Unmasking Class

Abstract

This study examined class identity negotiation among upwardly mobile poor and working-class emerging adults. Twenty-one ethnically diverse emerging adults narrated class-related experiences during interviews about their transition to college. Narratives were coded for (1) the strategies emerging adults used to make sense of their class experiences and (2) the events that prompted their class identity negotiation. Participants used class identity management strategies that reflected dissociation or resistance. Cross-class interactions that involved recognition of financial and behavioral disparities between themselves and their professional class peers were more likely to trigger both dissociation and resistance strategies. In contrast, noncomparative class-related experiences (e.g., parent loss of job) and same-class interactions were more likely to elicit dissociation strategies. These findings highlight the struggle and feelings of ambivalence that upwardly mobile emerging adults face as they manage the stigma and discrimination associated with their class background and protect their self-esteem.