The Role of Social Class in the Formation of Identity: A Study of Public and Elite Private College Students

Abstract

The authors explored the influence of social class on identity formation in an interview study of 15 lower income students and 15 affluent students from a highly selective liberal arts school and 15 lower income students from a state college. Students ranked occupational goals as 1st in importance to identity and social class as 2nd. The affluent students regarded social class as significantly more important to identity than did the lower income students, were more aware of structural factors contributing to their success, and had higher occupational aspirations. Social class was an area of exploration for half the students, with higher levels of exploration shown by the lower income private school students than by the state college students. Lower income students developed an ideology that rationalized their social class position.

The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour

“…In both datasets, the importance of each of these three identities was systematically related to objective indicators of the respondents' SES: As the respondent's SES increased, the subjective importance of SES-related identities increased, whereas the importance of basic-demographic and (to a lesser extent) sociocultural identities decreased. Interestingly, these findings echo those of a qualitative, interviewbased study conducted with American college students: Aries and Seider (2007) found that affluent respondents were more likely than their less affluent counterparts to acknowledge the importance of social class in shaping their identities. As the researchers put it, 'The affluent students were well aware of the educational benefits that had accrued from their economically privileged status and of the opportunities that they had to travel and pursue their interests.…”

Social Class in Family Therapy Education: Experiences of Low SES Students

“…In the United States, the widespread “myth of meritocracy” encourages the notion that citizens have equal access to material resources, education, occupational choice, and prestige based on individual effort and hard work. This fits well within the framework of democracy but falls short of being accurate in capitalist societies where social and cultural capital determines access to economic capital and overall social class status (Aries & Seider, 2007). In reality, social class is largely inherited and shared laterally based on social location including race, ethnicity, immigration status, family‐of‐origin, community connections, wealth, and other related variables (Stephens, Markus, & Townsend, 2007).…”

College Socialization and the Economic Views of Affluent Americans

“…Class culture theory argues that affluent environments crystallize subjective interests in line with the class with which students already feel comfortable. Finally, on an affluent campus, affluent students were found to have higher occupational aspirations, and to be more aware of the personal benefits of affluence, than lower-class students (Aries and Seider 2007). Conversely, students from nonaffluent class backgrounds may not feel as identified with and integrated into an affluent culture, and they may be less likely to develop the tastes and habits of their affluent peers.…”