{"head\/og\/url":"podcasts\/belief-in-meritocracy-reexamined-scrutinizing-the-role-of-subjective-social-mobility-4zXyLE1H3","head\/title":"Belief in meritocracy reexamined: Scrutinizing the role of subjective social mobility","head\/description":"Despite decreasing intergenerational mobility, strengthening the ties between family background and children\u2019s economic outcomes, Western citizens continue to believe in meritocracy. We study how meritocratic beliefs about success relate to individuals\u2019 social mobility experiences: is subjective upward mobility associated with meritocratic attributions of success, and downward mobility with structuralist views? Whereas previous studies addressed the relevance of individuals\u2019 current position or objective mobility, we leverage Diagonal Reference Models to disentangle the role of subjective mobility, origin and destination. Surveying a representative Dutch sample (n = 1,507), we find, echoing the Thomas\u2019 theorem, that if people experience social mobility as real, it is real in its consequences: subjective upward mobility is associated with stronger meritocratic beliefs and downward mobility is associated with stronger structuralist beliefs\u2014but has no bearing on people\u2019s meritocracy beliefs. This helps understand the muted political response to growing inequality: a small share of upwardly mobile individuals may suffice to uphold public faith in meritocracy.","head\/og\/image":"https:\/\/media.podscholars.com\/f\/podcasts\/4zXyLE1H3.jpg","podcast":{"ID":34,"status":40,"date_created":"2023-02-02 16:36:23","owner_ID":146,"article_ID":34,"audience_type":0,"stats_view":382,"stats_like":2,"stats_save":0,"stats_play":0,"title":"Belief in meritocracy reexamined: Scrutinizing the role of subjective social mobility","abstract":"Despite decreasing intergenerational mobility, strengthening the ties between family background and children\u2019s economic outcomes, Western citizens continue to believe in meritocracy. We study how meritocratic beliefs about success relate to individuals\u2019 social mobility experiences: is subjective upward mobility associated with meritocratic attributions of success, and downward mobility with structuralist views? Whereas previous studies addressed the relevance of individuals\u2019 current position or objective mobility, we leverage Diagonal Reference Models to disentangle the role of subjective mobility, origin and destination. Surveying a representative Dutch sample (n = 1,507), we find, echoing the Thomas\u2019 theorem, that if people experience social mobility as real, it is real in its consequences: subjective upward mobility is associated with stronger meritocratic beliefs and downward mobility is associated with stronger structuralist beliefs\u2014but has no bearing on people\u2019s meritocracy beliefs. This helps understand the muted political response to growing inequality: a small share of upwardly mobile individuals may suffice to uphold public faith in meritocracy.","duration":null,"file_audio":null,"file_video":"1675355769270MK09d.mp4","compressed":1,"author_firstname":"Jonathan","author_lastname":"Mijs","img_profile":"f\/users\/63dbe5328b35f_th.jpg","article_date":2022,"article_DOI":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177%2F01902725211063818","publication_ID":28,"publication_name":"Social psychology quarterly","author_slug":"jonathan-mijs-4zXyLE1IR","publication_slug":"social-psychology-quarterly-4zXyLE1GX","keywords":[{"name":"social mobility","slug":"social-mobility-4zXyLE1I4"},{"name":"meritocracy","slug":"meritocracy-4zXyLE1I5"},{"name":"inequality","slug":"inequality-4zXyLE1I6"},{"name":"drm","slug":"drm-4zXyLE1I7"},{"name":"netherlands","slug":"netherlands-4zXyLE1I8"}],"disciplines":[{"name":"Economics","slug":"economics-4zXyLE1GJ"},{"name":"Psychology and Cognitive Sciences","slug":"psychology-and-cognitive-sciences-4zXyLE1GM"},{"name":"Political Science","slug":"political-science-4zXyLE1IS"},{"name":"Sociology","slug":"sociology-4zXyLE1IU"}],"publication_authors":[{"img_profile":"f\/users\/63dbe5328b35f_th.jpg","name":"Jonathan Mijs","slug":"jonathan-mijs-4zXyLE1IR"},{"name":"Stijn Daenekindt","slug":"stijn-daenekindt-4zXyLE1IS"},{"name":"Willem de Koster","slug":"willem-de-koster-4zXyLE1IT"},{"name":"Jeroen van der Waal","slug":"jeroen-van-der-waal-4zXyLE1IU"}],"authors_links":[],"slug":"belief-in-meritocracy-reexamined-scrutinizing-the-role-of-subjective-social-mobility-4zXyLE1H3"}}