[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-160956-105":53,"doc-detail-160956-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","what-is-social-class-introduction-to-social-class-in-social-psychology","What is Social Class? - Introduction to Social Class in Social Psychology","","Social class is presented as a major and expanding divide that begins with unequal material resources and then broadly shapes people’s psychology, behavior, trust in government, and political preferences. It influences moral judgments about who is a “good” person, parent, or child, and determines access to educational opportunities and cultural capital that affect children’s futures. Social class differences also operate as mechanisms for assigning worth and devaluing others, while inequality and geographic segregation intensify these effects and strain social institutions.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":11,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/presentations/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/what-is-social-class-introduction-to-social-class-in-social-psychology/160956/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/what-is-social-class-introduction-to-social-class-in-social-psychology/160956.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Genevieve","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document","2026-09-28","2026-08-30",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":79},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"How does social class influence psychology and behavior?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"Social class shapes psychology and behavior by affecting trust in government, political choices, and moral definitions of being a good person, parent, or child.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"Why does the document argue social class differences are not neutral?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"It explains that social class differences affect who is judged as valuable versus inferior, and they influence whether people can access educational opportunities and cultural capital for their children.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What is the social-class-in-context perspective proposed in the chapter?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"The chapter proposes that understanding social class requires attention to how different class contexts shape psychology and behavior across four interacting levels of culture: ideas, institutions, interactions, and individuals.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},160956,1790179637,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":8,"category_name":11,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":79,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":135,"language":136,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":137,"faqs":138,"seo_title":139,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":140,"read_time":141},1374391974585,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Handbook of Social Psychology: Social Class\nNicole M. Stephens and Lydia Emery\nNorthwestern University\nSarah S. M. Townsend\nUniversity of Southern California\nAuthor Note\nNicole M. Stephens, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; Lydia Emery, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; Sarah S. M. Townsend, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California\nCorrespondence regarding this article should be addressed to: Nicole M. Stephens, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2211 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208; Email: \u0013 HYPERLINK \"mailto:n-stephens@kellogg.northwestern.edu\" \u0014n-stephens@kellogg.northwestern.edu\u0015.\nThe authors would like thank Hazel Rose Markus, Milena Berestko, Alice Choe, and Jordi Kleiner for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article.\nSocial Class\nSocial class is one of the most consequential social divides of our time. Social class begins with inequalities in material resources, but its influences on psychology and behavior are vast. Social class shapes people’s trust in government, and their votes for gun control, abortion rights, and marriage equality (Cooper, 2015; Galson, 2014; McQuarrie, 2017; Prysby, 2020; Schaffner et al., 2018; Van der Waal et al., 2007). It also guides how people define what is moral–for example, what it means to be a good person, parent, or child (e.g., Stephens, Fryberg, et al., 2012). These social class differences are far from neutral; they have a profound influence on whether it is possible for people to gain access to the educational opportunities and cultural capital that will help secure a bright future for their children (e.g., Grusky et al., 2019; Lareau & Calarco, 2012). These social class differences become the vehicle through which society measures and assigns a person’s worth or value (e.g., Ridgeway & Markus, in press). Those who have access to more of the “right” ways of being are judged as having greater worth or value, and those who have less of the “right” ways are devalued and judged as inferior (Loughnan et al., 2014; Fiske & Markus, 2012).\nThe magnitude of the social class divide continues to grow. Currently, people’s social class origins have an even more profound impact on life opportunities and outcomes than they did historically (Cheung & Lucas, 2016; Connor et al., 2021; Côté et al., 2015; Bianchi et al., 2004; Hoff & Laursen, 2019). For example, in the United States, skyrocketing rates of inequality have been accompanied by higher rates of geographic segregation based on household income (Massey, 2020; Mayer, 2002; Massey & Tannen, 2016; Reardon & Bischoff, 2011; Watson, 2009). Geographic segregation, in turn, widens the social class gap in access to educational opportunities, which further amplifies disparities in test scores (Grusky et al., 2019; Reardon, 2011). Indeed, rising income inequality has led wealthy parents to devote more time, energy, and financial resources to “hoarding” opportunities and advantages for their children by developing their academic skills, building their college-bound resumes, and cultivating their signals of merit (Grusky et al., 2019; Reeves, 2018; Schneider et al., 2018).\nMoreover, this widening social class divide—and its corresponding assumptions of differential value or worth—is not only morally questionable; it has become a threat to the social fabric and institutions that sustain that society. It has led large segments of the population, especially the White working-class, to question ideas that were previously taken for granted, such as the existence of equal opportunity and the belief that people who work hard will reap the benefits of their labor (Browman et al., 2021; Cooper, 2015; Day & Fiske, 2017; DeOrtentiis et al., 2022; Galson, 2014). Instead, the resounding story is that out of touch elites have “rigged” the game by defining the rules in their own image. This deepening divide has even inspired a potent distrust of the so-called “facts,” the ","cbCaimfwm0pl0DOq","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimfwm0pl0DOq","docx",892123,129,"English","# What is Social Class?\n## Social class as a consequential social divide\n## Social-class-in-context perspective\n## Core chapters and comparative perspectives\n## Four levels of culture and future directions","[{\"question\":\"How does social class influence psychology and behavior?\",\"answer\":\"Social class shapes psychology and behavior by affecting trust in government, political choices, and moral definitions of being a good person, parent, or child.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the document argue social class differences are not neutral?\",\"answer\":\"It explains that social class differences affect who is judged as valuable versus inferior, and they influence whether people can access educational opportunities and cultural capital for their children.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the social-class-in-context perspective proposed in the chapter?\",\"answer\":\"The chapter proposes that understanding social class requires attention to how different class contexts shape psychology and behavior across four interacting levels of culture: ideas, institutions, interactions, and individuals.\"}]","What is Social Class? - Introduction to Social Class in Social Psychology | DOCX",1788086446,45]