Working-class men resist status equality from fear of rejection by superiors

Evidence

These fears, while plausible and all too human on the face of it, emerged unexpectedly from the interview material designed to capture ideas and emotions on other aspects of class status. They highlight a resistance to equalitarian movements that might bring the working class and this rejecting superior class—whether it is imaginary or not—in close association. If these were revolutionaries, one might phrase their anxieties: “Will my victims accept me?” But they are not revolutionaries. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2243 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

How would these lower middle and working class men feel about a change in the social order such that they and their friends might suddenly be equal to others now higher or lower in the social order? Most of them wouldn’t like it. They would fear and resent this kind of equality. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2233 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Working-class people desire welfare-state measures while fearing equality itself. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 2139; Gender equality threatens men’s identity by eliminating status difference — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 584; Working-class individuals often fear equality rather than desire it. (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Working-class anxieties about upper-class rejection dampen support for equalitarian movements #corroborates (0.95) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2243
• Working-class men would fear and resent genuine equality of status #corroborates (0.93) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2233