1. Participants Study 1: UC Berkeley Undergraduates N=123; Age=18-38, M=21; 73% Female, 46% Asian, 33% White Study 2: Amazon Mechanical Turkers N=128; Age=18-30, M=25.6; 35% Female, 69% White DISCUSSION Do people believe they can personally achieve the American Dream no matter their current social class standing? In two correlational studies, we explored how current social class impacts hopes, expectations, and fears about one’s future social class. Using a possible selves framework, 18-35 year-old participants described their current and future social class possible selves, assessed in terms of hoped-for, expected, and feared objective educational attainment, job prestige, income, and subjective social class. Results showed that current social class is a significant positive predictor of future objective and subjective hoped-for, expected, and feared social class possible selves, but these findings appear to be driven mainly by people’s expectations, rather than their hopes and fears. Findings suggest young Americans expect a future social class similar to the present, and highlight the possibility that expected social class possible selves are an especially potent source of the perpetuation of class differences. METHOD Two correlational studies examined if current subjective social class positively correlates with future hoped-for, expected, and feared social class possible selves, and how the nuances of this relationship break down across education, prestige, and income for lower and upper class individuals. For undergraduates (Study 1) and younger adults (Study 2), as one’s subjective social class increases, so do their rank-order differences in future hopes, expectations, and fears in the social class domain. In both studies, there was a main effect of Current & Possible Selves, demonstrating mean-level differences in Education, Prestige, and Income across Current, Hoped-for, Expected, and Feared selves. This effect shows that social class possible selves are a meaningful and differentiated indicator of beliefs about future class. Further, there was a main effect of Subjective Social Class, as a factor, on Education (Study 2) and Prestige, Income (Studies 1 & 2), and Subjective Social Class, as a continuous variable, on the Selves Composite (Studies 1 & 2). This effect illustrates that one’s subjective social class experience perpetuates class differences in future hopes, expectations, and fears. Furthermore, the interaction in Study 2 revealed that on Selves Composite, Subjective Social Class slopes for Expected and Current Selves were steeper than those for Hoped-for and Feared Selves, demonstrating that as one’s social class increases, expectations and hopes in the social class domain begin to converge, but fears of having more to lose from their current self increase.. These findings extend the literature on social class beliefs by developing a social class possible selves framework that explains the nuances of how beliefs on future social class differ through hopes, expectations and fears. Because possible selves are important guidelines for behavior, future research could examine how these possible selves are drivers of academic or career performance behavior. There is still little known about whether hopes, fears, or expectations ultimately drive motivation and behavior in this social class domain. RESULTS REFERENCES ABSTRACT PRESENT AIMS Study 1: Current & Possible Selves Social Class Selves Study 2: Current & Possible Selves Measures Closed ended measures of current, hoped-for, expected, and feared: MacArthur Scale of Subjective SES (a 1-9 rung ladder of rank) (Goodman et al., 2001) Education (1 (Some high school) -7 (Professional or Graduate degree) scale) Prestige (1-100 scale) Income (1-20 scale, in increments of $10K) BACKGROUND Study 1: Subjective Social Class Study 2: Subjective Social Class Selves Composite z-score (Education, Prestige, & Income) The American Dream and Me: How Current Social Class is Linked to Expected, Hoped-For, and Feared Social Class Possible Selves Arianna Benedetti Serena Chen University of California, Berkeley Selves Composite z-score (Education, Prestige, & Income) Study 1 revealed a main effect of Current & Possible Selves on Education, F(3, 345) = 409.05, p <.001, Prestige, F(3, 323) = 207.51, p <.001, and Income, F(3, 341) = 121.46, p <.001, indicating differences in current, hoped-for, expected, and feared selves. A main effect of Subjective Social Class was also present on Prestige, F(1, 115) = 7.35, p <.01 and Income, F(1, 115) = 19.90, p <.001, but not for Education, F(1, 115) =.38, p =.54, indicating differences in these selves based on current social class rank. In a regression, Education, Prestige, and Income were centered around each respective mean for Current self, z-scored, and averaged into a composite for each self. Main effects on these z-scores were maintained for the four Current & Possible Selves F(3, 319) = 940.42, p <.001 and for Subjective Social Class, F(1, 115) = 22.40, p <.001, but no interactions were found. T-tests of of Subjective Social Class on the Selves revealed that upper class individuals’ selves are loftier than lower class individuals’ selves in the following domains: Education: Expected, t(117) = 2.35, p <.05 Prestige: Hoped-for, t(117) = 2.34, p <.05, Expected, t(116) = 3.06, p <.01 Income: Current, t(117) = 4.86, p <.001, Hoped-for, t(117) = 2.73, p <.01, Expected, t(117) = 3.25, p <.01 Study 2 revealed a main effect of Current & Possible Selves on