Assimilating and Differentiating: The Curvilinear Effect of Social Class on Green Consumption

Author(s):  
Li Yan ◽  
Hean Tat Keh ◽  
Jiemiao Chen

Abstract Building on optimal distinctiveness theory, this research examines the effects of social class on green consumption. Across six studies, we find a curvilinear effect of social class on green consumption, with the middle class having greater propensity for green consumption compared to the lower and upper classes. This effect can be explained by tension between need for assimilation (NFA) and need for differentiation (NFD) that varies among the three social classes in establishing their optimally distinctive identities. The lower class has a dominant NFA, the upper class has a dominant NFD, and the middle class has dual motivation for assimilation and differentiation. Concomitantly, green consumption has the dual function of assimilation and differentiation. The middle class perceives green consumption as simultaneously assimilating and differentiating, which satisfies their dual motivation and enhances their propensity for green consumption. By contrast, the lower class perceives the differentiation function of green consumption as contradicting their dominant NFA, and the upper class perceives the assimilation function as contradicting their dominant NFD, which lower both their propensities for green consumption. Furthermore, these effects are moderated by consumers’ power distance belief. These novel findings have significant theoretical and practical implications on building a more sustainable society.

tuahtalino ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dwi Atmawati

Various titles and honorifics expressions in Javanese society has become particular interest for writer to analyze. The honorific expressions described in this paper include the title of nobility and greeting word in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta. The research uses equality method to review particular lingual unit using determiner tools beyond language. Based on the data and analysis it is known that titles of the nobles are rara, gusti raden ajeng, gusti raden ayu, kanjeng pangeran harya, gusti bendara raden mas, gusti bendara raden ajeng, gusti bendara raden ayu, bendara raden mas, bendara kanjeng pangeran, bendara raden ajeng, bendara raden ayu. Where greeting word based on social class, the writer classifies it into three, upper, middle, and lower class. The greeting word on upper class society are such as papi, mami, papa/papah, mama/mamah, daddy, mom, tante, om, oma, opa, eyang, jeng. The greeting word on middle class society are such as ayah, ibu, bapak, bunda, abi, ummi, paman, bibi, mas, mbak. The greeting word on lower class society are such as pak/bapak, mbok/embok/simbok, biyung, mbakyu, pakdhe, mbokdhe, paklik, bulik. The greeting word are decreasing in number are embok/mbok/simbok dan biyung. Defining the greeting word is tightly associated to social status of the speakers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Martua Sihaloho ◽  
Ekawati Sri Wahyuni ◽  
Rilus A. Kinseng ◽  
Sediono M.P. Tjondronegoro

Poverty drove Indonesian poor households (e.g. their family members) to find other livelihoods. One popular choice is becoming an international migrant. This paper describes and analyzes the change in agrarian structure which causes dynamics in agrarian poverty. The study uses qualitative approach and constructivism paradigm. Research results showed that even if migration was dominated by farmer households from lower social class; it also served as livelihood strategy for middle and upper social classes. Improved economics brought dynamics on social reality. The dynamic accesses to agrarian resources consist of (1) horizontal social mobility (means that they stay in their previous social class); (2) vertical social mobility in the form of social climbing; low to middle class, low to upper class, and middle class to upper class; and, (3) vertical social mobility in the form of social sinking: upper class to middle class, upper class to lower class, and middle class to lower class. The dynamic in social classes indicates the presence of agrarian poverty cycle, they are social climbing and sinking.


JURNAL BASIS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 319
Author(s):  
Manuela Indriati Siahaan ◽  
Tomi Arianto

