The socioecology of social class

Despite the increasing attention paid by psychologists to social class, we argue here that insufficient attention has been paid to the ways in which socioecological factors shape both which dimensions of social class are used by individuals to compare themselves with others, and the outcomes of these comparisons. We illustrate our argument by reviewing recent research on the ways in which different facets of socioeconomic status shape social and political attitudes, and on the ways in which inequalities in educational outcomes stem from comparisons made in specific social contexts. We conclude that by studying the psychological impact of social class differences through the lens of a socioecological approach, it becomes more evident that this impact varies as a function of both the dimension of social class involved, and local social ecologies.