Subjective Social Mobility Research Articles

The Association Between Life Satisfaction and Subjective Social Mobility Status Among Women of Rasht City: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study

Background: The social causation hypothesis suggests that health is influenced by various social factors, including childhood living conditions and mobility pathways, and individual life satisfaction is primarily derived from the subjective sense of mobility and social class. Objectives: Adverse changes in social factors and their negative effects on health have been observed in numerous studies. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between life satisfaction and subjective social mobility status in women from Rasht. Methods: Conducted between 2020 and 2021, this cross-sectional correlational study examined 800 married women residing in Rasht who met the inclusion criteria. Participants were selected using a cluster random method from various areas of the city. Data collection tools included demographic characteristics, the Ferrans and Powers Quality-of-Life Questionnaire, and the MacArthur Scale to measure participants' socioeconomic status (SES). Data analysis was performed using SPSS software and parametric statistical tests. Results: The samples generally comprised individuals with intermediate socioeconomic status, and most participants indicated that their current living situation was better than that of their parents. The lowest average life satisfaction score was observed in the low socioeconomic status group, with participants experiencing downward mobility reporting the lowest life satisfaction scores. However, the results showed no significant difference in the satisfaction levels among different social mobility groups of women (P = 0.60). Conclusions: Our findings underscore the importance of researchers reflecting on and being sensitive to experiences related to social class and mobility. The study confirmed that individuals with downward social mobility tend to have lower life satisfaction. Social factors are strongly associated with health outcomes, emphasizing the need for the modern healthcare system to consider the impact of social factors on individuals' well-being.

Influence of subjective social class and social mobility beliefs on self-focused attention: the mediating role of sense of control

ABSTRACTWe verified whether social class shapes different models of the self in China, by integrating individuals’ social mobility beliefs and exploring the mediating effect of sense of control. Participants were randomly assigned to one of 2 (subjective social class: upper vs. low class) × 2 (social mobility beliefs: high vs. low mobility) manipulation conditions. They then completed the sense of control questionnaire and self-focused attention task. High mobility belief could alleviate the difference in perception among different subjective social classes and improve lower classes’ control perception. Sense of control mediates subjective social class effects and social mobility beliefs on self-focused attention.

Rising and falling on the social ladder: The bidimensional social mobility beliefs scale.

Recent works in the field of Social Psychology have shown the importance of studying subjective social mobility from different perspectives. In the literature about subjective societal mobility, most of the research is focused on the mobility-immobility framing. However, several authors suggested studying social mobility beliefs effects differentiating according to mobility's trajectory, that is, upward (i.e., improving status over time) and downward (i.e., getting worse in status over time). The present research was motivated by the lack of measures that discriminate between beliefs in upward and downward societal mobility. Across two studies using different samples of the Spanish adult population, we examined both dimensions of social mobility beliefs and tested their predictive validity on other related constructs. In Study 1 (N = 164), with an EFA, we corroborated the independence between the two types of mobility. The internal structure was confirmed by a CFA in Study 2 (N = 400). Furthermore, it was shown that upward and downward mobility beliefs are differently related to other related constructs. The results from Studies 1-2 showed good convergent validity. In all correlations with the different constructs (attitudes towards inequality, meritocratic beliefs, justification of the economic system, and status anxiety) we found opposite direction effects for both types of societal mobility (upward and downward). The development of this new instrument can help to deepen our understanding of the psychosocial consequences of subjective social mobility, as well as to differentiate two processes that may have different consequences.

