Upper-class Individuals Research Articles

Social Class, Contextualism, and Empathic Accuracy

Recent research suggests that lower-class individuals favor explanations of personal and political outcomes that are oriented to features of the external environment. We extended this work by testing the hypothesis that, as a result, individuals of a lower social class are more empathically accurate in judging the emotions of other people. In three studies, lower-class individuals (compared with upper-class individuals) received higher scores on a test of empathic accuracy (Study 1), judged the emotions of an interaction partner more accurately (Study 2), and made more accurate inferences about emotion from static images of muscle movements in the eyes (Study 3). Moreover, the association between social class and empathic accuracy was explained by the tendency for lower-class individuals to explain social events in terms of features of the external environment. The implications of class-based patterns in empathic accuracy for well-being and relationship outcomes are discussed.

"You've Never Seen this Kind of Poverty": Facing Class and Gender in Shoah Representations

In researchers' reconstructions of the Holocaust, also called the Shoah, the lives of ordinary people l lives more impoverished and constrained than those of middle- and upper-class individuals - have been largely overlooked. Rarely have the ways in which gender <em>and</em> class enter into accounts of death and survival been examined. Integrating feminist gender analyzes with class theories, I explore differences between working- and middle-class Jewish women's representations in terms of multiple oppressions. Literary representations often contain class biases because they rely, almost exclusively, on investigations of middle-class, and urban Jews. Combining textual analysis with oral history methods, I conducted audio-taped interviews with survivors, researched videotaped testimonies as well as unpublished third-person narratives and examined the influence of socioeconomic status on Polish- and German-Jewish women's everyday lives in the interwar years (1919-38) and during World War II. My goals are first, to record life histories of marginalized survivors, and second, to demonstrate that social class must be conceptually central to Holocaust analysis, and finally, to contribute to an interdisciplinary discourse on class and gender. By interpreting testimonies at risk of being lost and de-stigmatizing poverty and manual labor, we expose social inequities, and thus can add breadth and depth to our understanding of the Shoah.

Poor Expression: Concealing Social Class Stigma

Three studies found that people from lower-class backgrounds are less expressive toward interaction partners from upper-class backgrounds except in contexts where they share minority status on another dimension. In Study 1, White lower-class dyad members behaved less expressively than their upper-class interaction partners, while in African American and Latino dyads, upper- and lower-class individuals were similarly expressive. In Study 2, lower-class White participants reported feeling generally less comfortable about interacting with an upper-class partner but not when they shared numerical minority status of being residents of the same state traveling away from home. Finally, Study 3 revealed that lower-class individuals intentionally act differently with upper-class individuals but not with lower-class ones. Upper-class individuals act the same with lower- and upper-class partners alike.

Script(ing) Treatment: Representations of Recovery from Addiction in Hollywood Film

American films and television programs increasingly feature characters recovering from addiction. These representations are based on previous depictions and help create a cultural understanding of addicts. This study analyzes the depiction of addicts and addiction in three Hollywood films whose narratives are largely situated within a treatment center: Clean and Sober (1988), When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), and 28 Days (2000). It concludes that the films depict a stock experience of treatment that is surprisingly univocal, as well as unrealistic when compared with the availability and realities of real-life programs. In addition, the films limit their representations of successful recovery to white, upper-class individuals and offer only one conceptual framework for addiction.

Community attitudes toward physician assisted suicide.

Attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide (PAS) were assessed in a sample of 400 community adults, stratified as to gender and socioeconomic class, using a 12-item psychometric scale rather than the more typical survey question. The results indicate that the Domino scale, currently the only psychometric instrument of attitudes toward PAS, is factorially homogeneous and shows considerable internal stability. There were no gender differences, but significant socioeconomic class differences were obtained with better educated, upper class individuals more favorable in attitude than semi-skilled and unskilled poorly educated lower social class individuals. The majority of respondents support physician assisted suicide, but such support is inversely related to age.

The Human Tradition in Mexico (review)

