Social classes are groupings of individuals in a hierarchy, usually based on
wealth, educational attainment, occupation, income, and membership in a subculture or social network
.
Ascribed status is
typically based on sex, age, race, family relationships, or birth
, while achieved status may be based on education, occupation, marital status, accomplishments, or other factors. … Relative status is a major factor in determining the way people behave toward each other (see role).
Weber said there are three basis of social class:
property, power, and prestige
.
A person’s social class is difficult to determine. It depends on many factors, including
occupation, sources of income, marketable abilities
, access to consumer good and services, and membership in status groups and political parties.
What criteria does the social class system used to stratify its members?
Access to wealth, property, power, and prestige
.
The class sociologist Max Weber formulated a three-component theory of stratification that saw political power as an interplay between “class”,
“status” and “group power
. ” Weber theorized that class position was determined by a person’s skills and education, rather than by their relationship to the means of production …
As we would expect,
income
is a powerful determinant of the social class into which people place themselves, as is, to a lesser degree, education. Age makes a difference, even controlling for income and education, as does region, race, whether a person is working, and one’s urban, suburban, or rural residence.
It has assigned the quintiles from lowest to highest as lower class, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class, and upper class.
Social status is
the level of social value a person is considered to hold
. More specifically, it refers to the relative level of respect, honour, assumed competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in a society.
ADVERTISEMENTS: A status may be divided into two types:
ascribed status and achieved or earned status
.
Social classes must be distinguished from status groups; the former
are based primarily upon economic interests
, while the latter are constituted by evaluations of the honour or prestige of an occupation, cultural position, or family descent.
How does social class differences influence two furniture stores product lines and styles? …
They place symbolic value on furniture
– advertising directed at them should stress a total home environment as a means of self expression. Lower class consumers seek respectability and conformity to norms.
What are the five factors that make up class?
The Class System
A class consists of a set of people who share similar status with regard to factors like
wealth, income, education, and occupation
.
These are family background, kinship relations, location of residence etc., but
education, occupation and expanded income
are the most fairly visible clues of social class. With these are associated most of the other behaviour characteristics which make one ‘belong’.
In large part because of high occupational prestige, university professors are generally considered members of the
upper-middle class
.
Researchers generally agree that the population of the United States can be divided into
the upper, middle, working and lower class
. The following gives typical characteristics social class in the United States.
