Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw

Comparative Social InequalityJoshua K. DubrowKazimierz M. SlomczynskiSpring, 2008

Lecture Notes, May 27, 2008

Social class, work, and psychological functioning

.

LEARNING-GENERALIZATION HYPOTHESIS

The hypothesis is that life conditions affect adult personality mainly through a direct process of learning from these conditions and generalizing what has been learned to other realms of life. In particular, people from different social classes and occupaying different stratification positions generalize their work experiences to their everyday attitudes and behaviors.

.OUTLINE I: INTRODUCTION TO THE LEARNING-

GENERALIZATION HYPOTHESISHistory of the problem

Descriptive studies (USA, Continental Europe)Studies on the main personality traits (Mainly USA)Studies focused on the contrast between the middle class and lower/working class (USA, Continental Europe) British studies

THREE PRINCIPLES

.OUTLINE II: MELVIN L. KOHN AND HIS

COLLABORATORSSOCIAL STRUCTURE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

FUNCTIONINGI. Conceptualization and measurement of psychological

functioning.II. Position in the class structure and psychological

functioningIII. Social stratification and psychological functioningIV. Occupational self-direction as a crucialV. Issues of causal directionality

.History of the problemA. Early research on class differences in orientations

toward self and society, from 1930 to 1960.

1. Descriptive studies of the “psychology of social classes”

• *Arthur Kornhauser. 1939. Analysis of Class Structure of Contemporary American Society: Psychological Basis of Class Divisions. In Industrial Conflict, edited by G. W, Hartmann and T. Newcomb.

• *Richard Centers. 1949. The Psychology of Social Class.

.2. Studies on the main personality traits*Theodore Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswick, Daniel J.

Leviston, and R. Nevitt Stanford. 1950. The Authoritarian Personality.

*Samuel A. Stouffer. 1955. Communism, Conformity, and Civil Liberties.

In 1930-1960, ca. 300 empirical studies related individuals’ locations in the social structure with some psychological (personality relevant) variable. These studies focused on the contrast between the middle class and lower/working class.

.The terms used to characterized the typical personality

of the American lower class were as follows:- apathetic- submissive- withdrawn- authoritarian- conformist- narrow-minded- strictThese personality characteristics were viewed as a

context of “restrictive socialization practices,” low aspirations, and low achievement motive of the lower/working class.

How to explain these results?

British sociologyStudies on the impact of social class in the Institute of

Education at the London University.Basil Bernstein, Classes, Codes and Control (1971-

1977)The elaborated code of the middle class

(institutionalized in schools). The restricted code of the working class (culturally induced backwardness of the out-of-school environment)

.Distinction between the restricted code and the

elaborated code:1. Syntax is more formally correct in the elaborated code, but

looser in the restricted code. There are, for example, more subordinate clauses in the elaborated code, and fewer unfinished sentences.

2. There are more logical connectives like if and unless in the elaborated code, whereas the restricted code uses more words of simple coordination like and and but.

3. There is more originality in the elaborated code; there are more clichés in the restricted code.

4. Reference is more explicit in the elaborated code, more implicit in the restricted code: so the restricted code uses a greater number of pronouns than the elaborated code (see the example quoted at length below).

5. The elaborated code is used to convey facts and abstract ideas, the restricted code attitude and feeling.

.THREE PRINCIPLES

How to explain class differentiation with respect to psychological functioning?

Three principles James House (1981: 540-541):

The component principle. First, we must adequately understand the nature of the social structure, position, or system in question. Such social phenomena almost always have multiple aspects, dimensions, or components and we must be clear about what they are...

.The proximity principle. Second, we must recognize

that the effects of social structures, positions, or systems are transmitted to individuals through stimuli that impinge directly on the individual. Therefore, the effects ... must be understood in terms of how they affect ... patterns of intimate interpersonal interaction or communication that constitute the proximate social experiences and stimuli in a person’s life ...

.The psychological principle. Finally, we must

understand individual psychology adequately so that we can specify and test when, how, and to what extent macro-social phenomena and the proximal micro-social phenomena and stimuli they produce (or influence) affect individual personality...

.MELVIN L. KOHN AND HIS COLLABORATORS

- Melvin L. Kohn. 1969. Class and Conformity: A Study in Values (2nd ed. 1977).

- Melvin L. Kohn and Carmi Schooler. 1983. Work and Personality: An Inquiry into the Impact of Social Stratification.

- Melvin L. Kohn and Kazimierz M. Slomczynski. 1990. Social Structure and Self Direction: A Comparative Analysis of the United States and Poland (Paperback ed. 1993).

.- Washington Study (1957)- Turin Study (1963)- The US National Study (1964) - The US Panel Study (1964-1974)- Polish National Studies (1978-1980 and 1992-1993)- Polish Panel Study (1992-1995-1999)- Japanese National Study (1979)- Ukrainian Study (1993)- Ukrainian Panel Study (1993-1996)- Chinese Study (2007-2008)

“In the long history of research on the relationship between class and personality, there is no more creative and influential work than the research program of Melvin Kohn and his colleagues.” Paul DiMaggio 1994: 460.

.SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

FUNCTIONING

I. Conceptualization and measurement of psychological functioning.

Psychometric testing theory.Measurement models for verbal and non-verbal tests.

.Cognitive functioningConceptualization and measurement of intellectual

flexibility:

- ideational flexibility and perceptual flexibility

.Emotional functioningConceptualization and measurement of orientation to

self and society:- authoritarian conservatism: rigid conformance to the

dictates of authority (intolerance of nonconformity)- standards of morality: maintaining one's own moral

standards- trustfulness: others can be trusted- idea-conformity: people's ideas mirror those of the

social entities- self-confidence: the positive component of self-

esteem- self-deprecation: the negative component of self-

esteem- anxiety: psychic discomfort

.Second-order concepts:Self-directedness of orientation (versus rigidity):anti-authoritarian, personally responsible, trustful, and

non self-deprecatoryA sense of well being (vs. distress): self-confident,low anxiety, low idea conformity, and non self-

deprecatory

.II. Position in the class structure and psychological

functioning

III. Social stratification and psychological functioning

.IV. Occupational self-direction as a crucial explanatory

link between social structure and personalitya. Conceptualization and measurement of occupational

self-directionb. The relationship between social class and

occupational self-directionc. Conceptualizing the relationship between social

stratification and occupational self-directiond. Social class, social stratification, occupational self-

direction, and psychological functioning

.V. Issues of causal directionality in the relationships

of class and stratification with occupational self-direction and psychological functioning

a. The social causation hypothesis and the reciprocal effects.

b. The direct effects of psychological functioning on class placement and status attainment. The drift hypothesis

.Learning and the process of learning-generalization1. A cognitive theory assumes that the first stage in the

chain of the reaction of events is the stimulus situation resulting in the construction of a cognitive representation of the distal environment. The later events in the chain are instigated, modified and guided by this cognitive representation.

.2. This cognitive representation becomes a relatively

broad integrated representation.

.3. The acquisition of the content of the cognitive

representation follows in general the principle of learning:

- contiguity- generalization- reinforcement- repetition

.4-5. Reaction to the environmental stimuli lead to the

process of meta-generalization (generalization of generalizations). Crystallization of meta-generalization