Predictors of Subjective Social Mobility among Middle-aged Working Single-Mothers

This study explores the subjective social mobility (SSM) of middle-aged working single mothers (40-64 years old) who have experienced financial difficulties, caregiving for their children, and preparing for retirement. This study used data from 539 households that responded to the Seoul Survey of 2022 to identify factors associated with SSM. The SPSS 26.0 was used to conduct multiple regression analysis (MRA) and multinomial logistic analysis (MLA). According to the MRA, the following factors are associated with SSM: age (β=-.10, p<.05), subjective health status (β=.18, p<.001), subjective residential environment (β=.17, p<.001), loneliness in one’s family (β=.12, p<.01), satisfaction with cultural facilities (β=.16, p<.01), satisfaction with cultural programming (β=-.24, p<.001), and perception of social fairness (β=.23, p<.001). According to the MLA, the following factors were significantly associated with perceived upward social mobility compared to immobility: subjective health status (odds ratio [OR]=1.38, p<.05), white collar (OR=.15, p<.05), subjective residential environment (OR=2.12, p<.05), below 100% of median income (OR=.42, p<.05), loneliness in one’s family (OR=1.44, p<.05), community belongingness (OR=.48, p<.001), and perception of social fairness (OR=11.60, p<.001). The following factors were significantly associated with perceived downward social mobility compared to immobility: subjective health status (OR=.82, p<.05), satisfaction with cultural facilities (OR=.54, p<.01), satisfaction with cultural programming (OR=2.39, p<.001), community belongingness (OR=.68, p<.05), and positive attitude toward marginalized group policies (OR=.56, p<.05). This study has practical implications as it recognized the need for social welfare policies and programs to improve SSM among middle-aged single mothers.

Determinants of Subjective Social Status in South Africa

Recent studies suggest that South Africa has experienced increased income polarization and is dealing with a struggling middle class. However, with some studies reporting a strong middling tendency, there seems to be a large discrepancy between how people perceive their social position and their actual economic status. Surprisingly, even with the most unequal society label, South Africa has received little attention on the dynamics behind how people perceive their social status. This study uses an ordered probit regression to analyze the determinants of individuals’ subjective social status in South Africa. Results show that objective factors, education, and occupation status positively influence subjective social status. However, subjective social mobility and class imagery are as crucial, confirming the multidimensionality behind subjective social status. Given the high-income polarization and racial inequality in South Africa, the study also showed that factors driving subjective social status are heterogeneous for different race and income groups. The results confirm this and find that discrepant objective and subjective factors influence different populations’ and income groups’ subjective social status.

The Effects of Subjective Social Class on Subjective Well-Being and Mental Health: A Moderated Mediation Model.

In recent decades, China's rapid economic growth has substantially improved average living standards; however, this has not been accompanied by greater happiness among the Chinese population. This phenomenon is known as the Easterlin Paradox (i.e., there is no link between a society's economic development and its average level of happiness) in Western countries. This study examined the effects of subjective social class on subjective well-being and mental health in China. Consequently, we found that individuals in a relatively low social class had lower levels of subjective well-being and mental health; self-class discrepancy partially explains the relationship between subjective social class and subjective well-being and fully explains the relationship between subjective social class and mental health; and subjective social mobility moderates the path from self-class discrepancy to subjective well-being and mental health. These findings suggest that enhancing social mobility is an important method for reducing class differences in subjective well-being and mental health. These results have important implications, indicating that enhancing social mobility is an important method for reducing class differences in subjective well-being and mental health in China.

Climbing the Invisible Ladder: Attenuating Belief in Free Will Reduces Subjective Perceptions of Social Mobility

Can belief in free will alter our perceptions of social mobility? Five studies manipulated free will beliefs and assessed subjective individual social mobility (Study 1), subjective social status across time (Study 2), objective social class 10 years (Study 3) and 20 years (Study 4) into the future, and counterbalanced subjective and objective social mobility measures (Study 5). Challenging free will beliefs reduced subjective perceptions of upward mobility in Study 1 and led to lower perceptions of subjective social status in the distant, but not in near future in Study 2. Studies 3 and 4 found that threatening free will beliefs did not influence perceptions of future objective social class. Study 5 revealed that weakening free will beliefs affected subjective and objective social mobility, with the latter under specific boundary conditions. The differential effects of belief in free will on perceived social mobility are discussed.

