Social Class Differences Research Articles

The impact of the exercise on the social mentality of the Chinese people.

Engaging in exercise not only encompasses its intrinsic attributes but also signifies its social dimensions. It reflects an underlying emotional tone and cumulative value attributed to exercise by individuals, forming a broad, macro-level socio-psychological relationship in alignment with the conceptual definition of societal mentality. The social mentality is an indicator of a nation's governance capacity and mirrors the overall socio-psychological profile and needs of its citizens. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the influence of exercise, specifically through the lens of sports, on the sociall mentality of the Chinese population, encompassing aspects of social trust and social equity. Additionally, we explore the distinct mechanisms underlying differences in social class, generation disparities, and spatial dimensions. This inquiry aims to contribute to enhancing governance capabilities and societal stability. Data for this study was sourced from the 2023 China General Social Survey. We selected 20 variables and analyzed a sample of 6,746 individuals. We employed Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multiple linear regression models to construct our analysis. The findings indicate that exercise has a positive influence on the social mentality of the Chinese population. A higher frequency of participation in sports correlates with a more advanced level of social mentality development. Notably, significant disparities exist between the macro-level and micro-level impacts of exercise, suggesting ample room for improvement. Social class, generational disparities, and spatial dimensions demonstrate substantial impact, each exhibiting unique characteristics depending on the specific research question. Furthermore, the weightings of social trust orientation and social equity orientation within the societal mentality dimensions exhibit variability and fluctuations. When exploring the topic of social mentality, it is recommended to separately discuss the various dimensions it encompasses, thus providing a comprehensive, detailed, and precise portrayal of specific issues. To bolster the influence of exercise on the social mentality, as well as to enhance governance capabilities and societal stability, the following recommendations are proposed: (1) In-depth exploration of differences within social strata to optimize the mechanisms through which exercise influences the social mentality; (2) Balancing generational disparities to establish a solid foundation for the influence of exercise on the social mentality; (3) Recognizing spatial dimensions to harness the spatial dynamism of exercise in shaping the social mentality.

Using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus to explore higher education decision-making for working class women on an access to higher education course

Despite the increasing number of non-traditional students entering higher education (HE) in England, HE choices remain stratified by social class. Mature working class students are a target group of the widening participation policy, yet little attention has been given to their HE choices and decision-making. Through narrative inquiry, this study uses a creative method alongside focus groups and semi-structured interviews, and contributes a class perspective to the HE decision-making for 13 women on an Access to HE course. It links sociological theory to adult education, through a Bourdieusian framework. It evidences structural constraints and perceptions of belonging that impeded choices. A sense of place and feelings of fit (habitus) were significant for destination decisions. However, Access to HE course teachers were positively influential in helping students challenge embedded habitual ways of thinking and practice and in raising self-efficacy. The findings offer explanations as to why participation rates may be increasing but not widening enough. It illuminates how social class differences (intersected by age and gender) are crucial to understanding HE decision-making and places a much-needed focus on mature students to the widening participation and social mobility agenda.

The changing educational and social class gradients in union dissolution: Evidence from a latecomer of the Second Demographic Transition

Most studies on the changing socioeconomic gradient of divorce have operationalized individuals’ socioeconomic status (SES) through education, often neglecting social class differences. Education may proxy cultural and cognitive skills, whereas social class could more accurately capture economic means. Additionally, existing research has predominantly focused on women and marital dissolutions. This study addresses these oversights by analyzing the educational and social class gradients of both marriage and cohabitation dissolutions among men and women in Italy—a latecomer to the Second Demographic Transition. We used non-proportional hazard models to estimate survival curves and union dissolution probabilities stratified by education, social class, and cohort. Our findings reveal a vanishing socioeconomic gradient of marital dissolution among women and a reversal from positive to negative among men across cohorts. These results challenge the conventional view that men’s higher SES always stabilizes unions and support Goode’s hypothesis on the reversal of the socioeconomic gradient of divorce for both genders. No clear SES gradient was found for cohabiting unions. Overall, the study demonstrates the significant predictive power of social class for marital dissolutions, even when controlling for education, emphasizing the need to consider both measures of SES to comprehensively account for different underlying mechanisms.

