A Multidimensional Approach for Measuring Meritocratic Beliefs: Advantages, Limitations and Alternatives to the ISSP Social Inequality Survey

Castillo, Juan Carlos; Iturra, Julio; Maldonado, Luis; Atria, Jorge; Meneses, Francisco

doi:10.1080/00207659.2023.2274712

International Journal of Sociology

2023

DOI: 10.1080/00207659.2023.2274712

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A Multidimensional Approach for Measuring Meritocratic Beliefs: Advantages, Limitations and Alternatives to the ISSP Social Inequality Survey

Juan Carlos Castillo,

Julio Iturra,

Luis Maldonado

et al.

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2024

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Cited by 2 publications

References 52 publications

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Meritocratic beliefs in the United States, Finland, and China: A multidimensional approach using latent class analysis

Zhu

2024

British Journal of Sociology

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This study employs latent class analysis (LCA) as a novel methodology to investigate the multidimensional nature of meritocratic beliefs, addressing the limitations of traditional unidimensional approaches. Using data from the International Social Survey Program 2009 for the United States, Finland, and China, this study demonstrates several advantages of this multidimensional approach. First, LCA effectively identifies dual consciousness, where individuals simultaneously endorse meritocratic and structuralist explanations of social stratification. The analysis reveals three distinct narratives explaining social stratification: purely meritocratic beliefs, predominantly meritocratic beliefs, and dual consciousness. While all three subtypes consider merits highly important, they differ in their perceived importance of structural factors. Second, LCA facilitates cross‐national comparisons, unveiling qualitative typological variations in meritocratic beliefs across countries. Unique country‐specific subtypes or patterns emerge: Finland exhibits purely meritocratic beliefs, the United States shows predominantly meritocratic beliefs, and China demonstrates a dominance of dual consciousness. Although dual consciousness exists in all three countries, its prevalence varies significantly—dominant in China, moderate in the United States, and least in Finland. Third, this study reveals that the effect of education on meritocratic beliefs varies across the three countries. Education strengthens individual meritocratic beliefs in the United States, weakens them in Finland, and shows no significant effect in China. These findings highlight both within‐country and across‐country heterogeneity of meritocratic beliefs, underscoring the importance of a multidimensional approach.

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Meritocratic beliefs in the United States, Finland, and China: A multidimensional approach using latent class analysis

Zhu

2024

British Journal of Sociology

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The Socialization of Meritocracy and Market Justice Preferences at School

Castillo,

Salgado,

Carrasco

et al. 2024

Societies

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Previous research has shown that schools often justify student performance differences using meritocratic ideals. One potential consequence of such ideals is the legitimization of outcome inequalities across various spheres, including those traditionally associated with equality and redistribution. In this study, we argue that the promotion of meritocratic values during school age can shape students’ beliefs about meritocracy and influence their views on market-based access to health, pensions, and education. Using data from the 2017 National Study of Civic Education in Chile, which includes 5047 eighth-grade students from 231 schools, we estimated a series of multilevel models (lme4 library, R version 4.1.3) to test our hypotheses. Our findings show that a significant proportion of Chilean students agree with market justice principles—more so than adults. Most students endorse meritocratic views, particularly the notion that effort should be rewarded, which strongly correlates with market justice preferences: students who believe in meritocracy are more likely to justify inequalities based on financial capacity. At the school level, market justice preferences are higher in high-status schools but lower in schools with higher academic achievement. Furthermore, the conditional influence of meritocratic beliefs diminishes in schools with higher socioeconomic status and performance levels. These results suggest that the association between meritocratic beliefs and market justice preferences is already established at school age and is shaped by the school environment.

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A Multidimensional Approach for Measuring Meritocratic Beliefs: Advantages, Limitations and Alternatives to the ISSP Social Inequality Survey

Cited by 2 publications

References 52 publications

Meritocratic beliefs in the United States, Finland, and China: A multidimensional approach using latent class analysis

Meritocratic beliefs in the United States, Finland, and China: A multidimensional approach using latent class analysis

The Socialization of Meritocracy and Market Justice Preferences at School

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