Social Mobility and Status Attainment

This chapter introduces the definitions, concepts, theoretical paradigms, and approaches to social mobility research. From the time that Pitrim Sorokin wrote the first treatise on social mobility in 1927, the area of mobility studies in sociology has grown substantially. This has led, at times, to heated debates on the most appropriate way to measure and capture mobility. This chapter compares and contrasts the two key approaches to the study of mobility, that is, the status attainment approach and the class mobility approach. It focusses on gender, caste, and locality for the study of social mobility patterns in India and also provides a review of previous studies. The chapter ends with a thematic outline of the book as well as a discussion on the methods employed.

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Social mobility, status attainment, and class formation: Theoretical, ideological, and methodological problems in international comparative research

Sociological Spectrum ◽

10.1080/02732173.1981.9981634 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 209-246 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David Schweitzer

Keyword(s):

Social Mobility ◽

Comparative Research ◽

Status Attainment ◽

Class Formation ◽

International Comparative Research ◽

Methodological Problems ◽

International Comparative ◽

Mobility Status

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Social mobility or status attainment, or social mobility and status attainment?

Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie ◽

10.1111/j.1755-618x.1984.tb00918.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 331-343 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

John Goyder

Keyword(s):

Social Mobility ◽

Status Attainment

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The increasing influence of siblings in social mobility. A long-term historical view (Barcelona area, 16th-19th centuries)

10.31235/osf.io/sf6vj ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Joana-Maria Pujadas-Mora ◽

Gabriel Brea-Martinez

Keyword(s):

Social Mobility ◽

Family Relationships ◽

Parental Influence ◽

18Th Century ◽

Adult Population ◽

Status Attainment ◽

Sibship Size ◽

The Social ◽

Social Destiny

Parental influence over children’s status attainment has historically been argued to be key. However, the cross-sibling influence has been scarcely studied for historical periods and for steam family societies, being the most long-lasting relationship across individuals’ lives once childhood was surpassed. We investigate how intra-generational family relationships determine the social destiny of siblings taking a long-term perspective (16th and the 19th centuries) for Barcelona and its hinterland, using the unique data compiled in the Barcelona Historical Marriage Database. This region was one of the most dynamic economic area in Southern Europe. We found the emergence of the figure of first-married siblings as determinants in the status attainment of other brothers and sisters and a decline in parental influence from the 18th century onwards for all social groups, denying a sibling competing model. This influence worked differently over time depending on sex. First-born sisters with exogamous marriages had a higher influence than first-married brothers on the social mobility of the rest of siblings along the 16th and 17th century. Conversely, from the 18th century onwards, first-married brothers had a higher ascendancy than first-married sisters. Sibship size and the siblings’ marriage order did not contribute to explain these effects. These results can be interpreted in light of an increase in life expectancy of adult population and a change in the occupational structure due to an early industrialization and in affectivity in the18th century.

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