How Employees Who Have Made Upward Social Class Transitions Get Heard in the Workplace

Little research has examined the role of social class in the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental well-being. This 4-year longitudinal study in South Korea (N = 86,872; 875,967 responses) assessed well-being before (January 2019 to January 2020) and during (January 2020 to January 2023) the COVID-19 pandemic to determine whether change in well-being during this period differed by social class. We expanded the investigation to consider transitions in social class, social distancing measures, and the mechanisms underlying well-being changes according to social class during the pandemic. In particular, we assessed the moderating effects of social class on within-person changes in well-being using conducting multilevel modeling-based analyses in four approaches. First, we found that, while higher-class individuals maintained an average well-being that was higher than that of lower-class individuals, they also experienced a steeper decline in well-being over the course of the pandemic. Relative to their pre-COVID-19 levels, they experienced a significant decrease in well-being in the first, second, and third years of COVID-19, showing no sign of recovery until the pandemic neared its end. Second, this pattern persisted without regard for critical social class transitions following the pandemic: individuals remaining in the higher class during both the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods experienced significant declines in well-being relative to baseline. Third, higher-class individuals faced larger difficulties in maintaining their well-being, particularly with respect to social distancing measures, while the well-being of lower-class individuals was less affected. Fourth, perceived changes in daily life mediated observed class difference in well-being declines, showing that higher-class individuals experienced greater changes in their daily lives due to COVID-19 than lower-class individuals did, resulting in greater declines in well-being. Taken together, these findings indicate that COVID-19 transformed components of life that are essential for the psychological health of the well-off, providing novel insights into the significant power of social class in the experiences of changes in well-being, going beyond the absolute gap that has been well-established by cross-sectional studies. This indicates the need for class-targeted interventions and policies to support well-being across all socioeconomic strata in future crises.

Despite persuasive arguments pertaining to the importance of social class in the shaping of human life, this has and continues to be neglected within psychological research. Using primarily a UK focus, we begin by outlining some of the ways in which ‘mainstream’ psychology typically conceptualises class (e.g. socio‐economic status) and argue that such an approach has a number of detrimental implications, for example, neglecting structural inequalities and oppression and ‘othering’ the working class. We then present a selection of ‘critical’ and feminist‐informed research on social class which, we argue, offers a more holistic and sophisticated understanding of class and, in particular, draws attention to the complexities involved in how people experience, understand and construct class, classed identities and class transitions. Further, such work provides insight into the many ways in which people reproduce, re‐work and resist classed discourse in everyday contexts such as the home, work place and beyond. However, we acknowledge the need for investigation into how those with more economic power justify class privilege and discursively protect and maintain their status.

A common assumption in the social stratification literature is that the lion’s share of people reaches occupational maturity quite early in working life, i.e., they end up in an occupation/class position and stay there. The conventional view is that career maturity is reached around the age of 35. By using Swedish longitudinal occupational biographies across six birth cohorts from 1925 to 1984, this study challenges this view. Our findings reveal substantial career transitions throughout working life, an increase across cohorts, and a wide variation in the age of the last class transition. This suggests that careers are not in general static positions from a certain age, but fluctuate over time. There are signs of a general slowing down of career transitions across working lives, but this comes later in life and to a smaller extent than expected. These findings suggest that research often based on cross sectional data, e.g. studies on intergenerational mobility and class differences in health, need to incorporate career mobility data. More research is needed to illuminate if the results of Sweden, in terms of a low and decreasing level of occupational maturity can be replicated in other countries.

Taking a strengths-based perspective, this chapter focuses on understanding social class transitions and resilience among people in lower social classes. The Mobility Typology is a framework for understanding how people in lower social classes navigate social transitions. This typology is predicated on an experience of social class transition (upward, downward, or laterally) and the identification and use of resources to help the individual adapt to the new social class environment. Although the typology is relevant for people experiencing upward, downward, and lateral transitions, the chapter will focus on those moving from lower to upper social classes and thus focus will be on the entitled and distressed types. The authors challenge the perception that people in lower social classes lack agency or are constantly struggling, and instead highlight possible points of strengths. Positive psychology is able to provide an understanding of the strengths that individuals of the entitled and distressed types possess and how these individuals may construct meaning from their contexts. Practice and research implications are provided.

