Journal article
Social Class Differences in Self, Attribution, and Attention: Socially Expansive Individualism of Middle-Class Americans
Personality & social psychology bulletin, Vol.35(7), pp.880-893
07/2009
DOI: 10.1177/0146167209334782
PMID: 19398590
Abstract
Although U.S. culture strongly sanctions the ideal of independence, the specific ways in which independence is realized may be variable depending, among other factors, on social class. Characterized by relative scarcity of social and material resources, working-class (WC) Americans were expected to strongly value self-reliance. In contrast, with choices among abundant resources, middle-class (MC) Americans were expected to value personal control and social expansiveness. In support of this analysis, relative to their WC counterparts, MC Americans reported more support from friends and greater likelihood of giving and receiving advice but less self-reliance (Study 1). Furthermore, we found evidence that this social difference has cognitive consequences: College students with MC backgrounds were more likely than their WC counterparts were to endorse situational attributions for others' behavior (Studies 2a and 2b) as well as to show holistic visual attention (Study 3).
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Social Class Differences in Self, Attribution, and Attention: Socially Expansive Individualism of Middle-Class Americans
- Creators
- Nicholas A. Bowman - University of Notre DameShinobu Kitayama - University of Michigan–Ann ArborRichard E. Nisbett - University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Personality & social psychology bulletin, Vol.35(7), pp.880-893
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- DOI
- 10.1177/0146167209334782
- PMID
- 19398590
- ISSN
- 0146-1672
- eISSN
- 1552-7433
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/2009
- Academic Unit
- Educational Policy and Leadership Studies; Center for Social Science Innovation; Public Policy Center (Archive)
- Record Identifier
- 9984283574702771
Metrics
13 Record Views