Subjective Social Distance, Occupational Stratification, and Forms of Status and Class Consciousness: A Cross-national Replication and Extension

Laumann, Edward O.; Senter, Richard

doi:10.1086/226225

Cited by 63 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Laumann and Senter's (1976) comparative study of America and Germany, concerning subjective social distance, showed that competitive status consciousness was pervasive in both American and German communities, especially at the lower status levels. People at the lower status levels subjectively assimilate themselves with others at the higher statuses, driven by ''prestige-seeking orientation'' (Laumann & Senter, 1976, p. 1313. Consuming styles of higher status can be seen as a major effort for the assimilation.…”

Section: Theory and Model Of Assimilation-distinctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In short, R a > R d can be a reasonable constraint to (3). Given the strong competitive status consciousness from lower status (Laumann & Senter, 1976) and the mass-marketing of cultural goods to the public in contemporary consumer society, people from most status groups share similar information on what higher status people are supposed to consume. By contrast, people do not care much about lower statuses' tastes unless these are becoming more alike their own.…”

Section: Status-closure Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Do Cultural Classes Emerge from Assimilation and Distinction? An Extension of the Cucker-Smale Flocking Model

Kang

et al. 2013

The Journal of Mathematical Sociology

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When cultural tastes are not neutral but hierarchically matched to social status, people assimilate themselves to higher status by consuming cultural goods while distinguishing themselves from lower status by developing new tastes. Extending the Cucker-Smale model for mutual influence among agents, we examine when and how many cultural classes emerge from continuous distributions of tastes and what conditions those classes satisfy, through the assimilation-distinction mechanism. We simulate the models with different initial distributions of tastes (uniform, normal, and chi-square), given various ranges of 2 parameters: (a) the strength and (b) the range of distinction relative to assimilation. Tastes are flocking and cultural classes emerge when the range of assimilation is much larger than that of distinction. The number of classes increases with the strength of distinction, whereas the distance between classes equals the range of distinction. Some properties of emergent classes are mathematically proved. First, in a two-class system, the stronger distinction, the larger the upper class. Second, in a three-class system, the middle class is necessarily larger than the lower class and likely larger than the upper class. Third, a 3-class system cannot emerge if distinction is weaker than assimilation. These properties are universal and do not depend on the initial distribution of cultural tastes. This independence predicts homogeneous cultural classes emerging across different social conditions. Also, the cultural middle class as the largest group may explain why subjective class consciousness is often higher than objective position. Unless assimilating efforts can reach an infinite range, there emerges a cultural outcast at the lowest end of the cultural hierarchy.

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Section: Theory and Model Of Assimilation-distinctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Status-closure Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Cultural Classes Emerge from Assimilation and Distinction? An Extension of the Cucker-Smale Flocking Model

Kang

et al. 2013

The Journal of Mathematical Sociology

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“…Potential convergence exists between occupational consciousness and other sociological concepts associated with social inequity and systems of stratification, particularly those grounded on Marxian and Weberian thought, such as class and status consciousness; “the subjective awareness of class or status location and the implications of such awareness for social action” (Laumann & Senter, 1976, p. 1307). It is not so much in the notion of class or status location – the conception of which has been problematized in sociology (Marshall, 1997; Wright, 1979) – that potential synergy lies, but the formulation of consciousness as an emotional and psychic response to social stratification; always in interaction with the makings and consequences of such stratification (Reay, 2005).…”

Section: Underpinning Theoretical and Philosophical Foundationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational Consciousness

Ramugondo

2015

Journal of Occupational Science

127

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Occupational consciousness refers to ongoing awareness of the dynamics of hegemony and recognition that dominant practices are sustained through what people do every day, with implications for personal and collective health. The emergence of the construct in post-apartheid South Africa signifies the country’s ongoing struggle with negotiating long-standing dynamics of power that were laid down during colonialism, and maintained under black majority rule. Consciousness, a key component of the new terminology, is framed from post-colonial perspectives – notably work by Biko and Fanon – and grounded in the philosophy of liberation, in order to draw attention to continuing unequal intersubjective relations that play out through human occupation. The paper also draws important links between occupational consciousness and other related constructs, namely occupational possibilities, occupational choice, occupational apartheid, and collective occupation. The use of the term ‘consciousness’ in sociology, with related or different meanings, is also explored. Occupational consciousness is then advanced as a critical notion that frames everyday doing as a potentially liberating response to oppressive social structures. This paper advances theorizing as a scholarly practice in occupational science, and could potentially expand inter or transdisciplinary work for critical conceptualizations of human occupation.

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“…Also, individuals with 482 Journal of Health and Social Behavior 52 (4) higher objective social status have greater ability to attract social contacts. People perceive highstatus individuals as possessing more valuable resources (Thye 2000) and prefer to interact closely with those of higher status than those of comparable status (Laumann and Senter 1976;Thye 2000). Furthermore, as the principle of homophily predicts, individuals with higher achieved positions tend to socialize with others with similar achievements.…”

Section: Social Capital and Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Capital and Psychological Distress

2011

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The author proposes a conceptual model to explain the diverse roles of social capital--resources embedded in social networks--in the social production of health. Using a unique national U.S. sample, the author estimated a path analysis model to examine the direct and indirect effects of social capital on psychological distress and its intervening effects on the relationships between other structural antecedents and psychological distress. The results show that social capital is inversely associated with psychological distress, and part of that effect is indirect through subjective social status. Social capital also acts as an intervening mechanism to link seven social factors (age, gender, race-ethnicity, education, occupational prestige, annual family income, and voluntary participation) with psychological distress. This study develops the theory of social capital as network resources and demonstrates the complex functions of social capital as a distinct social determinant of health.

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Subjective Social Distance, Occupational Stratification, and Forms of Status and Class Consciousness: A Cross-national Replication and Extension

Cited by 63 publications

References 39 publications

How Do Cultural Classes Emerge from Assimilation and Distinction? An Extension of the Cucker-Smale Flocking Model

How Do Cultural Classes Emerge from Assimilation and Distinction? An Extension of the Cucker-Smale Flocking Model

Occupational Consciousness

Social Capital and Psychological Distress

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