Arizona fournal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 267 The Human Tradition in Mexico Scholarly Resources, 2003 Edited by Jeffrey M. Pilcher Edited by Jeffrey Pilcher, this collection of articles is the sixth title in the Scholarly Resources series "The Human Tradition Around the World." These books are intended for use in the classroom and offer useful supplements to the standard undergraduate history textbooks. Pilcher's volume makes a welcome addition to this continuing series of texts that already spans diverse regions and time periods. This new text provides fifteen original articles written by respected scholars and addressing events in Mexican history since the middle of the eighteenth century. The quality of material in this collection is excellent overall and will provide college-level instructors with a valuable teaching resource. Neirher a textbook nor a documentary collection , the book flows roughly chronologically, but is organized around people rather than events. The articles contained in this text are, in effect, mini-biographies, each detailing the life of an individual while situating their actions and experiences within the broader historical context . The men and women whose lives are discussed range from the eighteenth-century actress Josefa Ordóñez, to the Revolutionary soldadera Rosa Torre González and rock musician Armando Nava. A few of the protagonists in these accounts gained widespread recognition and fame, such as AgustÃ-n Lara and MarÃ-a Félix, while the majority remained obscure. Pilcher has grouped their biographies in generational fashion, emphasizing the book's focus on individual lives in place of totalizing narrative. This approach yields a view of history not so much from the bottom up, as from the perspective of lived experience. Readers are challenged to see the world not in terms of broad generalizations , but of the specificities of the local and the particular. Students are encouraged to see that while everyday life is lived in the context of the major events, these great occurrences are also the sum total of individual actions and lives that usually pass unremembered. At the same time, these articles remind us that the trajectories of individual lives need nor be entirely coterminous with the larger-scale events of which they are a part. Students accustomed to the conventional textbook narrative may initially find diis approach disorienting. Each selection, however, offers an intriguing starting place for classroom discussions. This utility of the book for teaching purposes is furthered by the intricacy and rich contextual detail of each section. The articles are "multivalent " in that they introduce a range of themes that allow discussion to flow in different directions. Students are thereby challenged to make connections amongst the life histories, to identify emerging themes, and to draw their own conclusions from the material. The book suffers from two slight deficiencies . First, and perhaps inevitably, the life histories presenred in this volume are predominately those of upper-class individuals, or those who obtained prestige within the course of their lives. With certain exceptions, this tends to skew the articles' focus towards elite perceptions and experiences. It also moves analysis away from the features of everyday life and towards the unique or exceptional. Second, while die tide suggests a comprehensive volume on Mexican history, this is actually a collection dealing exclusively with the modern era. This means that the book would work very well with courses moving from independence to the present, but one might still wonder why the previous centuries of colonial rule receive no mention. These minor shortcomings do not seriously detract from what is otherwise a very well-constructed volume. The articles contained in this text should provide a valuable classroom resource and useful supplement to the available history textbooks. Glenn Avent The University of Arizona Convergencias Hispánicas: Selected Proceedings and Other Essays on Spanish and Latin American Literature, Film, and Linguistics Juan de la Cuesta, 2001 Edited by Elizabeth Scarlett and Edward B. Wescott ...

Convergencias Hispánicas: Selected Proceedings and Other Essays on Spanish and Latin American Literature, Film, and Linguistics (review)

Arizona fournal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 267 The Human Tradition in Mexico Scholarly Resources, 2003 Edited by Jeffrey M. Pilcher Edited by Jeffrey Pilcher, this collection of articles is the sixth title in the Scholarly Resources series "The Human Tradition Around the World." These books are intended for use in the classroom and offer useful supplements to the standard undergraduate history textbooks. Pilcher's volume makes a welcome addition to this continuing series of texts that already spans diverse regions and time periods. This new text provides fifteen original articles written by respected scholars and addressing events in Mexican history since the middle of the eighteenth century. The quality of material in this collection is excellent overall and will provide college-level instructors with a valuable teaching resource. Neirher a textbook nor a documentary collection , the book flows roughly chronologically, but is organized around people rather than events. The articles contained in this text are, in effect, mini-biographies, each detailing the life of an individual while situating their actions and experiences within the broader historical context . The men and women whose lives are discussed range from the eighteenth-century actress Josefa Ordóñez, to the Revolutionary soldadera Rosa Torre González and rock musician Armando Nava. A few of the protagonists in these accounts gained widespread recognition and fame, such as AgustÃ-n Lara and MarÃ-a Félix, while the majority remained obscure. Pilcher has grouped their biographies in generational fashion, emphasizing the book's focus on individual lives in place of totalizing narrative. This approach yields a view of history not so much from the bottom up, as from the perspective of lived experience. Readers are challenged to see the world not in terms of broad generalizations , but of the specificities of the local and the particular. Students are encouraged to see that while everyday life is lived in the context of the major events, these great occurrences are also the sum total of individual actions and lives that usually pass unremembered. At the same time, these articles remind us that the trajectories of individual lives need nor be entirely coterminous with the larger-scale events of which they are a part. Students accustomed to the conventional textbook narrative may initially find diis approach disorienting. Each selection, however, offers an intriguing starting place for classroom discussions. This utility of the book for teaching purposes is furthered by the intricacy and rich contextual detail of each section. The articles are "multivalent " in that they introduce a range of themes that allow discussion to flow in different directions. Students are thereby challenged to make connections amongst the life histories, to identify emerging themes, and to draw their own conclusions from the material. The book suffers from two slight deficiencies . First, and perhaps inevitably, the life histories presenred in this volume are predominately those of upper-class individuals, or those who obtained prestige within the course of their lives. With certain exceptions, this tends to skew the articles' focus towards elite perceptions and experiences. It also moves analysis away from the features of everyday life and towards the unique or exceptional. Second, while die tide suggests a comprehensive volume on Mexican history, this is actually a collection dealing exclusively with the modern era. This means that the book would work very well with courses moving from independence to the present, but one might still wonder why the previous centuries of colonial rule receive no mention. These minor shortcomings do not seriously detract from what is otherwise a very well-constructed volume. The articles contained in this text should provide a valuable classroom resource and useful supplement to the available history textbooks. Glenn Avent The University of Arizona Convergencias Hispánicas: Selected Proceedings and Other Essays on Spanish and Latin American Literature, Film, and Linguistics Juan de la Cuesta, 2001 Edited by Elizabeth Scarlett and Edward B. Wescott 268 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Following a largely traditional approach in defining the object of cultural analysis in terms of static modes of signification (writing and film), the present volume is successful in presenting a body of work that has redefined the existing canonical interpretations of those artifacts. As the introduction...