Self-selection or situational stratification? A quasiexperimental study on social class differences in health behaviors in China

Fundamental cause theory suggests that differences in social status lead to health inequalities, with lifestyle serving as the intermediary mechanism. This study uses multiple waves of data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) to first explore differences in drinking, smoking, and physical exercise across different social classes and finds that managers have significantly greater tendencies toward risky health behaviors such as drinking and smoking. Subsequently, the study examines changes in class differences in drinking behavior with respect to the anticorruption policy. The results show that neither lifestyle transition theory nor the self-selection mechanism can fully explain the phenomenon of managers drinking more. Health stratification is not a simple reflection of the socioeconomic status gradient, and there is an urgent need to rethink the theoretical framework of social stratification that emphasizes microlevel individual practices as a direct reflection of macrostructural positions.

Effect of out-of-school visual art activities on academic performance. The mediating role of socioeconomic status.

The application of visual art and other extracurricular activities to children's sustainable development is predominantly discussed in Western countries. Consequently, non-Western society could not cherish the benefit of visual art on their children's cognitive and non-cognitive skill development due to a lack of evidence that would revive the community, educators, and policy-makers' impressions about visual art activities, in addition to its amusement use. Thus, the present study adopted a cross-sectional study comprised of a large-scale survey (N = 1624) taken from the southwest part of China to assess the impact of out-of-school visual art activities on children's academic attainment across economically advantaged and disadvantaged children. Astonishingly, the study's findings shed light on current Chinese parents' dedication to purchasing out-of-school activities regardless of their social class difference; notwithstanding, lower-class parents ought to learn that spending time with their children during their activities is more beneficial. The study's implication calls for curriculum policy reform involving aesthetic education and expanding community youth centers for different extracurricular activities.

Are highly educated partners really more gender egalitarian? A couple-level analysis of social class differentials in attitudes and behaviors

Are highly educated partners really more gender egalitarian? A couple-level analysis of social class differentials in attitudes and behaviors

Threads of Tradition Social Expectations and Marriage in Emma by Jane Austen and Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

This study explores the theme of marriage and social expectations in two beloved novels: In case of two British novelists Jane Austen's Emma and Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The paper is focused on revealing a multi-faceted character of the figure of gender roles, social values and traditions linking the lives of Emma Woodhouse and Tess Durbeyfield by means of a comparative analysis. These tensions between female characters' individual goals and social constraints are exposed by the study and the opinions of Elizabeth V. Spelman, Ann Bo-Hubert, Hazel Carby, Elaine Showalter, Susan Gubar and Sandra M. Gilbert are referred to. Austen dismantled the precedent social norms of the Regency period through the vital tool of satire and wit after this novel is through and through analysed out. The made decision to make the word association “Brain” instead of “love” is a pretty good way to show the society who sees marriage as only a calculated action, not the passionate connection. The multilayered substructures of a theme are formed due to the "crazy woman in the attic" metaphor constructed by Gilbert and Gubar which implies the true self of a woman in society is suppressed due to restricted roles. Unlike Stone's 'Greek Myths,' Hardy in Tess of the D’Urbervilles focusing on a gloomy story that work to demonstrate the harmful consequences of ignoring Victorian society rules. The article analyses the marriage and gender role issues that Hardy has shown in a vivid manner as Eagleton says. The main conflict of the play is about what man want and what society demands, that is: what is true happiness and what is right in social term. Social class differences get intensively scrutinized, as the plot shows how the social systems influence the lives of the characters and build their destinies which deepens the theme analysis further. The study shows that these classic novels have been excellent guides and examples that have helped readers figure out what they would like to do with their lives. Moreover, the readers have been able to see people confront the challenges they encounter from institutions or interpersonal dynamics as well as expectations to balance their culture and social obligations.

