title: Elementary School Children's Reasoning About Social Class: A Mixed-Methods Study.
abstract: The current study examined children's identification and reasoning about their subjective social status (SSS), their beliefs about social class groups (i.e., the poor, middle class, and rich), and the associations between the two. Study participants were 117 10- to 12-year-old children of diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds attending a laboratory elementary school in Southern California. Results indicated that children's SSS ratings correlated with indicators of family socioeconomic status and were informed by material possessions, lifestyle characteristics, and social and societal comparisons. Children rated the poor as having fewer positive attributes and more negative attributes than the middle class, and fewer positive attributes than the rich. Lower SSS children held less positive attitudes toward the poor than children with middle SSS ratings.
authors: University of California-Los Angeles.
authors: Rashmita S
authors: RS
authors: Mistry
authors: University of Kentucky.
authors: Christia S
authors: CS
authors: Brown
authors: Illinois State University.
authors: Elizabeth S
authors: ES
authors: White
authors: Society for Research in Child Development/American Association for the Advancement of Science Policy Fellow.
authors: Kirby A
authors: KA
authors: Chow
authors: Macalester College.
authors: Cari
authors: C
authors: Gillen-O'Neel
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology*; D012574:Schools; D012923:Social Class