Poster #67 - “Don’t invite her, she is poor”: Socioeconomic Status Shapes Children’s Evaluations of Relationships

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Integrative Statement

Inequalities define how we position ourselves compared to other individuals, and the way we interact with the world. Thus, economic and social conditions that surround us influence the way we think, feel and behave in many domains. While inequalities affect how we interpret self-relevant information, disadvantaged conditions also have a drastic potential to increase self-damaging information, and decrease self-esteem and agency (Phillips & Pittman, 2003). Additionally, in societies where social hierarchies are evident, individuals become more occupied with social status, hold more stereotypes and prejudices, and social exclusion towards especially disadvantaged groups becomes common. How and in what contexts children incorporate socioeconomic status (SES) into their lives is a complex issue. Research shows that starting from the early ages, children are aware of the economic opportunities that their families have and modify their expectations for future accordingly (Weigner, 2000). However, to what extent children from advantaged and disadvantaged conditions give importance to SES of others while they evaluate their relationships and social encounters hasn’t been addressed before. Thus, the main aim of this qualitative interview study was threefold; a) to understand the social contexts children use while they evaluate their relationships and social encounters; b) to examine whether SES and related attributions are used as criteria shaping children’s relationships and social encounters; and c) to elicit the content of the SES-related attributions if it emerges as an important criterion in their relationships and social encounters. In total, 17 children between the ages of 8-10 and 17 between the ages of 14-16 living in Ankara-Turkey, attended semi-structured interviews. Half of the children were from low SES, and the other half from high SES families. Parental education and the net income were defined as the composite indicators of family SES. Interviews included extensive questions about friendships (e.g. best friends and their characteristics, families of best friends and their home environment, and peers -and their families- whom children would choose not to be close with) and experiences in the school settings (popular/unpopular and successful/unsuccessful peers in the classes and their families; and teacher interactions). Interview sessions were audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis was conducted by following an inductive analysis procedure with a social constructivist tradition. Results revealed three main themes as personal issues and choices, attributions towards low SES, and attributions towards high SES. Children addressed SES as a crucial factor shaping their social life despite the general questions they had been asked. Either by experiencing disadvantages themselves, and/or observing them, children frequently referred to SES and accompanying psychological and social dynamics as a salient factor shaping both their own and families’ lives, social encounters and experiences. SES background of the children was also influential on the usage frequency of some sub-themes. For example, while low SES conditions were evaluated as an obligation by low SES children more frequently; tangible resources were evaluated as an important factor modifying relationships dominantly by high SES children. Overall, children’s own and others’ SES seemed to affect their evaluations in terms of their social relationships.

Authors

• Buse Gonul, Middle East Technical University
  Presenting Author

• Basak Sahin-Acar, Middle East Technical University
  Non-Presenting Author