Peptide binding by class II major histocompatibility complex proteins is generally enhanced at low pH in the range of hydrogen ion concentrations found in the endosomal compartments of antigen- presenting cells. We and others have proposed that class II molecules undergo a reversible conformational change at low pH that is associated with enhanced peptide loading. However, no one has previously provided direct evidence for a structural change in class II proteins in the mildly acidic pH conditions in which enhanced peptide binding is observed. In this study, susceptibility to denaturation induced by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) detergent or heat was used to probe the conformation of class II at different hydrogen ion concentrations. Class II molecules became sensitive to denaturation at pH 5.5-6.5 depending on the allele and experimental conditions. The observed structural transition was fully reversible if acidic pH was neutralized before exposure to SDS or heat. Experiments with the environment- sensitive fluorescent probe ANS (8-anilino-1-naphthalene-sulfonic acid) provided further evidence for a reversible structural transition at mildly acidic pH associated with an increase in exposed hydrophobicity in class II molecules. IAd conformation was found to change at a higher pH than IEd, IEk, or IAk, which correlates with the different pH optimal for peptide binding by these molecules. We conclude that pH regulates peptide binding by influencing the structure of class II molecules.

We argue that social psychological theories of social class should move toward a more dynamic view that considers class change experiences to supplement more static perspectives focused on backgrounds or current positions. Indeed, social class is a unique demographic form of hierarchy because of its dynamism: social class is relatively malleable compared to race and gender; it can change multiple times in one's lifespan; and unlike age, it is something individuals can strive to change and that they often believe is possible to change. We review work from a variety of fields, including sociology, psychology, and organizational behavior, that begins to tackle the question of social class change experiences. Drawing on theories of social class transitions, acculturation, and identity change, we present an organizing framework suggesting three objective, structural features of social class change that should inform individuals' experience of changing class: What direction am I going (resource expectations)? How did I get here (predictability)? Where should I be (social comparisons)? We review emerging work as well as gaps in existing theory and suggest avenues for future research.

Morphological segmentation and classification of marble textures at macroscopical scale

This research explores the relationship between upward mobility and voice. We build hypotheses and find evidence that rather than being imprinted with a lower sense of efficacy, the upwardly mobile possess a high internal sense of efficacy and are likely to speak up. However, this positive pathway to voice for the upwardly mobile is offset by managers being more inclined to solicit voice from those who come from, and have remained in, higher social class positions. We test our hypotheses in three studies: a field survey, a preregistered analysis of an archival dataset, and a preregistered experiment. This work provides evidence that the internal self-views long associated with those from lower social class backgrounds may not adequately describe the upwardly mobile. Contrary to having a persistent low sense of their abilities, we find that the upwardly mobile espouse high efficacy and do speak up but that managers appear less likely to provide them with equal opportunities for voice, instead seeking it from employees from more elite backgrounds. This work also extends theories of employee voice by showing how managers' decisions about whose input to solicit are influenced by employees' socially significant characteristics in ways that could lead to systematic disadvantages.

The 19th-century is considered as a crucial epoch in British history, which witnessed profound social upheavals that spanned economic, political, and cultural domains. This paper examines the 19th-century art market through the perspective of Agnew’s Gallery in Britain. The gallery demonstrated precise market forecasting abilities by discerning the tastes of various social classes, reflected in its adept procurement, sponsorship, and copyright acquisitions. Thomas Agnew focused on acquiring watercolor landscapes of the English countryside, while William Agnew expanded the gallery’s inventory by securing aristocratic collections. Furthermore, it highlighted significant shifts in artwork themes and diversified profit strategies within the art market, highlighting the gallery’s pivotal role in adapting to and shaping the evolving landscape of artistic creation and commerce during this era. Simultaneously, William Agnew, as both an art dealer and Member of Parliament, expanded the gallery’s clientele and encouraged middle-class art consumption. By combining cultural, political, and economic influence, he positioned Agnew’s Gallery as a key player in the 19th-century art market, mirroring the impact of Victorian social structures on art and collecting trends. The gallery’s auction and exhibition initiatives provided convenience for the emerging middle class to establish collections and assisted numerous British Indigenous artists, even accommodating the artistic interests of the lower classes. Throughout the gallery’s developmental journey, the macro-level business strategies of the Agnew family unveiled the influence of Victorian societal structures and class dynamics on trends in artistic creation and collection within the art market.

