Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2008 Middle class identification: the influence of interclass context on middle class evaluations of morality and success Patrick Charles Archer Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Archer, Patrick Charles, "Middle class identification: the influence of interclass context on middle class evaluations of morality and success" (2008). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 15836. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/15836 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Middle class identification: the influence of interclass context on middle class evaluations of morality and success by Patrick Charles Archer A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Sociology Program of Study Committee: Wendy J. Harrod, Major Professor Sharon R. Bird Susan D. Stewart Carl W. Roberts Carolyn E. Cutrona Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2008 Copyright © Patrick Charles Archer, 2008. All rights reserved. 3316194 3316194 2008 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES v LIST OF TABLES vi ACKNOWLEGMENTS viii ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 7 Class Identities: A History of Research and Measurement 8 Centers and the Psychological Study of Social Class 9 The Meaning of Class Self-Placements 13 Class as a Position vs. Class as an Identity 15 The Locus of Class Structure and Identification 16 The Relevance of Class Identities 20 A Social Identity Theory Approach 22 The Positive Distinctiveness Hypothesis 25 Ingroup Bias 28 Differentiation 31 The Identity Maintenance Strategies of Low Status Groups 33 Limitations of Social Identity Theory 36 The Reluctance to Measure Identification Directly 36 The Relationship Between Identification and Bias 40 Social Identity and Class 43 Lamont and the Class Identified 45 The Working Class Identified 45 The Middle Class Identified 48 Sociostructural Characteristics of Intergroup Relations 49 Permeability 50 Legitimacy 51 Stability 52 The Plan of the Present Study 55 The Impact of Interclass Context on Class Identification 56 Interclass Context and the Sociostructural Characteristics of Interclass Relations 57 The Impact of Interclass Context on Ingroup Bias 58 The Mediating Effect of Class Identification 60 Effects of Sociostructural Characteristics on Class Identification 60 Effects of Sociostructural Characteristics on Ingroup Bias 61 iii CHAPTER THREE: METHODS 64 Participants 64 Procedures 65 Measures 66 Experimental Manipulation and Manipulation Check 67 Sociostructural Characteristics of Interclass Relations 68 Permeability 68 Legitimacy 69 Stability 71 Class Identification 75 Ingroup Bias 78 Moral and Success Bias 78 Warmth and Closeness Thermometers 81 Tajfel Matrices 82 Demographics and Family Background 85 Methods of Analysis 85 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 87 A Brief Overview of the Sample 87 Experimental Manipulation Check 89 The Impact of Interclass Context on Class Identification 90 The Impact of Interclass Context on Perceptions of Interclass Relations 91 The Impact of Interclass Context on Ingroup Bias 93 The Mediating Effect of Class Identification 98 Effects of Sociostructural Characteristics on Class Identification 100 The Effects of Interclass Relations on Centrality 101 The Effects of Interclass Relations on Ingroup Affect 103 The Effects of Interclass Relations on Ingroup Ties 103 Effects of Sociostructural Characteristics on Ingroup Bias 105 The Effects of Interclass Relations on Moral Bias 106 The Effects of Interclass Relations on Success Bias 107 Class Identification as a Mediator 109 Mediation of Class Identification on Moral Bias 110 Mediation of Class Identification on Success Bias 112 A Structural Equation Modeling Approach to Mediation 112 Measurement Model 114 Structural Model 116 Centrality as a Mediator 117 Ingroup Affect as a Mediator 120 Inroup Ties as a Mediator 122 The Influence of Experimental Condition 124 A Comparison of the Two Approaches to Mediation: Regression and SEM 125 iv CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION 127 The Implications of Interclass Context for Class Identification 127 Sociostructural Characteristics and Interclass Context 129 Permeability and Interclass Context 129 Legitimacy and Interclass Context 130 Stability and Interclass Context 131 The Implications of Interclass Context for Ingroup Bias 131 Moral and Success Bias 132 Warmth and Closeness Bias 134 Bias in Allocations of Tax Rebates and Tax Increases 134 Sociostructural Characteristics and Class Identification 135 Effects of Permeability on