Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2020.1719381
Stacey U. Tucker
Abstract Increasingly, research is being done on American attitudes toward immigration, particularly illegal immigration. Such research has focused on overall U.S. attitudes, predominantly the positions of Whites and African Americans, leaving a gap in the literature on Latino attitudes. In popular discussions on immigration, especially news accounts of “solidarity” movements, there is an underlying assumption of group congruence among Latinos. Latinos, however, are a diverse population, with varied opinions on political and social issues, including that of immigration. Using data from the 2010 National Survey of Latinos (https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/dataset/2010-national-survey-of-latinos/), this study explores the attitudes of Latinos in the U.S. toward illegal immigration by examining the effects of discrimination on the development of these attitudes. The outcomes of ordered logit (ordinal regression) show that having experienced discrimination increases favorability toward illegal immigration. This suggests that attitudes toward illegal immigration go beyond ethnic solidarity to include perceived shared experiences.
{"title":"Experiencia Compartida: The effect of discrimination on Latino attitudes toward illegal immigration","authors":"Stacey U. Tucker","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2020.1719381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2020.1719381","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Increasingly, research is being done on American attitudes toward immigration, particularly illegal immigration. Such research has focused on overall U.S. attitudes, predominantly the positions of Whites and African Americans, leaving a gap in the literature on Latino attitudes. In popular discussions on immigration, especially news accounts of “solidarity” movements, there is an underlying assumption of group congruence among Latinos. Latinos, however, are a diverse population, with varied opinions on political and social issues, including that of immigration. Using data from the 2010 National Survey of Latinos (https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/dataset/2010-national-survey-of-latinos/), this study explores the attitudes of Latinos in the U.S. toward illegal immigration by examining the effects of discrimination on the development of these attitudes. The outcomes of ordered logit (ordinal regression) show that having experienced discrimination increases favorability toward illegal immigration. This suggests that attitudes toward illegal immigration go beyond ethnic solidarity to include perceived shared experiences.","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2020.1719381","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43742174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2020.1720554
Jonathan Intravia, Andrew J. Thompson, Justin T. Pickett
Abstract Prior research suggests that exposure to adverse news stories involving the police negatively impacts consumers’ attitudes toward these actors. Yet, most investigations have neglected to examine contemporary media diets, such as online consumption and engagement, and attitudes toward the police. Using a sample of mostly young adults, the current study contributes to the media effects literature by examining the relationships between online (Internet and social media) consumption and engagement and attitudes toward police legitimacy. Results indicate that consuming negative police stories on the Internet is associated with perceiving the police as less legitimate. Furthermore, this relationship varies by political ideology but not race. Findings and direction for future research are discussed.
{"title":"Net legitimacy: internet and social media exposure and attitudes toward the police","authors":"Jonathan Intravia, Andrew J. Thompson, Justin T. Pickett","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2020.1720554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2020.1720554","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Prior research suggests that exposure to adverse news stories involving the police negatively impacts consumers’ attitudes toward these actors. Yet, most investigations have neglected to examine contemporary media diets, such as online consumption and engagement, and attitudes toward the police. Using a sample of mostly young adults, the current study contributes to the media effects literature by examining the relationships between online (Internet and social media) consumption and engagement and attitudes toward police legitimacy. Results indicate that consuming negative police stories on the Internet is associated with perceiving the police as less legitimate. Furthermore, this relationship varies by political ideology but not race. Findings and direction for future research are discussed.","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2020.1720554","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59454172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-11-02DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2019.1705215
M. Sadri, James L. Williams, D. Barber
Abstract Numerous studies have explored group cohesion and social action under stressful circumstances. Several theories such as social identity theory, social categorization theory and grievance theories of social action have specifically addressed this issue. However, Robert Merton's “typology of modes of adaptations” to structural strain has not been effectively applied to studies of group cohesion and social action under stressful circumstances. Most of the applications of this typology have remained within the range of individual decision making. Using a field experiment, this paper explores the applicability of Merton's typology to collective responses to structural strain. The experiment breached the normal expectations of student performance in a college classroom. The analysis of participants' responses revealed not only individual adjustments anticipated in Merton’s model but also a rich repertoire of avoidance and evasion that took place in a collective context; namely: “attitude adjustment (commiseration) and “concerted action” (problem solving). These phenomena are introduced as “intervening variables” capable of mediating individual adaptations to structural strain. The paper discusses implications of the findings and suggests possible paths of future research.
