{"title":"Singaporeans’ subjective social mobility, personal and societal optimism, and political opinions: An exploratory study","authors":"Kwan Jin Yao , Zhen Jie Im","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100184","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Objective and subjective socio-economic conditions have implications for social cohesion and socio-political behaviors in advanced countries. However, social mobility research focuses disproportionately on objective indicators, and few studies in non-Western contexts examine the role of subjective social mobility. Singapore presents an interesting case, given its commitment to meritocracy and growing social mobility concerns. In an exploratory manner, we first used latent profile analysis to describe Singaporeans’ subjective social mobility. Next, using multinomial logistic regression and linear regression models, we examined how socio-demographic variables relate to subjective social mobility profiles, and how the profiles influence personal and societal optimism and political opinions. Overall, most respondents had Middle Perceived Mobility (versus Low and High). Higher-SES Singaporeans also perceived higher social mobility. Additionally, High Perceived Mobility respondents had consistently higher personal and societal optimism. Overall, political opinions related to jobs, immigration, and integration and cost of living and socio-economic disparities were more varied.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100184"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asian Journal of Social Science","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568484925000024","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective and subjective socio-economic conditions have implications for social cohesion and socio-political behaviors in advanced countries. However, social mobility research focuses disproportionately on objective indicators, and few studies in non-Western contexts examine the role of subjective social mobility. Singapore presents an interesting case, given its commitment to meritocracy and growing social mobility concerns. In an exploratory manner, we first used latent profile analysis to describe Singaporeans’ subjective social mobility. Next, using multinomial logistic regression and linear regression models, we examined how socio-demographic variables relate to subjective social mobility profiles, and how the profiles influence personal and societal optimism and political opinions. Overall, most respondents had Middle Perceived Mobility (versus Low and High). Higher-SES Singaporeans also perceived higher social mobility. Additionally, High Perceived Mobility respondents had consistently higher personal and societal optimism. Overall, political opinions related to jobs, immigration, and integration and cost of living and socio-economic disparities were more varied.
期刊介绍:
The Asian Journal of Social Science is a principal outlet for scholarly articles on Asian societies published by the Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore. AJSS provides a unique forum for theoretical debates and empirical analyses that move away from narrow disciplinary focus. It is committed to comparative research and articles that speak to cases beyond the traditional concerns of area and single-country studies. AJSS strongly encourages transdisciplinary analysis of contemporary and historical social change in Asia by offering a meeting space for international scholars across the social sciences, including anthropology, cultural studies, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology. AJSS also welcomes humanities-oriented articles that speak to pertinent social issues. AJSS publishes internationally peer-reviewed research articles, special thematic issues and shorter symposiums. AJSS also publishes book reviews and review essays, research notes on Asian societies, and short essays of special interest to students of the region.