Greater income inequality, lower school belonging: Multilevel and cross-temporal analyses of 65 countries.

Abstract

Students' school belonging is critical to overall functioning. Most past studies of school belonging's antecedents focused on individual-level and proximal environmental factors, neglecting broader socioecological factors such as income inequality. Hence, this study examined whether income inequality is associated with students' school belonging. We further examined whether having high socioeconomic status could buffer the harmful consequences of income inequality on school belonging. We drew on 822,230 students' survey responses from 65 countries/regions using 3 waves of data (2000; 2003; and 2012) from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Multilevel and cross-temporal analyses were used. Results showed that country-level income inequality in the past year was associated with lower school belonging, controlling for other variables at the country, school, and student-levels. School and family socioeconomic status moderated the effects of inequality. More specifically, for students in more affluent schools and more advantaged families, the association between inequality and belonging was weaker. This study demonstrates the importance of income inequality and the buffering role played by socioeconomic status in school belonging. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Educational Impact and ImplicationsIn societies with higher levels of income inequality, students experienced lower levels of school belonging. However, being from an advantaged family and a more affluent school seemed to have a protective function. The negative association between inequality and belonging was lower for students from more affluent families and schools. This study showed the importance of income inequality on school belonging and highlighted the roles played by socioeconomic resources in buffering inequality's potentially harmful consequences.

Sociocultural and ecological perspectives on achievement motivation

“…These effects held despite controlling for country‐ and school‐level economic resources, suggesting that it is not only the absolute amount of economic resources but also the dispersion of these resources that could explain maladaptive social relationships (Due et al., 2009). Higher inequality led to lower feelings of school belonging (King et al., 2020).…”

“…For example, researchers have found that higher levels of inequality led to lower levels of reading, math, and science scores. More interestingly, motivational factors such as intrinsic motivation also paid lower dividends in such unequal contexts (King et al., 2020). among 15‐year‐old students.…”

Children's developing understanding of economic inequality and their place within it

“…However, the pernicious effects of inequality cannot be reduced only to an increase in poverty. Studies of child and adolescent health and life satisfaction (e.g., Elgar et al, 2015, 2017), educational participation (e.g., Kearney & Levine, 2016; King et al, 2022) and bullying (e.g., Contreras et al, 2015; Elgar et al, 2013) all indicate that income inequality is a unique predictor of variance in children's well‐being after controlling for family income.…”

“…By the time they reach adolescence, they have a detailed knowledge of socioeconomic differences and hierarchies within their society (Cabieses et al, 2015). It also seems likely that higher inequality increases the salience of income differences (Cheung & Lucas, 2016; King et al, 2022) and may make children more aware of their family position in the income hierarchy. In a working paper for UNICEF, Alemán‐Díaz et al (2016) concluded that the negative effects of inequality on poorer children stemmed from both the restrictions and stresses associated with living in poverty and the additional stress created by their awareness of their relative socioeconomic position which can lower their self‐esteem and self‐efficacy.…”

The psychological imprint of inequality: Economic inequality shapes achievement and power values in human life

“…On the other hand, from an evolutionary perspective, while overall unequal distributions act as an economic stressor threatening people's survival, abundant material resources in developed countries may protect people against the influence of inequality (Oishi et al, 2022), which makes it possible that inequality affects values more in developing than developed countries. Although existing research has shown some evidence for main effects of both economic development and economic inequality on values, it remains unclear whether and if so how wealth and economic inequality may interact to affect individual psychological characteristics (King et al, 2022; Ngamaba et al, 2018; Oishi & Kesebir, 2015). Therefore, we adopt an exploratory approach to studying the interactive effects of economic development and economic inequality on values (exploratory research question 1, ERQ1).…”