{"title":"Collective Adaptation to Structural Strain: Commiserating and Problem-Solving in groups","authors":"M. Sadri, James L. Williams, D. Barber","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2019.1705215","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2019.1705215","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Numerous studies have explored group cohesion and social action under stressful circumstances. Several theories such as social identity theory, social categorization theory and grievance theories of social action have specifically addressed this issue. However, Robert Merton's “typology of modes of adaptations” to structural strain has not been effectively applied to studies of group cohesion and social action under stressful circumstances. Most of the applications of this typology have remained within the range of individual decision making. Using a field experiment, this paper explores the applicability of Merton's typology to collective responses to structural strain. The experiment breached the normal expectations of student performance in a college classroom. The analysis of participants' responses revealed not only individual adjustments anticipated in Merton’s model but also a rich repertoire of avoidance and evasion that took place in a collective context; namely: “attitude adjustment (commiseration) and “concerted action” (problem solving). These phenomena are introduced as “intervening variables” capable of mediating individual adaptations to structural strain. The paper discusses implications of the findings and suggests possible paths of future research.","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2019-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2019.1705215","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46275465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-11-02DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2019.1704668
Terri A. Winnick
Abstract A sample of undergraduate college students (N = 610) enrolled in Introductory Sociology courses participated in a study exploring attitudes toward and social distance from persons who are Arab, Pakistani, and Muslim vis a vis other ethnic and religious groups. Data were collected between 2010 and 2016 using the Bogardus Social Distance scale and a 16-item Islamophobia scale. Respondents positioned Arabs, Pakistanis, and Muslims at the bottom of a closeness hierarchy. In multiple regression analyses where race, religion, political affiliation and preferred news source are regressed on Islamophobia scores we find that being Christian, being a Republican and watching Fox News, separately and together, significantly influence negative attitudes toward Muslims and persons from those regions, while knowing someone Muslim diminishes these views. The persistence of these sentiments is explored.
{"title":"Islamophobia: Social Distance, Avoidance, and Threat","authors":"Terri A. Winnick","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2019.1704668","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2019.1704668","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A sample of undergraduate college students (N = 610) enrolled in Introductory Sociology courses participated in a study exploring attitudes toward and social distance from persons who are Arab, Pakistani, and Muslim vis a vis other ethnic and religious groups. Data were collected between 2010 and 2016 using the Bogardus Social Distance scale and a 16-item Islamophobia scale. Respondents positioned Arabs, Pakistanis, and Muslims at the bottom of a closeness hierarchy. In multiple regression analyses where race, religion, political affiliation and preferred news source are regressed on Islamophobia scores we find that being Christian, being a Republican and watching Fox News, separately and together, significantly influence negative attitudes toward Muslims and persons from those regions, while knowing someone Muslim diminishes these views. The persistence of these sentiments is explored.","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2019-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2019.1704668","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48863760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-11-02DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2019.1704328
J. McCauley
Abstract The environmental movement has seen declining political activism over the last 20 years, while engagement in nonpolitical conservation behaviors has increased (e.g., recycling, carrying reusable shopping bags, etc.). Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring bridges gaps in movement tactics by allowing participants to engage in public, collective pro-movement behavior without engaging in politics or protest. In light of this, I analyze how VWQM participants conceptualize their role in and relationship to an evolving environmental movement, articulate group (collective, movement) and individual identities (personal, activist), and use VWQM as a vehicle for identity alignment. Results indicate : (1) Participants see VWQM as a unique opportunity to support the environmental movement in a way congruent with their personal identity, (2) participants readily accept collective and movement identities associated with the environmental movement but resist identities related to activism, and (3) movement participation and identity development is jointly influenced by processes of movement institutionalization and neoliberalism.
{"title":"Light Environmentalists and Quiet Activism: Identity Alignment among Participants in Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Programs","authors":"J. McCauley","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2019.1704328","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2019.1704328","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The environmental movement has seen declining political activism over the last 20 years, while engagement in nonpolitical conservation behaviors has increased (e.g., recycling, carrying reusable shopping bags, etc.). Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring bridges gaps in movement tactics by allowing participants to engage in public, collective pro-movement behavior without engaging in politics or protest. In light of this, I analyze how VWQM participants conceptualize their role in and relationship to an evolving environmental movement, articulate group (collective, movement) and individual identities (personal, activist), and use VWQM as a vehicle for identity alignment. Results indicate : (1) Participants see VWQM as a unique opportunity to support the environmental movement in a way congruent with their personal identity, (2) participants readily accept collective and movement identities associated with the environmental movement but resist identities related to activism, and (3) movement participation and identity development is jointly influenced by processes of movement institutionalization and neoliberalism.","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2019-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2019.1704328","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46335901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-03DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2019.1691097
Rodica Lisnic, A. Zajicek, Brinck Kerr
Abstract Perceptions of work–family balance and of the reasonableness of tenure expectations are key faculty retention factors. Using a national job satisfaction survey with 2438 tenure-track assistant professors, we explore whether faculty assessment of departmental and institutional support for family–work balance and their satisfaction with family-friendly policies influence their perceptions of the reasonableness of tenure expectations. We pay attention to the importance of gender in our models. Results reveal that women are less likely than men to report tenure expectations as scholars are reasonable and that departments and institutions are supportive of family–work balance. Departmental support for family–work balance, caring for an ill family member, satisfaction with family-friendly policies, and workload have the strongest association with reasonableness. Satisfaction with family-friendly policies has a significant relationship with reasonableness of tenure expectations only for faculty with family care responsibilities. Implications for family-friendly policies and practices in academia are discussed.
