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
| Status | Early Online |
|---|---|
| Publication date online | 31/03/2025 |
| Date accepted by journal | 20/03/2025 |
| URL | |
| ISSN | 0046-2772 |
| eISSN | 1099-0992 |
People (1)
Lecturer in Psychology, Psychology