How lower- and working-class youth become middle-class adults: the association between ego defense mechanisms and upward social mobility.
This is a report of social mobility in 278 inner-city men studied for 4 decades and over 3 generations. 63.3% of the men and 59.8% of their children were upwardly mobile. 8 variables captured 28% of the explained variance in upward social mobility: IQ, mother's education, mother's occupation, boyhood ego strength, and four ego defense mechanisms--intellectualization, dissociation, sublimation, and anticipation. Of the 8 variables, intellectualization--the capacity to isolate ideation from the associated affect--explained the most unique variance, especially over 3 generations. Childhood relations of subjects with parents and father's IQ exerted no discernible effect on children's upward social mobility.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004532:Ego; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment; D012937:Social Mobility