Impact of internet usage on the subjective well-being of urban and rural households: Evidence from Vietnam

Although many studies have investigated various benefits of Internet usage, little attention has been paid to its subjective impacts. This paper examines the impact of Internet usage on subjective well-being (SWB) and subjective social mobility (SSM) using a sample of 5000 households in Vietnam. A propensity score matching method is applied to address the selection bias that existed prior to the intervention and to make a causal inference. We find that, on average, Internet usage increased subjective social well-being significantly. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that, in terms of the future subjective well-being (FSWB), Internet usage has a larger impact on rural households. However, we found no effect of Internet usage on subjective social mobility.

The Myth of Social Mobility: Subjective Social Mobility and Mental Health

A common assumption is that upward mobility produces positive psychological outcomes. However, status-based identity framework and social class worldview model propose that perceived social mobility in either direction will lead to increased distress. Based on this claim, we examined relations among subjective social mobility, life satisfaction, and mental health using polynomial regression with response surface mapping. In Study 1, groups that experienced both subjective downward and upward mobility reported more depressive symptomatology than groups that remained in middle or upper social statuses in a sample of 567 adults. We did not find significant relations between subjective social mobility and life satisfaction. In Study 2, both groups that experienced subjective downward and upward mobility reported more depressive and academic distress symptomatology than groups that remained in middle or upper social social statuses in a sample of 7,598 clients from college counseling center data. The results provide insights relevant to multicultural counseling and training.

What are the Trends and Explanations of Perceived Social Mobility in Poland?

There is an increasing interest in the subjective aspect of socioeconomic position and its implications for wellbeing across social science disciplines. One of the emerging dimensions of this scholarship is research on perceived social mobility, its determinants, and consequences. To date, most existing evidence in this area is based on cross-sectional data and corresponding methods, which are biased by the unobserved heterogeneity of individuals. The latter calls into question existing findings on the nature of perceived social mobility. To provide more robust estimates of trends over time and explanations of perceived social mobility, we explore two complementary datasets covering the period between the late 1990s and the late 2010s in Poland. Due to the major economic, political and social changes, exploring subjective perceptions of intergenerational mobility might be particularly important in post-communist settings. The analysis allows us to conclude that, over the last two decades, significant changes in perceived social mobility have taken place in Poland. In terms of the individual-level predictors of this trend, cross-sectional and random-effects analyses over-estimate the importance of certain characteristics, such as age, education, or size of locality, yet, based on the results from more robust fixed-effects estimates, we conclude that factors such as subjective social position, household income, and objective social mobility are important explanations as to why some people believe they are doing better or worse than their parents.

Subjective Social Mobility among Migrant Children in China.

Little scholarly attention has been paid to the relationship between children’s subjective social mobility and their “social ecology”. Children’s subjective social mobility is about how they perceive their future social position compared to their parents’. Social ecology refers to the influential multi-layered surrounding factors, including family, school, and community. We analyzed data from structured questionnaires completed by 2221 migrant children (1296 boys and 925 girls, with a mean age of 11.7 years) from three private schools in Guangzhou and Foshan, China. The findings indicate that participants anticipated a significant improvement in their future social status. Of the factors influencing this belief, community integration has the most significant impact (TE = 0.246), followed by school integration (TE = 0.220) and family socioeconomic status (TE = 0.053). We also found that children’s self-concept plays a role in their perceptions of social mobility. Based on the study results, we propose recommendations to provide migrant children additional protection and enhance their living environment.