The elephant in the (class) room: cultural capital as personal differences and college segregation

This article presents the results of two projects exploring the experiences of working-class students in elite colleges. The first project is a nation-wide study that included 19 focus groups with 183 program participants of a condonable loan program, and additional interviews and focus groups with non-scholarship students, professors and administrators. The second project is an in-depth ethnographic project including 61 interviews with beneficiaries of the same condonable loan program and multiple ethnographic observations over 4 years. Two main consistent related themes appeared in the data. First, cultural capital and, more generally, social class differences are perceived as the result of personal preferences and individual choice. Second, this perception helps making social class invisible and allows the interpretation of college segregation as independent of the class structure. Both themes are related with the lack of open conversations about class in elite colleges and to the frames of abstract liberalism previously identified for the case of racism.

“Never mind”: social class differences in children’s developing emotion attributions to procedural justice outcomes

ABSTRACT This study examined children’s emotion attributions and moral judgements to hypothetical procedural justice outcomes when the candidates were equal in merit but different in need. Children (7 to 11 years old, N = 88) were presented with four vignettes depicting resource-rich and resource-poor candidates losing educational materials and experiences. Results demonstrated that children attributed more negative emotions when the resource-poor candidate lost resources. Older children attributed more two-sided emotions to procedural justice outcomes, mainly when the resource-poor candidates lost resources. However, emotion complexity was not always positively associated with welfare justifications, such that children considered the type of resource, needs of the candidates, and outcomes. In addition, children from low subjective social status (SSS) attributed more positive emotions and used more emotion complexity for the loser. Results are discussed concerning children’s developing emotion attribution and understanding of procedural justice.

Exploring Social Class Differences in Urban Parents’ School Choices in Kazakhstan

A diverse education market has formed in Kazakhstan since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Previous studies of educational choice in Central Asia have laid a general foundation, but greater insight into class differences has not been studied in Central Asia. We utilize data collected in 2015 from over 300 households in six cities in Kazakhstan to compare social class and ethnic differences in parents’ choices in the educational market. We found only slight differences in school choice based on social class, as measured by wealth and parental education. Ethnic differences were also slight.

Ideological Construction of Deviance in Street Children’s Discourse in Southwestern Nigeria

This paper explores how Nigerian street children construct deviance in their discourse, which has been overlooked in previous research. Through participant observation and interviews with 104 street children and Critical linguistic qualitative analysis using the CDA approach, findings show that deviance was constructed as alignment with street abnormality and a struggle for survival. Employing strategies such as evocations of sympathy, commonality, trivialization, and overgeneralization, their constructions reflect street ideology and beliefs which highlight social inequality and class differences between streets and mainstream society. These beliefs shape street childrens cognitive models, value systems and influence their worldview.

The Social Inequality of Music: University Students from a Higher Social Class Are More Likely to Build Relationships and Feel Happiness Through Music.

The relationship between young people's music use and well-being has gained extensive interest in recent years. The relationship-building function of music is one of its most important functions. While many studies have documented the positive effects of this function, there is a lack of research discussing this topic from the perspective of social stratification. This study sampled 691(63.8% male, M age = 19.43, SD = 1.42) Chinese university students to examine the social class differences among university students in acquiring well-being through the relationship-building function of music. The results revealed that university students from a higher social class are more likely to acquire well-being through the relationship-building function of music. In addition, interdependent self-construal plays a moderating role in the mediating model. The mediating effect was only significant when university students have a higher level of interdependent self-construal. These results indicated social class differences among university students in the building of relationships with music, underscoring the need for future research and interventions to address social inequality in the context of music's functions.

