Are the subjective social status inequalities persistent?

Abstract

Aiming to broaden the knowledge about Subjective Social Status Inequalities (SSSI), this short article examines the determinants WHERE and WHY people self-place themselves in the Top-Bottom societal ladder, WHAT makes them choose location. Employing multi-stage modelling on self-reported data from 27 countries in the ISSP’19 we focus on the polar ‘Higher’ and ‘Lower’ status groups, derived from 41,930 individuals' perceptions. To capture the cross-cultural perspectives of the subjective status architecture, we categorize countries into four segments based on Gini coefficient and GDP PP. Findings affirm prior studies (Kelley, Goldthorpe) that neither well-being nor income would alone explain the SSSI. Advanced machine learning analyses emerges ancestry as the primary influencer in the innovative factors’ battery, followed by social class, 'making ends meet', education, ethnicity. Subjective status groups persist across generations, residing in familiar environments, perpetuating their positions. In a cross-national context North and Central European societies display the highest subjective egalitarianism.