Class Stereotypes Research Articles

Degree performance as a function of discipline studied, parental occupation and gender

Degree performance in England and Wales was investigated as a function of social class and gender for several disciplines of study. Three performance criteria were considered: FIRST class; GOOD, and COMPETENT. The findings are complex, and some of them conflict with widely held class and gender stereotypes. Women performed better than men at the FIRST class and/or GOOD criteria, in all professional disciplines and in biological sciences. At the FIRST and GOOD criteria women performed best relative to men in biological content areas, next best in physical and mathematical content areas and worst in humanities content areas. A similar ordering of content areas was obtained when comparing students of lower class origins with those of upper and middle class origins. At the COMPETENT criterion, women performed better than men; and students of lower social class origins performed better than students of upper and middle social class origins. There was a trend, particularly marked in the humanities, for women to perform less well at the FIRST class criterion than would have been predicted by their achievements at the GOOD criterion. The implications of these patterns for theories of group differences in excellent academic performance and for educational policy are discussed.

Race � class stereotypes of women

Forty-four undergraduates assigned traditional stereotyping adjectives to middle-class black, middle-class white, lower-class black, and lower-class white female stimulus persons. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that these Race × Class stereotypes of women differed significantly by race and by social class, but there was no Race × Class interaction. The stereotype of white women was rated significantly higher than that of black women on dependent, passive, and emotional. The stereotype of lower-class women was rated significantly higher than that of middle-class women on confused, dirty, hostile, inconsiderate, and irresponsible. Although the stereotypes of women differed significantly by race and social class, all were stereotypically feminine. In addition, the stereotypes of white women, and of middle-class women were most similar to traditional stereotypes of women. Thus, it was concluded that both race and social class are implicit variables in sex-role stereotypes.

Speech style and the fluctuating salience of sex

Several empirical studies are reviewed which demonstrate the important role of speech style as a basis for making inference about women's and men's personalities, attitudes, and behaviors. In the type of study that we describe, the regional accent and inferred socioeconomic status of the speaker are more salient determinants of speaker evaluation than is speaker sex. Furthermore, the familiar finding that RP accented speech carries middle class connotations, while regional speech is associated with working class stereotypes, is shown to generalize from men to women. Listeners are also able to differentiate reliably and accurately between men and women speakers who vary as to how typically masculine and feminine they consider themselves to be, and these descriptive differentiations are closely tied to patterns of evaluative discrimination among the speakers. New data are introduced, however, which have caused us to reevaluate some of our previous findings. Consequently, we (1) no longer regard female RP speech as the voice of perceived androgyny, and (2) are encouraged to look for a more general explanation of the finding that listeners can distinguish feminist from non-feminist speakers. The implications of the data for future research are fully discussed.

Youthful Offenders in Israel

AbstractThis study investigates the legal status and treatment of the youthful offender in Israel. Due to a legal provision, in the case of the youthful offender, the court is required to receive a pre-sentencing report from a probation officer; however, there is no institutionalized indication as to how or to what degree the judges should follow the report. Our findings reveal that both judges and probation officers adhere to high professional standards and make their decisions according to the specific case brought in front of them, and that they are not affected by social class or ethnic stereotypes. In spite of a considerable correspondence between the recommendations made by the probation officers and the decisions made by the judges, one cannot avoid noticing also some discrepancy. This is attributed to the strong therapeutic values which characterize the probation officers' training and which are less evident among the judges. The consequences of this discrepancy are analysed and discussed and a few steps to narrow the gap are suggested.

Evaluative race–class stereotypes by race and perceived class of subjects.

Evaluative race–class stereotypes by race and perceived class of subjects.

Orientations Toward Social Classes

There are two kinds of stereotypes of social classes in the United States: mass and group stereotypes. Mass stereotypes of social classes are a part of societal culture: symbols and cliches such as are used as indicators of class in the mass media. There are many group stereotypes of social class, accompanied by group norms and sanctions. They form part of each person's conception of social organization. The non-verbal, non-rational nature of group norms and sanctions may render them meaningless and ineffective outside the group.