{"title":"Work–Family Balance and Tenure Reasonableness: Gender Differences in Faculty Assessment","authors":"Rodica Lisnic, A. Zajicek, Brinck Kerr","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2019.1691097","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2019.1691097","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Perceptions of work–family balance and of the reasonableness of tenure expectations are key faculty retention factors. Using a national job satisfaction survey with 2438 tenure-track assistant professors, we explore whether faculty assessment of departmental and institutional support for family–work balance and their satisfaction with family-friendly policies influence their perceptions of the reasonableness of tenure expectations. We pay attention to the importance of gender in our models. Results reveal that women are less likely than men to report tenure expectations as scholars are reasonable and that departments and institutions are supportive of family–work balance. Departmental support for family–work balance, caring for an ill family member, satisfaction with family-friendly policies, and workload have the strongest association with reasonableness. Satisfaction with family-friendly policies has a significant relationship with reasonableness of tenure expectations only for faculty with family care responsibilities. Implications for family-friendly policies and practices in academia are discussed.","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2019-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2019.1691097","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47501065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-03DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2019.1691096
Tal Meler
Abstract Over the past decade, rates of Palestinian women in Israel with an academic degree have increased. However, the corresponding increase in their rate of employment has been slower, and the paucity of suitable positions is evident. The aim of the present, qualitative study was to gain insight into the barriers that educated Palestinian women face in finding employment suitable for their training, the coping mechanisms they employ in their attempt to overcome these barriers, and factors that contribute to the selection of these coping mechanisms. Towards that aim, educated Palestinian women residing in northern Israel (n = 17) and ones who relocated to southern Israel for employment purposes (n = 42) were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed three coping mechanisms with the shortage of suitable employment: underemployment, retraining, and relocation to southern Israel for employment. This study may help policymakers find ways to increase the percentage of Palestinian women working in their field of training.
{"title":"Underemployment Versus Relocation: Coping Mechanisms of Palestinian Women in Israel with Patriarchal and Spatial Impositions","authors":"Tal Meler","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2019.1691096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2019.1691096","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Over the past decade, rates of Palestinian women in Israel with an academic degree have increased. However, the corresponding increase in their rate of employment has been slower, and the paucity of suitable positions is evident. The aim of the present, qualitative study was to gain insight into the barriers that educated Palestinian women face in finding employment suitable for their training, the coping mechanisms they employ in their attempt to overcome these barriers, and factors that contribute to the selection of these coping mechanisms. Towards that aim, educated Palestinian women residing in northern Israel (n = 17) and ones who relocated to southern Israel for employment purposes (n = 42) were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed three coping mechanisms with the shortage of suitable employment: underemployment, retraining, and relocation to southern Israel for employment. This study may help policymakers find ways to increase the percentage of Palestinian women working in their field of training.","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2019-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2019.1691096","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45289250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-03DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2019.1691098
M. Lynch, Hyojong Song
Abstract Green criminologists have argued that exposure to environmental pollution constitutes a serious form of green victimization of the general public and public health. This claim has not been widely assessed empirically. The present study employs data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) over time to examine trends in exposure to environmental toxins among the U.S. population. NHANES data allow such an assessment through the collection of biological sampling used to determine exposure to environmental toxins. We examined trends for NHANES exposure estimates for biological indicators of pollutant exposure over time for 64 chemicals that have multiple measures. We divide the exposure trends into declining, stable, increasing, and unclear trajectory patterns and discuss the health consequences associated with exposure to measured chemical exposures. Discussion of the implications of this analysis and the need for future studies is provided.
