A new study shows that the 2008 financial crisis not only severely damaged the U.S. economy, but also changed people's views on their own social class in the long run, prompting a large number of Americans to regard themselves as "a group of people with a lower social class." This psychological change persists after the economic recovery.
Research points out that class identity is a subjective judgment of one's own economic and social status, which will profoundly affect an individual's physical and mental health, political stance and overall attitude towards society. Previous research has repeatedly shown that people who identify as higher in social class tend to report better physical and mental health, are more likely to support conservative political positions, and have a more optimistic view of society.
However, academic circles have rarely directly examined how large-scale economic shocks change this class identity. New research led by Stephen Antonoplis, assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, recently published in the journal Psychological Science, suggests that the "Great Recession" left a long-term mark on the psychological level: it caused many people to begin to see themselves as a lower social class group, and this self-positioning has not recovered years after the crisis ended. This finding challenges the previous mainstream view that "class identity is relatively stable"; the few studies that have observed changes in the past were mostly short-term fluctuations caused by the manipulation of questions in experiments.
Antonoplis pointed out that existing research often relies on a tool called the "MacArthur ladder", which presents social status as a ten-step diagram and allows participants to choose a position for themselves on the ladder based on indicators such as income, education, and job quality: the top represents the most resources, and the bottom represents the least resources. In some experiments, subjects only saw the bottom or top of the ladder before answering: people tended to place themselves slightly higher if they only compared themselves to the "people at the bottom"; they tended to place themselves lower if they only thought of the "people at the top." However, Antonoplis stressed that such effects are often fleeting and can dissipate within minutes.
By contrast, the new study looks at whether major economic crises can reshape class identities over longer timescales. The research team used four large follow-up datasets, covering approximately 165,000 respondents, spanning decades to record changes in their class identity over time. The analysis shows that after the "Great Recession", people's downward shift in self-class positioning was not a short-term reaction, but lasted for many years, showing a real long-term psychological aftereffect.
Antonoplis also emphasized that this study only measured changes in class status and did not directly connect the extent of people's objective resource losses. In his view, class identity is a highly personal self-feeling that does not necessarily correspond strictly to objective economic conditions. “In almost any study, you can find an example of someone making $200,000 a year who identifies as lower class,” he said. In addition to actual changes in income and wealth, he believes that the way the media reported during the Great Recession may have amplified people's downward identification tendency.
A study of the news headlines from that year revealed that media discourse during that period was full of threats, constantly implying that people's economic status was declining sharply or even permanently. For example, headlines such as “When Greatness Slips Away” and “As Unemployment Rises, Kids’ Future Dims” appear frequently in various media, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. In this kind of discourse environment, even if the actual income does not shrink significantly immediately, individuals can easily feel that they are "sliding to the bottom" and thus subjectively classify themselves into a lower social class.
According to Antonoplis, this research reveals a path that has been ignored in the past: Economic recession not only brings objective damage such as reduced income and increased unemployment, but may also further harm people through the psychological experience of "reduced sense of status." Previous research has linked the Great Recession to increases in adverse health outcomes among Americans, but the new findings suggest declining status recognition may be a factor. Future research will further explore how changes in class status affect health and relate to the reshaping of the U.S. political landscape since the Great Recession. Since the Great Recession in the United States has affected the economies of many countries, these results also have global significance.
He said that raising public awareness of the psychological effects of historical events can help increase society's resilience in the face of similar shocks. "An important implication of this study at the social level is to help us construct a more accurate public memory." Antonoplis said. "Living through a Great Recession is very confusing, and sometimes knowing where we've been and what to expect can make it less confusing."
It is worth noting that the author also connected this research with the current discussion of "emotional decline" (vibecession) in American society. The so-called "emotional recession" refers to the phenomenon that despite strong macroeconomic performance, many Americans still feel anxious and uneasy about the economic future. Antonoplis believes that the current inflation, rising cost of living, and media coverage of these issues may be causing new psychological and physiological stress in a manner similar to the Great Recession, and subtly changing people's feelings about their class status.
Compiled from /ScitechDaily