Identity, socioeconomic status, and well-being: Does positively identifying with a group buffer the negative effect of low SES on well-being?

人们的正规教育水平对其社会地位有很大影响。与基于性别或父母社会背景的地位分配不同，教育被视为个人责任，由此产生的地位等级可以被视为合法的基于个人成就。因此，受教育程度较低的人占据着较低的地位，他们被视为个人负责。在这个项目中，我们将调查这对受教育程度较低的人的心理影响。特别是，我们认为，群体认同（或缺乏群体认同）在解释受教育程度较低的人的幸福感水平较低方面起着至关重要的作用。被排斥或被污名化的社会群体可以通过认同他们的群体并建立积极的群体认同来缓冲对幸福感的负面影响。受教育程度较低的人的问题是，他们可能难以建立一个积极的群体身份，因为（1）教育被视为基于个人的优点，因此是合法的，（2）定义群体的正是定义社会地位的因素，即缺乏教育，（3）在缺乏教育等负面属性的周围很难构建积极的身份。我们预测，受教育程度较低的人的平均幸福感会较低，但有两件事可能会缓冲或抵消这种影响。首先，如果教育程度较低的人认为阶级或教育制度是不合法的，这意味着他们拒绝为自己的处境承担个人责任。其次，如果受教育程度较低的人强烈认同自己的阶级（这可能是由阶级制度的非法性所促进的），这就创造了积极的群体认同的可能性。这两种机制都可以恢复积极群体身份的缓冲功能。我们将使用来自英国和国际调查的现有调查数据调查这些问题。年度英国社会态度调查的几个版本包含了关于非法的人如何看待阶级制度以及他们对所属阶级的认同的信息。英国家庭小组调查包含类似的信息，但在四个不同的时刻（1991年至2005年）从同一个人那里收集了这些信息。国际社会调查方案也载有类似的资料，但涉及范围广泛的国家，因此使分析具有国际层面。所有这些数据将被用来测试受教育程度低，感知合法性，群体认同和幸福感之间的预测关系。除了通过科学期刊和会议传播结果外，我们还将与萨顿信托基金会和约瑟夫朗特里基金会等组织密切合作，以实现最大的影响。

People's level of formal education has a large influence on their status in society. In contrast to status assignment based on gender or on social background of parents, education is seen as a personal responsibility and the resulting status hierarchy could be seen as legitimately based on individual achievement. As a consequence, less educated people occupy a low status position for which they are seen as personally responsible. In this project we will investigate the psychological consequences this has for the well-being of less educated people. In particular, we think that group identity (or the lack thereof) plays a crucial role in explaining the lower levels of well-being among the less educated.Social groups that are excluded or stigmatized can buffer the negative effects on well-being by identifying with their group and building a positive group identity. The problem for less educated people is that they are likely to have difficulty in constructing a positive group identity because (1) education is seen to be based on individual merit and therefore as legitimate, (2) what defines the group is the very factor that defines social status, that is, the lack of education, and (3) it is difficult to construct a positive identity around a negative attribute such as lack of education. We predict that less educated people will have lower average well-being, but that there are two things that might buffer or nullify this effect. First, if less educated people perceive the class or educational system to be illegitimate, this means that they reject personal responsibility for their own situation. Second, if less educated people identify strongly with their own class (which is likely to be facilitated by the perceived illegitimacy of the class system) this creates the potential for a positive group identity. Both of these mechanisms could reinstate the buffering function of a positive group identity. We will investigate these issues using existing survey data from the UK and from an international survey. Several editions from the annual British Social Attitudes survey contain information about how illegitimate people perceive the class system to be and about their identification with the class to which they belong. The British Household Panel Survey contains similar information, but has collected this information at four different moments (between 1991 and 2005) from the same individuals. The International Social Survey Programme also contains similar information but for a wide range of countries, thus giving an international dimension to the analyses. All these data will be used to test the predicted relations between being less educated, perceived legitimacy, group identification, and well-being. In addition to the dissemination of results via scientific journals and conferences, we will work closely with organisations such as the Sutton Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in order to achieve maximum impact.