This research aimed to analyze social class conflict reflected in novel of Far from the Madding Crowd by Tomas Hardy. This descriptive qualitative research focuses on the social class conflict in England which is reflected in this novel. This study uses a sociological approach and analyzes the distribution of social classes in this novel and the social class conflicts that occur in this novel. The method used in writing this thesis is a qualitative descriptive method, namely the author describes, memorizes, and analyzes existing data. Quotations from books in libraries and the internet related to this research. The theory used is the theory of sociology with experts Max Weber and Karl Max.. The theory proposed by Karl Marx is an explicit theory, based on Marx's description of the laws of historical development, capitalism and socialism. Theory of sociology is used to analyze the social class divisions that exist in this novel while Maxisme class theory analyzes the conflicts. The results are have featured three male characters who became the main characters are Mr. Boldwood, Mr. Troy and Mr. Oak coming from three different classes of lower classes, middle classes, and upper classes. The social that happen among of three male character are: First, Bribery are shown conflict between Mr. Boldwood and Mr. Troy are representation to Upper Class and Middle Class. Second, Arrogance are shown conflict between Mr. Boldwood and Mr. Troy are representation to Middle Class and Upper Class. Third, are shown conflict between Mr. Troy and Mr. Oak  are representation to Middle Class and Lower Class.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Badri Akandi ◽  
Dwi Taurina Mila Wardhani

This research was about Marxism in Jack the Giant Slayer on social class and kind of Marxism. Marxism was an important thing in the society because Marxism wanted to remove social classes. Thus, this research was to describe how social classes could influence someone’s roles in the society. This research used descriptive qualitative method. The research was conducted by accommodating two theories: kinds of Marxism by Tyson (2006) and social class by Barry (2002). Tyson’s theory (2006) classifies Marxism into classism, patriotism, religion, rugged individualism, and consumerism. On the other hand, Barry’s theory (2002) classifies social class into the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. The findings of the analysis reveal that there were ten data in Jack the Giant Slayer. The researcher found ten forms of Marxism, There were one form of classism, twelve forms of rugged individualism, and one form of consumerism. The most of kind dominant Marxism was classism. Besides, the researcher found three forms of social class, they were the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. There were four characters of the upper class, one character of the middle class, and two characters of the lower class. The dominant social class was the upper class, which appeared in four characters.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-165
Author(s):  
Gusti Ayu Made Rai Suarniti

This research is about the sociological problems of five important characters in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian. Rachel Chu is the main character in this story comes from the middle class society. She has a relationships with Nicholas Young who comes from the upper class society. They face a lot of problems especially from Nicholas’s family who doesn’t agree with their relationships. Different society influences the character of someone. That’s why this research is aimed to find out the types of social class and the influence of social class on the character that showed in the story. The data were collected by reading the novel thoroughly then using the note-taking technique before being identified based on the topic. The collected data were descriptively analyzed by using qualitative-descriptive method to classify the types of social class and the influence of social class on the character that found in this novel. Based on the result of the research, it is found that there are three kinds of social class in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian, those are: Upper class, Middle class and Working class. Rachel Chu who comes from the middle class society has a simple personality. She prefers to save her money for food though she is a lecturer in university rather than her boy friend, Nicholas Young who comes from the worthy family. Nick’s family are also live glamor in Singapore. They spend a lot of money for fashion and jewelry. It much different with Rachel’s mom ( Kerry Chu) who originally comes from  working or lower class society. She fulfills her daughter alone and becomes a single parent because she has divorced with her husband when Rachel still child. This condition make Eleanor Young doesn’t agree with the relationships however the power of love between Nick and Rachel defeated everything. Finally, they become a couple.


1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph D. Norman ◽  
Ricardo Martinez

To resolve conflict between earlier studies finding contradictory recommendations on need for professional help of middle- vs lower-class persons given normal, neurotic, and psychotic behavior descriptions, and to explore ethnicity effects, 92 students (70 Anglo, 22 Chicano) rated fictitious biographical vignettes. A pro-middle-class bias was found consistent with Routh and King's study but inconsistent with that by Schofield and Oakes. Also contrary to the latter, treatment recommendations agreed with ratings. Ethnicity bias appeared, since Anglos recommended Chicanos more often for involuntary hospitalization. Inconsistency between the two earlier studies results from a methodological variation, discussed in this study.


