The social mobility belief system assumes society is permeable enough for individual escape

Evidence

Other social and behavioral continua are associated with the interpersonal-intergroup continuum. … This dimension will also be characterized by its two extremes, which we shall refer to as “social mobility” and “social change.” … The belief system of “social mobility” is based on the general assumption that the society in which the individuals live is a flexible and permeable one, so that if they are not satisfied, for whatever reason, with the conditions imposed upon their lives by membership in social groups or social categories to which they belong, it is possible for them (be it through talent, hard work, good luck, or whatever other means) to move individually into another group that suits them better. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2680 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

This is a genuine “translation” of hypostatized universals into concreteness, and yet it acknowledges the reality of the universal while calling it by its true name. The hypostatized whole resists analytic dissolution, not because it is a mythical entity behind the particular entities and performances but because it is the concrete, objective ground of their functioning in the given social and historical context. As such, it is a real force, felt and exercised by the individuals in their actions, circumstances, and relationships. They share in it (in a very unequal way); it decides on their existence and their possibilities. The real ghost is of a very forcible reality—that of the separate and independent power of the whole over the individuals. And this whole is not merely a perceived Gestalt (as in psychology), nor a metaphysical absolute (as in Hegel), nor a totalitarian state (as in poor political science)—it is the established state of affairs which determines the life of the individuals. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 735 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Beliefs about social permeability, not objective structure, shape whether people pursue mobility or change — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 2680; Beliefs about race map onto SIT social change versus social mobility belief systems. — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or…, 85; A social-mobility belief system assumes individuals can exit their group through personal effort. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2680 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• A social-mobility belief system assumes individuals can exit their group through personal effort. #corroborates (0.97) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2680
• Reified social wholes are objective forces that decide individual existence #complicates (0.74) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 735