (SWB) differ by whether SES is assessed objectively or subjectively. The associations between measures of objective SES (i.e., income and educational attainment), subjective SES (i.e., the MacArthur ladder SES and perceived SES), and SWB (i.e., happiness and life satisfaction) were synthesized across 357 studies, totaling 2,352,095 participants. Overall, the objective SES and subjective SES measures were moderately associated (r = .32). The subjective SES-SWB association (r = .22) was larger than the objective SES-SWB association (r = .16). The income-SWB association (r = .23) was comparable with …
Partner Commitment In Close Relationships Mitigates Social-Class Differences In Subjective Well-Being, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus, Emily A. Impett, Dacher Keltner
Partner Commitment In Close Relationships Mitigates Social-Class Differences In Subjective Well-Being, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus, Emily A. Impett, Dacher Keltner
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The present exploratory research examined the possibility that commitment in close relationships among lower class individuals, despite greater strains on those relationships, buffers them from poorer subjective well-being (SWB). In two samples of close relationship dyads, we found that when partners reported high commitment to the relationship, the typical deficits in relatively lower class individuals’ well-being compared to their upper-class counterparts, assessed as life satisfaction among romantic couples (Study 1) and negative affect linked to depression among ethnically diverse close friendships (Study 2), were mitigated. Conversely, when partners reported low commitment to the relationship, relatively lower class individuals reported poorer …
Judgments Of Interpersonal Warmth Predict Class-Based Differences In Political Candidate Support, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus
Judgments Of Interpersonal Warmth Predict Class-Based Differences In Political Candidate Support, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The present research examines how warmth communications shape classbased patterns of political candidate support. Drawing on theory and evidence that lower-class individuals are more attuned to others, we predicted that, relative to upper-class individuals, they will modulate their trust and support in response to communications of warmth generated by and about political figures. In Experiment 1, lower-class compared to upper-class participants reported less trust and support for a political candidate who communicated his warmth in a campaign video, while no class differences emerged when he communicated competence or hostility to an opponent instead. In Experiment 2, lower-class compared to upper-class …
Signs Of Social Class: The Experience Of Economic Inequality In Everyday Life, Michael W. Kraus, Jun Won Park, Jacinth J. X. Tan
Signs Of Social Class: The Experience Of Economic Inequality In Everyday Life, Michael W. Kraus, Jun Won Park, Jacinth J. X. Tan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
By some accounts, global economic inequality is at its highest point on record. The pernicious effects of this broad societal trend are striking: Rising inequality is linked to poorer health and well-being across countries, continents, and cultures. The economic and psychological forces that perpetuate inequality continue to be studied, and in this theoretical review, we examine the role of daily experiences of economic inequality—the communication of social class signals between interaction partners—in this process. We theorize that social class signals activate social comparison processes that strengthen group boundaries between the haves and have nots in society. In particular, we argue …
Lay Theories About Social Class Buffer Lower-Class Individuals Against Poor Self-Rated Health And Negative Affect, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus
Lay Theories About Social Class Buffer Lower-Class Individuals Against Poor Self-Rated Health And Negative Affect, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The economic conditions of one’s life can profoundly and systematically influence health outcomes over the life course. Our present research demonstrates that rejecting the notion that social class categories are biologically determined—a nonessentialist belief—buffers lower-class individuals from poor self-rated health and negative affect, whereas conceiving of social class categories as rooted in biology—an essentialist belief—does not. In Study 1, lower-class individuals self-reported poorer health than upper-class individuals when they endorsed essentialist beliefs but showed no such difference when they rejected such beliefs. Exposure to essentialist theories of social class also led lower-class individuals to report greater feelings of negative self-conscious …
Americans Overestimate Social Class Mobility, Michael W. Kraus, Jacinth J. X. Tan
Americans Overestimate Social Class Mobility, Michael W. Kraus, Jacinth J. X. Tan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
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 …