The effects of subjective socioeconomic status on conspicuous consumption

AbstractConspicuous consumption, the purchase, and exhibit of expensive and luxury items to signal wealth and status to others, is common in everyday life. Although conspicuous consumption seems to be exclusive to high‐status people, past research suggests that conspicuous consumption also allows people to compensate for feeling being lower in the social hierarchy. Four studies (Study 1a: N = 242; Study 1b: N = 208; Study 2, N = 242; Study 3, N = 128) examined the relationship between subjective socioeconomic status (SES) and conspicuous consumption, and the moderating role of social mobility beliefs. We found that people with low subjective SES are more likely to engage in conspicuous consumption (Studies 1a, 1b, and 2). We also provided evidence for the joint effect of subjective SES and social mobility belief on conspicuous consumption, such that low subjective SES people who perceive low social mobility are more prone to conspicuous consumption than other people (Studies 2 and 3). The findings are robust to whether subjective SES was measured (Studies 1a) or manipulated (Studies 1b, 2, and 3) and various forms of conspicuous consumption. The current research contributes to the literature on SES, conspicuous consumption, and social mobility belief. Practical implications and future directions are discussed.

Belief in Meritocracy Reexamined: Scrutinizing the Role of Subjective Social Mobility

Despite decreasing intergenerational mobility, strengthening the ties between family background and children’s economic outcomes, Western citizens continue to believe in meritocracy. We study how meritocratic beliefs about success relate to individuals’ social mobility experiences: Is subjective upward mobility associated with meritocratic attributions of success and downward mobility with structuralist views? Whereas previous studies addressed the relevance of individuals’ current position or objective mobility, we leverage diagonal reference models to disentangle the role of subjective mobility, origin, and destination. Surveying a representative Dutch sample (n = 1,507), we find, echoing the Thomas theorem, that if people experience social mobility as real, it is real in its consequences: subjective upward mobility is associated with stronger meritocratic beliefs, and downward mobility is associated with stronger structuralist beliefs—but has no bearing on people’s meritocracy beliefs. This helps understand the muted political response to growing inequality: a small share of upwardly mobile individuals may suffice to uphold public faith in meritocracy.

The effect of migration on rural residents’ intergenerational subjective social status mobility in China

The effect of migration on rural residents’ intergenerational subjective social status mobility in China

Clothing and identity: Chinese rural students’ embodied transformations in the urban university

In the context of enduring urban–rural inequality in China, attention has been drawn to rural students’ encounters in the urban university. In this research, I elicit rural students’ narratives about their (classed) perceptions of clothing and style, as well as the bodily practices embedded in their subjective social mobility experiences in the unique social milieu of China’s context. I argue that participants’ transforming practices entail a nexus of challenge to and also compliance with the urban field. Through the theoretical lens of habitus, I illustrate how rural students strategically transform their ‘style’, as dispositions of habitus, in the urban field to obtain valued forms of embodied capital. At the same time, I emphasise the importance of viewing rural students’ embodied transformations critically, as it entails both their effective generation of valued capital to actively adapt to the urban field and their (involuntary) compliance to the oppressive social relations.

Is Social Status Linked to Pain Sensitivity Responses for Latinx-Americans? The Role of Social Mobility

Latinx Americans within the United States (U.S.) disproportionately experience significant chronic pain severity and lower social status. However, little is known about how social status interacts with pain sensitivity mechanisms to contribute to later pain severity for Latinx Americans. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between social status and pain sensitivity among Latinx adults. Self-identified U.S. native Latinx and non-Hispanic White (NHW) university students without acute or chronic pain were recruited from a larger study examining Latinx American pain sensitivity. Participants completed self-report objective and subjective (i.e., perceived social standing in the U.S.) social status measures during adulthood and childhood. Social mobility was also calculated (i.e., change in social status across the lifespan). Participants completed an ascending thermal-heat laboratory pain assessment involving four heat pulses at low, moderate, and high intensities, verbally rating their pain on a 11-point numerical rating scale after each pulse. Among Latinx Americans, analyses revealed that neither income nor subjective social status during childhood or adulthood were significantly associated with pain responses. However, increases in subjective social mobility (i.e., upward changes in subjective social status across the lifespan from childhood to present day) correlated with lower pain responses to moderate and high intensity heat among Latinx Americans. No significant relationships were observed among NHWs. This study adds to the developing work bringing awareness to social status’ complexity and its role in chronic pain inequities. The current findings suggest that increases in subjective social mobility may be protective, while decreases in subjective social mobility may be a risk factor for future chronic pain severity. Though replication and longitudinal assessment is warranted, the present findings highlight the merit of focusing further attention on the interplay between social status, social mobility, and pain sensitivity to better understand and inform interventions to reduce pain severity concerns among Latinx Americans.