CROSS-CULTURAL PATTERNS IN EATING DISORDERS: A REVIEW

Eating disorders were previously thought to be isolated to achievement-oriented, upper and middle class individuals in Western countries. It now appears that these disorders may be increasing in other sectors of society and in a number of diverse cultural settings. We review the studies that comprise the relevant cross-cultural research literature on eating disorders. We also discuss the changing cultural factors that may be contributing to the apparent increase in these disorders around the world and directions for future research on such factors.

Mobilizing Institutions and Class Representation in U.S. State Electorates

Scholarly explanations for comparatively low U.S. voter turnout typically point to the weakness of mobilizing institutions, restrictive registration laws and the character of the election calendar. These same factors are assumed to account for the disproportionate representation of upper-class individuals in United States electorates. Furthermore, it is assumed that high turnout generally enhances class representation. We demonstrate below that turnout is related to class representation only under certain conditions; and we show that the causes of class representation differ from those of voter turnout. Using aggregate data on turnout and class representation in state electorates, we find that mobilizing institutions have modest effects on class representation. Contrary to typical assumptions about the effects of mobilizing institutions, class repesenta tion in U.S. state electorates is largely determined by the socioeconomic attributes (most notably, income and ethnic diversity) of the state's population.

Cross-Cultural Patterns in Eating Disorders: A Review

Abstract Eating disorders were previously thought to be isolated to achievement-oriented, upper and middle class individuals in Western countries. It now appears that these disorders may be increasing in other sectors of society and in a number of diverse cultural settings. We review the studies that comprise the relevant cross-cultural research literature on eating disorders. We also discuss the changing cultural factors that may be contributing to the apparent increase in these disorders around the world and directions for future research on such factors.

Social Class and Depressive Symptomatology

This paper considers the hypothesis that the relationship between social class and impairment may be accounted for by the greater prevalence of life events among lower-class individuals. This hypothesis was evaluated on data from 713 rural Tennessee adults. The data indicated that, although social class indices were inversely related to psychiatric impairment as expected there was no significant tendency for lower-class individuals to report a greater number of life events. For total number of events, as well as total number report a greater number of life events. For total number of events, as well as total number of undesirable, unexpected, or unpreventable events, middle- and upper-class individuals tended to report more events. Controls for the event indices did not affect the relationship between social class and symptomatology as the stress hypothesis would predict. However, locus of control was positively related to social class and was found to influence the event-impairment relationship. These data raise questions regarding the etiological role of life events in the relationship between social class and psychiatric impairments. The data suggest that observed social class differences in impairment may arise from the coping styles of certain social classes (as measured by locus of control) rather than from the differential prevalence of life events.

Attacking the Drug Norm: Effects of the 1976–77 Florida Drug Abuse TV Campaign

This report summarizes an evaluation on the impact of the 1976–77 Florida Drug Abuse television campaign. The campaign was targeted at middle and upper class individuals. The evaluation included telephone interviews with 960 male and female heads-of-household in the Tallahassee area. The article reports audience viewing frequency of the TV campaign announcements, demographic and attitudinal differences between viewers and non-viewers, plus viewing and reation differences between target and non-target audience members. Conclusions and recommendations for future campaigns are suggested.

Commission on chronic illness follow-up study. Comparison of screened and nonscreened individuals.

The effectiveness of multiphasic screening programs to reduce morbidity and mortality in a community has not been established. Newer automated techniques have made it possible to screen large segments of the population rapidly and at relatively low cost. Risk factors for many diseases have been clearly delineated, and methods for changing many of the risk factors are available. The crucial test as to whether changing the risk factor will modify the natural history of the disease has generally not been provided. A 12-year-follow-up study showed that a higher percentage of upper social class individuals were screened, and there appeared to be a slightly lower death rate for screenees as compared to nonscreenees especially for women and in the younger age groups (40 to, 49). Surviving screenees and nonscreenees reinterviewed in 1967 were similar.