Are lower social class origins stigmatized at work? A qualitative study of social class concealment and disclosure among White men employees who experienced upward mobility

Abstract

Despite recognizing that socioeconomic standing can influence workplace behavior, minimal research in psychology has explored social class as a stigmatized and potentially manageable identity in the workplace. Compared to women and people of color, White men who moved up from low-income backgrounds may be especially likely to experience their previous class status as a concealable stigma at work. In this study, we used qualitative methods to investigate whether having a lower social class background might be experienced as a stigmatized identity for some employees, using a sample of 20 White men who self-identified as having moved up in social class. Individual interviews were used to assess the nature of participants' social class concealment and disclosure at work. Thematic analysis revealed five reasons why these White men concealed their former, lower-income status at work: Judgment, Nobody understands, It's personal, Pity, and Don't want to feel embarrassed or vulnerable. Our analysis also revealed five reasons why participants disclosed their previous class identity at work: being Forced to, To relate, To motivate/help somebody, Noticing class cues, and Becoming close. Results indicate that having a lower social class background can be experienced as stigmatizing at work. Moreover, while disclosure of one's lower-income background is more common than concealment for men in this group, that disclosure is often unintentional or unwanted. Our results also indicate that, like other potentially concealable identities, social class disclosure is an ongoing process that happens unevenly across time and across people. Future research should expand on this work by examining the experiences of upwardly mobile employees from other identity intersections.