1975 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon J. Schofield ◽  
James D. Oakes

An autobiographical vignette technique was used with 14 mental hospital attendants and 14 college students rating the severity of emotional problems and recommending various forms of treatment for fictitious individuals. A social-class bias was observed; the lower-class individuals were seen as having a greater need for help than the middle-class individuals, particularly when both were given descriptions of psychotic behavior. However, the recommendation of treatment was not affected by the social class of the individuals. The results are not consistent with those of a recent study by Routh and King which showed middle-class individuals were rated as having a greater need for help than lower-class individuals using a similar vignette technique.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacinth Jia Xin Tan ◽  
Michael W. Kraus ◽  
Emily Impett ◽  
Dacher Keltner

Close relationships can be a source of positive subjective well-being for lower-class individuals, but stresses of lower-class environments tend to negatively impact those relationships. The present research demonstrates that a partner’s commitment in close relationships buffers against the negative impact of lower-class environments on relationships, mitigating social class differences in subjective well-being. In two samples of close relationship dyads, we found that when partners reported low commitment to the relationship, relatively lower-class individuals experienced poorer well-being than their upper-class counterparts, assessed as life satisfaction among romantic couples (Study 1) and negative affect linked to depression among ethnically diverse close friendships (Study 2). Conversely, when partners reported high commitment to the relationship, deficits in the well-being of lower-class relative to upper-class individuals were attenuated. Implications of these findings for upending the class divide in subjective well-being are discussed.


Author(s):  
Helena Ifill

The Lady Lisle features two near-identical boys from different ends of the social spectrum. The possibility of altering the development of their inborn natures through upbringing and education is explored and contested when the two are swapped by the villain, Major Varney. The upper-class child is sent to a middle-class school where he is raised in such a way as to negate detrimental qualities which initially seemed innate. Contrastingly, the lower-class child, James, impersonates the true heir and proves to be selfish, violent and eventually murderous, like his father. Yet it is never entirely clear to what extent James’s behaviour is due to heredity or to his emotionally abusive upbringing. A shift in narrative tone is identified which moves from making allowances for James due to ‘nurture’ towards castigating him as bad by ‘nature’. In this way Braddon raises questions about the malleability or fixity of the personality, about how we define, recognise and value naturalness, but ultimately combines the forces of education and hereditary degeneracy in order to segregate the lower classes, and to bring the morally upright middle classes together with the affluent upper classes.


Author(s):  
Colin Clarke

Urbanization in Kingston since independence, as the previous chapter demonstrated, has placed a very heavy burden on the already disadvantaged lower class. This burden is expressed in their dependence on the informal sector of employment, high rates of unemployment, rental of high-density accommodation (or outright squatting), shared access to toilet facilities, and lack of piped-water connections in the tenements—all these problematic characteristics piling up in the downtown areas—quintessentially in West Kingston. There is clearly a stratification of living conditions ranging from affluence in the uptown suburbs via a modicum of comfort in the middle zone around Half Way Tree and Cross Roads to outright deprivation in the downtown neighbourhoods. It was argued in the previous chapter that this stratification of living conditions is underpinned by class-differentiated neighbourhoods; as this chapter will show, these circumstances mesh with—and reinforce—colour-class stratification and cultural pluralism, or what I have called plural stratification (to distinguish it from class stratification alone). After the Second World War, it became the conventional wisdom among Caribbean social scientists (of local birth) to depict Jamaica—and the Windward and Leeward Islands—as colour-class stratifications. This had the advantage of linking these Caribbean stratifications to occupational/class systems in the US and Europe, while pointing to a colonial history of colour differentiation, which shadowed class and reinforced it. So, the upper class was white or pass-as-white, the middle class brown and black, and the lower class black with some brown (Henriques 1953: 42). A number of racially or ethnically distinct groups originally fell outside this colour-class stratification, but had, over time, been accommodated within it: Jews were absorbed into the upper class, as were the Syrian professionals; Chinese, the remaining Syrians, and a few East Indians were middle class; the majority of East Indians were lower class. Two further aspects of colour-class need underlining. There was a tendency for its advocates to regard class as unproblematic and consensual, as in the American tradition of social analysis (Parsons 1952). In short, the whole colour-class system was dependent upon the almost complete acceptance by each group of the superiority of the white, and the inferiority of the black (Henriques 1953).


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