Social Class Socialization in White, Non-Hispanic Families: The Role of Parents

Subjective social class, or one’s perception of their position in socioeconomic hierarchies, is theorized to be an identity present in children as young as twelve years old; however, little is known about younger children’s exposure to social class messages or parents’ role in the socialization of subjective social class during this critical developmental period. As a formative step, this study includes the development and preliminary testing of a social class socialization scale which was administered to White, non-Hispanic parents (N = 227) of young (3 – 7 years old) children. Findings suggest that parents of children in this age range convey class socialization messages, and those messages may vary based on experiences of discrimination and income. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.Master of Art