Konflik Sosial dalam novel Terusir karya Hamka

This research aims to describe: (1) the form of social conflict in the novel Terusir by Hamka,(2) the causes of social conflict in the novel Terusir by Hamka,(3) the impact of social conflict in the novel Terusir by Hamka. The object used in this research is the novel Terusir by Hamka, the first printed edition published by Gema Insani in 2016. The type of research used is literary research using descriptive methods. The data in this research are in the form of words, phrases, clauses and sentences that describe social conflict in the form of the narrator's narration about the characters, the characters' speeches, the characters' actions depicted in the setting of the novel Terusir by Hamka. The data collection techniques in this research are reading and understanding the novel, identifying the main character, recording data related to the research problem, and inventorying the data into an inventory format related to the novel Terusir by Hamka. Data analysis techniques include identifying and classifying data, interpreting data, concluding the results of data analysis, and reporting the results of data analysis in the form of a thesis. Based on data analysis, the following forms of social conflict were found in the novel Terusir by Hamka, namely (1) ersonal conflict, (2) group or family conflict, (3)conflict in society. The causes of social conflict are, (1) differences between individuals, (2) differences in social class, (3) differences in interests, (4) social change. The impact of social conflict is in the form of, (1) destruction of group unity, (2) changes in social personality, (3) destruction of norms and social values.

SAR dynamical mechanism affected by diminishing marginal effect based on personal fashion psychology on multi-layer contacted network

People in complex systems exhibit varying capacities for social interaction because of differences in personal psychology, educational attainment, and social class. It is true that people often use different social networks and show different enthusiasm for obtaining information, but their interest in collecting information will decrease over time. Our study on Personal Fashion Psychology (PFP) has shown that when people get information, they behave in a way known as the Diminishing Marginal Effect (DME-PFP behavior). Next, we created a SAR propagation dynamics model on a multi-layer contact network to represent DME-PFP behavior using a threshold function. Then, to assess and uncover the transmission mechanism of individual behaviour, we use partition theory. A boundary phenomena is displayed by the propagation mode, as demonstrated by both theoretical analysis and simulated tests. The final size can exhibit either discontinuous first-order phase transitions or continuous second-order phase changes in individual DME-PFP behaviour. Meanwhile, through the unit transmission probability changed, the ideal DME-PFP parameters occur at the largest final adoption size. Moreover, the promotion of the propagation pattern and behaviour from continuous second-order to discontinuous first-order is facilitated by interpersonal contact. The numerical analysis and the actual models may eventually agree.

코로나19 기초학력 양상 탐색 과정에서 드러난 교사의 학교 인식 변화

This study explored change in students’ basic academic ability levels and learning gaps between students in an online and offline parallel education environment during the COVID-19 period. In the process, It was revealed how teachers’ perceptions of school changed. For this purpose, data were collected by interviewing 17 teachers. And the collected data were analyzed based on Strauss and Corbin’s grounded theory. As a result of the study, 152 concepts, 36 categories, and 7 themes were derived from open coding.
 In axial coding, the causal condition is [lack of personal circumstances, insufficient school environment, and tinkering policy], the contextual condition is [social class differences and participation in private education], the main phenomenon is [occurrence and deepening of basic academic ability problems], The intervening condition is [change in school environment], the action/interaction strategy is [restructuring of school role perception], and the result is [activation of social interaction starting with teachers]. Based on this, in selective coding, a matrix was constructed and visualized in the form of modifying and supplementing the axial coding results. In conclusion, it was confirmed that teachers changed their perception of the role of schools in the direction of emphasizing socialization functions, moving away from the existing perception centered on basic academic skills through COVID-19.

Social-class parenting practices and their influence on educational outcomes in the United States and Scotland

Drawing upon Lareau's (2011) work on social class and family life, this study explored social-class differences in children's cognitive outcomes from the United States and Scotland—two nations that share a policy emphasis on parental engagement to reduce the achievement gap. At the same time, the two countries differ in the extent to which such policy orientations are enforced, in the overall levels of socioeconomic inequality, and in the form and extent of welfare support for families and children. We find that parental endeavors are not unequivocally associated with children's outcomes. Findings from our decomposition analyses indicate that some practices of concerted cultivation are positively associated with children's outcomes but that the strength and direction of the relation often depend on children's social background. Moreover, social-class differences in parenting practices are more pronounced and more often statistically significant in the United States than in Scotland.

