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Review

The social perception of social class: An integrative review

Details

Citation

Bjornsdottir RT (2025) The social perception of social class: An integrative review. European Journal of Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.3168

Abstract
Social class profoundly affects people in a wide range of ways, leaving its mark on individuals¡¯ behaviour, cognition, experiences, and outcomes. Social class also plays a role in social perception, and in this review, I provide a snapshot of the current body of knowledge related to the social perception of social class. Specifically, I review research examining accuracy and bias in social-class perceptions from nonverbal cues, in addition to the consequences of these perceptions. Altogether, perceivers show some accuracy in judging individuals¡¯ social class from various nonverbal cues, indicating that nonverbal behaviour provides signal to individuals¡¯ social class and that perceivers can detect this. A large body of evidence simultaneously highlights substantial bias in social-class perceptions, with social-class stereotypes meaningfully affecting impressions. Finally, research illustrates the broad range of consequences of social-class perceptions, perhaps most importantly in the domain of competence and hiring judgments, which can serve to perpetuate inequality.

Keywords
person perception; social class; social perception; socioeconomic status

Notes
Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Online

Journal
European Journal of Social Psychology

StatusEarly Online
Publication date online31/03/2025
Date accepted by journal20/03/2025
URL
ISSN0046-2772
eISSN1099-0992

People (1)

Dr Thora Bjornsdottir

Dr Thora Bjornsdottir

Lecturer in Psychology, Psychology

Files (1)