Swapping and the social psychology of disadvantaged American populations

Abstract

Are observed class gradients in cognitive frameworks cause or effect of those socioeconomic differences? This question is of critical importance not just for policymakers and psychologists but for all social scientists, including market researchers. The question is all the more salient today as economic and behavioral disparities have seemingly widened in tandem over the last few decades. This commentary offers various theories for this observed correlation within the context of recent psychological and sociological scholarship.

Champagne taste, beer budget: The new poor’s incongruent capital and consumption

“…For the new poor, it is exactly because of the understanding, instead of ignorance, regarding their marginalized economic position that informants choose to spend in a knowing, calculating, and purposeful way. This tendency also indirectly echoes a long-lasting debate regarding whether different lifestyles are the causes or the products of different social positions (Conley, 2016). If there is a “culture of poverty,” that is, people’s disadvantaged social position resulted from their internalized, inherited values that prevent them from improving the conditions (Lewis, 1975), then one may ascribe the new poor’s struggle to their own hedonic consumption.…”

Imbricadas entre as dimensões de acesso e exposição: práticas alimentares de mães na Amazônia ocidental brasileira

“…Em outras palavras, a classe social é uma das diversas formas pela qual a cultura incita o entendimento e a experiência dos sujeitos no mundo por meio de ideias, interações e instituições (CAREY e MARKUS, 2016;STEPHENS et al, 2014). Portanto, as vivências dos sujeitos com determinada condição socioeconômica tornam-se um importante aspecto na investigação, contribuindo para a literatura existente que se debruça sobre os impactos dos contextos socioeconômicos na estrutura cognitiva dos sujeitos (KRAUS et al, 2011), nas relações sociais estabelecidas (CONLEY et al, 2016) e no comportamento de consumidor (SHAVITT, JIANG, CHO, 2016).…”

The forgotten working‐class consumer

“…In a second commentary, Dalton Conley (2016‐‐in this issue), a prominent sociologist, argues that Carey and Markus's work about the distinct psychology of the working class should be evaluated in the context of broader sociological trends and economic forces. For instance, he suggests that today's increasing gap between the working class and the middle class emanates in part from a much greater propensity to have children outside of marriage among the less educated, and the greater selective pressure that a shift from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy has placed on the working class.…”