Deepening Learning and Addressing Inequalities: A Psychosocial Approach to Improving Statistical Literacy Throughout Sociology Curricula

Statistical literacy is critical for all sociology students because it facilitates academic and professional success, high-paying jobs, and informed citizenship. Most students, however, lack adequate statistical literacy to engage with sociological research. Within that general deficit, there are gender, racial, and social-class differences, with students from historically marginalized groups starting and staying behind. In this conversation, we argue that to deepen statistical literacy and reduce inequalities, instructors must be willing to sacrifice breadth of content to attend to students’ psychosocial needs throughout sociology curricula, especially in courses where quantitative methodology is not the core focus. We synthesize prior literature into a holistic psychosocial approach for teaching quantitative sociology content at all course levels: build interest and motivation, foster a growth mindset, develop statistical efficacy, encourage belonging, and challenge stereotypes.

Representasi Perundungan pada Film “Bebas”

The phenomenon of bullying is rampant, especially in the educational environment, therefore if no prevention is done, bullying in the educational environment will continue. The rampant cases of bullying have made the social phenomenon raised in a film. One of the Indonesian films that depicts bullying is Bebas. This research aims to find out how the representation of bullying is presented in the film Bebas. The method used in this research is the Roland Barthes semiotic method which divides the meaning of understanding into denotation, connotation, and myth through first level and second level analysis. The results of this study show that based on ten scenes that have been selected according to the type of bullying, the conclusion is obtained: the denotation meaning in the film shows verbal, physical and relational bullying with medium shot, medium long shot and close up image techniques. The connotation meaning is aimed at the differences in social class, power, and peer factors between the perpetrators and victims that make the perpetrators have the desire to bully. The myth in this film is that bullying often occurs to new students who change schools, often perceived as weak.

Social class differences in attribution of stability and purchase intention following a product-harm crisis / Diferencias entre clases sociales en la atribución de estabilidad y la intención de compra tras una crisis de reputación de un producto

Middle-class contexts foster solipsism, a social cognitive tendency that focuses on one’s internal states, goals and motivations and favours dispositional attribution. By contrast, working-class contexts foster contextualism, a social cognitive tendency that focuses on uncontrollable situational forces and favours situational attribution. The current research investigates social class differences in attribution of stability and purchase intention following a product-harm crisis. Consistent with previous research on social class differences in social cognitive tendency, four studies ( N = 680) demonstrate that middle- (vs. working-) class individuals perceive themselves as having a higher social status in society (Studies 1A and 3), which leads to a stronger tendency to attribute stability to a product-harm crisis (Studies 1A, 1B, 2 and 3), believing to a greater extent that the problem is typical of the brand’s products and the brand will likely run into similar problems in the future. Moreover, this stability attribution has downstream consequences for purchase intention — middle- (vs. working-) class individuals are less likely to purchase products from the same brand following a product-harm crisis (Study 3).

Time gap of the impact of risk insurance, life insurance and reinsurance on social progress: The case of Ukraine

The paper examines, using the example of Ukraine from 2003 to 2020, how and to what extent the development of various segments of the insurance market (risk insurance, life insurance, and reinsurance) influences the overall level of social progress. It also identifies the time gaps through which this influence manifests. The study creates a single measure that looks at various aspects such as social class differences, spending patterns, income changes, and government social spending (their standardized values, weighed by the principal component method, integrated through additive convolution). Using VAR modeling, the impact of the development indicators of different segments of the insurance market (risk insurance, life insurance, and reinsurance) at the current moment and with lags of one, two, and three years is investigated, as well as the level of social progress in Ukraine in previous years. The modeling confirms that social reforms yield significant results for social progress only after three years, similarly to the increase in the number of insurance companies. Given insurers’ assets and payout levels, their growth in life insurance has a faster impact on social progress than in risk, while the opposite is true for premiums. Insurance premiums transferred to Ukrainian reinsurers negatively and slowly (over three years) affect social progress, and to non-resident reinsurers – positively and faster (within a year). Across most indicators, life insurance not only influences Ukraine’s social progress more quickly than others but also provides a more substantial social effect.