Class, chaos, and the construction of community.
Chaotic conditions are a prevalent and threatening feature of social life. Five studies examined whether social class underlies divergent responses to perceptions of chaos in one's social environments and outcomes. The authors hypothesized that when coping with perceptions of chaos, lower class individuals tend to prioritize community, relative to upper class individuals, who instead tend to prioritize material wealth. Consistent with these predictions, when personally confronting chaos, lower class individuals were more communally oriented (Study 1), more connected with their community (Study 2), and more likely to volunteer for a community-building project (Study 3), compared to upper class individuals. In contrast, perceptions of chaos caused upper class individuals to express greater reliance on wealth (Study 4) and prefer financial gain over membership in a close-knit community (Study 5), relative to lower class individuals. These findings suggest that social class shapes how people respond to perceptions of chaos and cope with its threatening consequences.
Department of Psychology.
Paul K
PK
Piff
Independent Practice.
Daniel M
DM
Stancato
Department of Psychology, George Mason University.
Andres G
AG
Martinez
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Michael W
MW
Kraus
Department of Psychology.
Dacher
D
Keltner
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000145:classification*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000145:classification; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012923:Social Class; D012938:Social Perception; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult