Subjective Social Mobility : Data from 30 nations. Kelley, S. & Kelley, C. Charting the Globe: The International Social Survey Programme 1984-2009, 2009.
abstract   bibtex   
There is extensive research on the causes and consequences of actual social mobility but much less is known about subjective social mobility – about how people believe their adult social position compares to their parents' position. The ISSP Inequality-III surveys of 1999/2000 asked respondents to compare the status of their most recent job with the status of their father's job when the respondent was a teenager (N= 31 691 in 30 nations). On average, people thought they had moved up a moderate amount compared to their fathers, although women thought they had moved up less than men did. The actual gain in occupational status between father and offspring is an important influence on this subjective mobility (beta = .27) but it is not the only influence. Two other changes also influenced subjective mobility: educational gains between parent and offspring, and country-wide gains in GDP between when the respondent was growing up and the present. Income and authority also matter. Subjective social mobility has important consequences, even controlling for actual social mobility, education, income, gender, and authority. Those who think themselves mobile identify with a higher class subjectively, are more likely to think their pay is just, and believe they ought to earn high salaries. Thus understanding subjective social mobility helps us to understand other aspects of society, especially attitudes towards inequality.
@article{Kelley2009,
	title = {Subjective {Social} {Mobility} : {Data} from 30 nations.},
	abstract = {There is extensive research on the causes and consequences of actual social mobility but much less is known about subjective social mobility – about how people believe their adult social position compares to their parents' position. The ISSP Inequality-III surveys of 1999/2000 asked respondents to compare the status of their most recent job with the status of their father's job when the respondent was a teenager (N= 31 691 in 30 nations). On average, people thought they had moved up a moderate amount compared to their fathers, although women thought they had moved up less than men did. The actual gain in occupational status between father and offspring is an important influence on this subjective mobility (beta = .27) but it is not the only influence. Two other changes also influenced subjective mobility: educational gains between parent and offspring, and country-wide gains in GDP between when the respondent was growing up and the present. Income and authority also matter. Subjective social mobility has important consequences, even controlling for actual social mobility, education, income, gender, and authority. Those who think themselves mobile identify with a higher class subjectively, are more likely to think their pay is just, and believe they ought to earn high salaries. Thus understanding subjective social mobility helps us to understand other aspects of society, especially attitudes towards inequality.},
	journal = {Charting the Globe: The International Social Survey Programme 1984-2009},
	author = {Kelley, S.M.C. and Kelley, C.G.E},
	year = {2009},
	pages = {1--16},
}

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