Countries with the most rigidly stratified and severely unequal class structures proved least successful in developing any kind of democratic polity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Quasi-feudalistic patterns of land tenure and labor exploitation, and enormous concentrations of land and other forms of wealth, were forbidding obstacles. An equally rich area for comparative analysis concerns the rise of the working class and the way in which it became excluded from or incorporated into the political process. Admiration for the political dynamism of the United States was reflected in the degree to which new democracies in Latin America modeled their constitutions after that of the United States. The role of an emergent bourgeoisie in pressing for democratization and the limitation of state power in Latin America is an obvious and important issue for investigation. The development and maintenance of democracy is greatly facilitated by values and behavioral dispositions of compromise, flexibility, tolerance, conciliation, moderation, and restraint.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the social dynamics of social identity transitions. To this end, the symposium will include the presentation of four papers which illustrate how social mobility (Martin and Beetz), shifts in social expectations (Knowlton), and observer judgement (Levitt, Murphy, and Pratt) influence people’s work- related social identity transitions. Research on people’s efforts to revise, repair, reconstruct, reinforce, or navigate work-related identities, known as “identity work” (Brown, 2015), has typically focused on situations in which individuals move across static role/job boundaries, such as from one professional role into another (e.g. Pratt, Rockmann, and Kaufmann, 2006), or how individuals manage static occupations that, by their nature, induce intrapsychic tension regarding identity (e.g. Kreiner, Hollensbe, & Sheep, 2006). Social identity transitions can be highly socially dynamic, however, with people often engaging in identity work due to changes in other individuals, institutions, and/or broad social forces (Brown, 2015; Petriglieri, 2011; Petriglieri et al., 2019). In a world that is ever more socially connected, interdependent, and transparent, the potential for social actors or forces to spur individual-level identity work by affecting a social group’s boundaries or meaning is high. By featuring work that provides insight into the social dynamics of social identity transitions, this symposium draws attention to a topic that is key to understanding the inner experiences of much of the present and future workforce. Social Class Transition and Employee Voice Presenter: Sean Martin; U. of Virginia Cashing in or Selling Out? Identity Co-Optation and Authenticity in Craft Industries Presenter: Keith Norman Leavitt; Oregon State U. Presenter: Chad Benjamin Murphy; Oregon State U. Who Can Be an Entrepreneur? Entrepreneurial Support Organizations & Entrepreneur Identity Presenter: Karren Kimberly Knowlton; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Banu Ozkazanc-Pan; Brown U. Presenter: Susan Clark Muntean; U. of North Carolina, Asheville My Class has Changed but My Upbringing Has Not: Identity Navigation & Upward Class Mobility Presenter: Arianna M. Beetz; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania

Drawing on theories of social class transitions and communication, we argue that employees who have reached positions of higher Socio-Economic Status (SES) from lower SES backgrounds develop unique capabilities to tactfully express their viewpoints. Such employees, during their social class transition, often need to carefully navigate interactions with gatekeepers of relatively higher power in the social hierarchy; in that process, they get opportunities to hone voice crafting, which involves delivering the challenge-oriented content of their ideas and concerns in a palatable and non-threatening manner to others. Such ability to voice craft can especially help them deal better with managers who hold power in the organizational hierarchy and, thereby, gain greater voice endorsement than their peers from more privileged SES backgrounds. We establish support for our theory through a multisource field survey study in a multi-national firm in India and a set of two studies using a quasi-experimental causal-chain design using online samples of working adults based in the United States and the United Kingdom. In the process, we challenge the dominant view in the literature that the disadvantages that employees with lower SES backgrounds face in elite work settings can overshadow any advantages they develop as they come out of their hardscrabble upbringing, especially when it comes to getting heard.

This paper addresses the relationship between spatial change and social process in China. Studies in Anglo-American and European cities usually suggest middle classes move into a working class neighbourhood and causes gentrification. Such a relationship is not found in China, where the state intervenes highly into the social and economic processes. Using neighbourhood redevelopment in Guangzhou as a case study, this paper argues that China’s state-led redevelopment is a redistribution process which produces a housing class in cities. During the process, native residents received the blessing of the local government and granted access to housing resources after redevelopment. Through house allocation and land rent sharing, neighbourhood redevelopment makes a specific housing middle class in the city. This process demonstrates not only the Chinese state’s consistent engagement in socioeconomic development, but also a very different relationship between spatial changes and social class transition in the country.

Observing Upward Social Class Transition, Voice Solicitation, and Promotion Intention

Up and Down the Social Ladder: Short Term Social Class Transitions