{"title":"Noxious Chemical Exposure Trends as Measures of Green Victimization: Public Health, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Trends, and Green Criminology","authors":"M. Lynch, Hyojong Song","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2019.1691098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2019.1691098","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Green criminologists have argued that exposure to environmental pollution constitutes a serious form of green victimization of the general public and public health. This claim has not been widely assessed empirically. The present study employs data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) over time to examine trends in exposure to environmental toxins among the U.S. population. NHANES data allow such an assessment through the collection of biological sampling used to determine exposure to environmental toxins. We examined trends for NHANES exposure estimates for biological indicators of pollutant exposure over time for 64 chemicals that have multiple measures. We divide the exposure trends into declining, stable, increasing, and unclear trajectory patterns and discuss the health consequences associated with exposure to measured chemical exposures. Discussion of the implications of this analysis and the need for future studies is provided.","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2019-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2019.1691098","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41595249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-03DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2019.1669238
Jurgita Abromaviciute, Ryan Seebruck, Bob Edwards
Abstract Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) posits that the key to social movement organizations’ (SMOs’) success is their ability to mobilize resources. Yet there has been little research verifying this claim. This study uses the case of post-Soviet rural Lithuania to test the link between human, social, material, and organizational resources of SMOs and three types of organizational impacts: issue awareness, local support, and media coverage. Using original data from 165 rural advocacy organizations that spans the period of 2004 to 2006, we demonstrate that the effects of different resources vary in significance and strength for differentoutcomes. Furthermore, no single resource type consistently predicts all impacts. This research contributes to RMT by (1) identifying which resource types predict specific organizational impacts, (2) extending RMT to the unique context of post-Soviet Lithuania, and (3) illuminating the relationship between resources and impacts for an understudied unit of analysis (small, newly founded nonprofessionalized organizations).
{"title":"Which resources matter for what impacts? Resource mobilization and impacts of local SMOs in rural Lithuania, 2004–2006","authors":"Jurgita Abromaviciute, Ryan Seebruck, Bob Edwards","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2019.1669238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2019.1669238","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) posits that the key to social movement organizations’ (SMOs’) success is their ability to mobilize resources. Yet there has been little research verifying this claim. This study uses the case of post-Soviet rural Lithuania to test the link between human, social, material, and organizational resources of SMOs and three types of organizational impacts: issue awareness, local support, and media coverage. Using original data from 165 rural advocacy organizations that spans the period of 2004 to 2006, we demonstrate that the effects of different resources vary in significance and strength for differentoutcomes. Furthermore, no single resource type consistently predicts all impacts. This research contributes to RMT by (1) identifying which resource types predict specific organizational impacts, (2) extending RMT to the unique context of post-Soviet Lithuania, and (3) illuminating the relationship between resources and impacts for an understudied unit of analysis (small, newly founded nonprofessionalized organizations).","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2019-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2019.1669238","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47486958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-04DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2019.1669239
C. Dalessandro
Abstract In discussions of how social class matters during the transition to adulthood, the simultaneous importance of both class origins and future class trajectories is underexplored. In this paper, I use interviews with 60 emerging adults in the United States to investigate their stories about progress towards adulthood during the emerging adult years. I find that regardless of class backgrounds and trajectories, participants agree on three subjective criteria—identity exploration, learning responsibility, and gaining control—as most important to the project of becoming an adult. However, personal stories about living up to these subjective criteria diverge by future class plans. While those on class-advantaged (middle- and upper-middle-class) tracks draw heavily from traditional, concrete markers of adulthood to explain the accomplishment of subjective expectations, those on class-disadvantaged (working-class and poor) tracks stress the importance of “flexibility” as important in their stories about becoming an adult. While emerging adults use subjective criteria to explain reaching adulthood, this subjectivity also helps conceal the ongoing importance of access to material resources and opportunities for transitioning to adulthood along a normative path. Subjectivity also allows for individualization in emerging adults’ stories, which helps obscure broader patterns of inequality.
{"title":"“It’s a Lifestyle”: Social Class, Flexibility, and Young Adults’ Stories About Defining Adulthood","authors":"C. Dalessandro","doi":"10.1080/02732173.2019.1669239","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2019.1669239","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In discussions of how social class matters during the transition to adulthood, the simultaneous importance of both class origins and future class trajectories is underexplored. In this paper, I use interviews with 60 emerging adults in the United States to investigate their stories about progress towards adulthood during the emerging adult years. I find that regardless of class backgrounds and trajectories, participants agree on three subjective criteria—identity exploration, learning responsibility, and gaining control—as most important to the project of becoming an adult. However, personal stories about living up to these subjective criteria diverge by future class plans. While those on class-advantaged (middle- and upper-middle-class) tracks draw heavily from traditional, concrete markers of adulthood to explain the accomplishment of subjective expectations, those on class-disadvantaged (working-class and poor) tracks stress the importance of “flexibility” as important in their stories about becoming an adult. While emerging adults use subjective criteria to explain reaching adulthood, this subjectivity also helps conceal the ongoing importance of access to material resources and opportunities for transitioning to adulthood along a normative path. Subjectivity also allows for individualization in emerging adults’ stories, which helps obscure broader patterns of inequality.","PeriodicalId":47106,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Spectrum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2019-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/02732173.2019.1669239","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44026633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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