Class Identification 135 Effects of Legitimacy on Class Identification 137 Effects of Stability on Class Identification 138 Sociostructural Characteristics and Moral and Success Bias 139 Effects of Permeability on Moral and Success Bias 139 Effects of Legitimacy on Moral and Success Bias 140 Effects of Stability on Moral and Success Bias 140 On the Absence of a Mediating Effect of Class Identification 141 Implications for Social Identity Theory 142 Implications for Class Analysis 144 Limitations of the Study 146 Suggestions for Future Research 147 Conclusion 148 APPENDIX A: SURVEY REQUEST EMAIL 150 APPENDIX B: INFORMED CONSENT DOCUMENT 151 APPENDIX C: SURVEY INSTRUMENT 152 REFERENCES 164 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Distribution of Reward Choices in Tajfel’s Dot Experiment 27 Figure 2.2 Evans, Kelley, and Kolosi’s (1992) Depiction of Social Class 53 Figure 3.1 Example of Allocation Task and Tajfel Matrices 83 Figure 4.1 The Interaction of Experimental Condition (Middle-to-Working, 95 Middle-to-Upper) and Evaluative Dimension (Moral, Success) on Ingroup Bias Figure 4.2 Three-Way Interaction of Experimental Condition (Middle-to- 96 Working, Middle-to-Upper), Dimension (Moral, Success), and Target (Ingroup, Outgroup) on Evaluation Figure 4.3 Standardized Coefficients from the Structural Equation Model 117 Showing the Effects of Permeability, Stability, and Legitimacy on Moral and Success Bias, Showing Mediation through Centrality, and Moderation by Experimental Condition Figure 4.4 Standardized Coefficients from the Structural Equation Model 121 Showing the Effects of Permeability, Stability, and Legitimacy on Moral and Success Bias, Showing Mediation through Ingroup Affect, and Moderation by Experimental Condition Figure 4.5 Standardized Coefficients from the Structural Equation Model 123 Showing the Effects of Permeability, Stability, and Legitimacy on Moral and Success Bias, Showing Mediation through Ingroup Ties, and Moderation by Experimental Condition Figure 4.6 Standardized Coefficients from the Structural Equation Model 126 Showing the Influence of Experimental Condition on the Sociostructural Characteristics of Interclass Relations, Class Identification, and Ingroup Bias vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Item Loadings for Interclass Permeability from a Principal Factor 70 Analysis by Experimental Condition Table 3.2 Item Loadings for Interclass Legitimacy from a Principal Factor 72 Analysis by Experimental Condition Table 3.3 Distribution of Responses to Questions about Class Structure 30 74 Years Ago and Today (N = 657) Table 3.4 Distribution of Responses to Questions about Class Structure 75 Today and 30 Years in the Future (N = 648) Table 3.5 Item Loadings for Class Identification from Principal Factor 77 Analysis with Oblimin Rotation by Experimental Condition Table 3.6 Item Loadings for Morality and Success Evaluations from a 80 Principal Factor Analysis with Oblimin Rotation by Experimental Condition Table 4.1 Demographic Characteristics of Participants (N = 676) 88 Table 4.2 Class Identification by Experimental Condition 91 Table 4.3 Permeability, Legitimacy, and Stability Measures by Experimental 92 Condition Table 4.4 Means and Standard Deviations of Ingroup/Outgroup Evaluations 94 and Bias by Condition Table 4.5 Frequency Distribution of Tajfel Pull Score Values for the 99 Allocation of Tax Rebates and Tax Increases by Experimental Condition Table 4.6 Intercorrelations of Bias, Sociostructural Characteristics, and Class 100 Identification by Experimental Condition Table 4.7 Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis Using Experimental 102 Condition, Permeability, Legitimacy, and Stability as Predictors of Centrality (N = 476) Table 4.8 Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis Using Experimental 104 Condition, Permeability, Legitimacy, and Stability as Predictors of Ingroup Affect (N = 476) vii Table 4.9 Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis Using Experimental 105 Condition, Permeability, Legitimacy, and Stability as Predictors of Ingroup Ties (N = 476) Table 4.10 Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis Using Experimental 107 Condition, Permeability, Legitimacy, and Stability as Predictors of Moral Bias (N = 476) Table 4.11 Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis Using Experimental 108 Condition, Permeability, Legitimacy, and Stability as Predictors of Success Bias (N = 476) Table 4.12 Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis Using Experimental 111 Condition, Permeability, Legitimacy, Stability, and Class Identification