Differences between Objective and Subjective Intergenerational Social Mobility: An Exploratory Study

Differences between Objective and Subjective Intergenerational Social Mobility: An Exploratory Study

Family Socioeconomic Status, Parental Involvement, and Academic Achievement: The Moderating Role of Adolescents’ Subjective Social Mobility

The correlations between a low family socioeconomic status (SES) and adolescents’ poor academic outcomes have been widely documented. However, the mechanisms through which family SES is associated with adolescents’ academic achievement are not well understood. Therefore, this study examined the mediating roles of different types of parental involvement (i.e., parental school-based involvement, academic socialization, and home-based involvement) and the moderating role of adolescents’ subjective social mobility in the relationships between family SES and academic achievement by using multisource data. The valid sample consisted of 842 adolescents ([Formula: see text] = 12.28 years, 40.97% girls) who were recruited from five township public schools in China. The results indicated that all three types of parental involvement partially mediated the relationships between family SES and adolescents’ Chinese and math achievement; parental school-based involvement had the strongest mediating effects, followed by academic socialization, and home-based involvement had the lowest mediating effects. Moreover, the path from parental home-based involvement to Chinese achievement in the mediation model was moderated by the adolescents’ subjective social mobility. In conclusion, parental involvement is an important mediating mechanism through which a low family SES impedes adolescents’ academic achievement, and adolescents’ subjective social mobility can play a buffering role in the relationship between parental home-based involvement and Chinese achievement.

Move Abroad to Move Forward? Self-Assessments of Chinese Students and Undocumented Migrants in France

Migrants’ self-assessments refer to their perceptions of social mobility and positioning. These assessments are often ambivalent and counterintuitive for observers. To overcome contradictory first impressions, we propose a comprehensive approach to migrants’ self-assessments that goes beyond the opposition between objective and subjective social mobility and links the transnational context, various social spheres, actors’ migratory projects, and their reflexivity. The empirical materials in this article draw on two studies on Chinese migrants in France and confront the trajectories and viewpoints of undocumented migrants and international students. Beyond the differences between their experiences and their legal, economic, and social statuses in France and China, we highlight several common points: First, both groups considered migration a lever to improve their social status. Second, their evaluations link their regions of origin and destination as well as various social spheres. Third, in a transnational context, many factors at different scales influence migrants’ subjective self-assessments of the success or failure of their migration. The migrants’ assessments can vary according to their emphasis on professional, personal, or family trajectories, or on their choice of reference groups. They are shaped by the complexity of translations of status from one country to another and by rapid social transformation in China. Thus, many interviewees estimate that they are simultaneously in situations of social progression and regression.

Subjective social mobility and health in Germany

ABSTRACT One’s current socioeconomic position is intimately tied to one’s health status. Further, childhood living conditions also exert lasting effects on the health of adults. However, studies on changes in one’s socioeconomic position over the life course rarely find consistent and systematic effects of social mobility for individual health and wellbeing. Such studies almost exclusively draw on objective measures of social mobility and do not consider subjective appraisals of social mobility by individuals themselves. We conduct an analysis of cross-sectional, representative German survey data to explore the question as to how subjective perceptions as opposed to objective accounts of occupational status mobility affect five self-reported health and wellbeing outcomes differentially. We show that objective and subjective accounts of social mobility overlap, yet this association is far from perfect. Further, there are relatively small associations between objective and subjective mobility accounts and health outcomes. Associations between subjective mobility perceptions and health outcomes are intriguingly independent of objective social mobility trajectories. Mismatches between objective and subjective mobility are also correlated with some health outcomes. We discuss implications of our findings that social mobility is associated with those aspects of health which are more closely related to psychological wellbeing rather than physical health.