Education, F(3, 378) = 80.65, p <.001, Prestige, F(3, 375) = 193.37, p <.001, and Income, F(3, 378) = 112.59, p <.001, indicating differences in current, hoped-for, expected, and feared selves. A main effect of Subjective Social Class was also present on Education, F(1, 126) = 13.06, p <.001, Prestige, F(1, 126) = 51.86, p <.001 and Income, F(1, 126) = 21.68, p <.001, indicating differences in these selves, based on current social class rank. In a regression, Education, Prestige, and Income were centered around each respective mean for Current Self, z-scored, and averaged into a composite for each self. Main effects on these z-scores were maintained for the four Current & Possible Selves F(3, 375) = 230.21, p <.001, for Subjective Social Class, F(1, 126) = 75.64, p <.001, and and interaction was also found, F(3, 375) = 6.38, p <.001. More specifically, planned contrasts indicated steeper Subjective Social Class slopes for Current and Expected, compared to Hoped-for and Feared Selves, β =.06, t(375) = 4.20, p <.001. T-tests of of Subjective Social Class on the Selves revealed that upper class individuals’ selves are loftier than lower class individuals’ selves in the following domains: Education: Current, t(128) = 3.23, p <.01, Expected, t(128) = 2.91, p <.01, Feared, t(128) = 3.30, p <.01 Prestige: Current, t(125) = 7.20, p <.001, Hoped-for, t(128) = 2.82, p <.01, Expected, t(128) = 4.47, p <.001, Feared, t(128) = 5.26, p <.001 Income: Current, t(128) = 7.02, p <.001, Expected, t(128) = 3.58, p <.001, Feared, t(128) = 2.31, p <.05 * * ** *** ** *** * We examine two research aims across two studies: 1.Test whether current subjective social class positively correlates with future hoped-for, expected, and feared social class possible selves, demonstrating a rank order difference in social class possible selves between upper and lower classes. 2.Begin to unpack the nuances of how the experience of subjective social class predicts differences in hoped-for, expected, and feared social class possible selves by examining its impact on education, prestige, and income across these selves. In the vocational and counseling literatures, several studies have shown a positive link between current socioeconomic status (SES) and educational, prestige, and income aspirations and expectations. For example, children and middle schoolers from lower SES families expect future jobs that require less education and amount to less prestige than the jobs expected by their higher SES counterparts (Furlong & Cartmel, 1995; Lapour & Heppner, 2009; Yowell, 2002). Furthermore, low SES college students expect lower graduation rates and less future job satisfaction than students of higher SES. (Metz, Fouad, & Ihle-Helledy, 2009; Pisarik & Shoffner, 2009; Segal, DeMeis, Wood, & Smith, 2001). Overall, while the literature demonstrates these differences in hopes and expectations in educational, occupational, or wealth outcomes, there is little work examining this within a larger framework of social class possible selves. This framework is shaped by a social cognitive theory of social class, which asserts that the structural determinants of class (education, occupation, and income), and the experience of rank within it, shape patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions (Kraus, Piff, Mendoza-Denton, Rheinschmidt, & Keltner, 2012). This experience of social class can also shape possible selves, or “representations of one’s self in future states,” which can be thought of in terms of hoped-for, expected, and feared future selves (Cross & Markus, 1991). Because possible selves contain important motivational guidelines for behavior, we operationalize current and future beliefs about social class in terms of future hoped-for, expected, and feared possible selves within these studies. Cross, S., & Markus, H. R. (1991). Possible selves across the life span. Human Development, 34(4), 230– 255. Furlong, A., & Cartmel, F. (1995). Aspirations and opportunity structures: 13-year-olds in areas with restricted opportunities. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 23(3), 361–375. Goodman, E., Adler, N. E., Kawachi, I., Frazier, A. L., Huang, B., & Colditz, G. A. (2001). Adolescents’ perceptions of social status: development and evaluation of a new indicator. Pediatrics, 108(2), e31–e31. Kraus, M. W., Piff, P. K., Mendoza-Denton, R., Rheinschmidt, M. L., & Keltner, D. (2012). Social class, solipsism, and contextualism: How the rich are different from the poor. Psychological Review, 119(3), 546–572. Lapour, A. S., & Heppner, M. J. (2009). Social class privilege and adolescent women’s perceived career options. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56(4), 477–494. Metz, A. J., Fouad, N., & Ihle-Helledy, K. (2009). Career aspirations and expectations of college students: Demographic and labor market comparisons. Journal of Career Assessment, 17(2), 155–171. Pisarik, C. T., & Shoffner, M. F. (2009). The relationship among work possible selves, socioeconomic position, and the psychological well-being of individuals in early adulthood. Journal of Career Development, 35(3), 306–325. Segal, H. G., DeMeis, D. K., Wood, G. A., & Smith, H. L. (2001). Assessing Future Possible Selves by Gender and Socioeconomic Status Using the Anticipated Life History Measure. Journal of Personality, 69(1), 57–87. Yowell, C. M. (2002). Dreams of the future: The pursuit of education and career possible selves among ninth grade Latino youth. Applied Developmental Science, 6(2), 62–72.