Economic class boundaries do not align with psychological character structures

Evidence

Although a clear line can be drawn between the middle classes and the working class in economic terms, the same is not the case in social-psychological terms. The working-class inquiry has already shown the extent to which typically petty-bourgeois character structures also occur among workers. In Switzerland this is the case to an even greater extent, and the working class can be considered as psychologically middle class to a very great extent. The difference is mainly in standard of living. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 565

Although a clear line can be drawn between the middle classes and the working class in economic terms, the same is not the case in social-psychological terms. The working-class inquiry has already shown the extent to which typically petty-bourgeois character structures also occur among workers. In Switzerland this is the case to an even greater extent, and the working class can be considered as psychologically middle class to a very great extent. The difference is mainly in standard of living. This means that, from this point of view, we ought to distinguish, rather, between better-off and less well-off members of the middle class. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 160

Categorization

• XREF: Builds on the earlier worker-inquiry finding that workers lacked class consciousness (ch17); here the same theme recurs with psychological data. — connects to: Horkheimer’s new psychology explained why class tensions stay latent — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 487; Working-class Swiss shared middle-class character structures despite economic differences — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 565; Authoritarian society collapse widens psychic-structure differences between classes — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 551 (+2 more)
• QUESTION: This directly challenges Marxist assumptions about class consciousness correlating with economic position — worth chasing how this finding shaped later Frankfurt School disillusionment with the proletariat.
• DEEPTHINKING: If class cannot be read off character structure, the entire Marxist base-superstructure mapping the Institute relied on needs rebuilding from the ground up.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 565; Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 160

Broader Connections

• Working-class Swiss shared middle-class character structures despite economic differences #corroborates (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 565
• Authoritarian society collapse widens psychic-structure differences between classes #contradicts (0.80) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 551