Using Occupational Titles to Convey an Individual's Location in Social Stratification Dimensions

Previous research using occupational titles to manipulate perceptions of social class and status has not routinely applied systematic identification criteria in establishing class-specific occupations. Here we report on a set of occupational titles rated on a number of class-relevant factors, including aspects of socioeconomic status (SES), social class, subjective social status, and several general characteristics. After describing the procedure and occupation characteristics, we demonstrate consequential variations between occupations that could influence experimental procedures when operationalizing social class or SES. Using a second study, this includes manipulating target SES in a demonstration of the shifting standards model of stereotypic judgments. An individual’s placement in and perceptions of different social stratifications, including social class rank, socioeconomic status (SES), and social/community status, can have profound psychological and practical implications (American Psychological Association, Task Force on Socioeconomic Status, 2007; Kraus & Stephens, 2012). However, although some social science fields have directed considerable attention to the impact of social stratification on various social factors and life events, psychology, as a field, has not been a major player in this work. Recently, however, the call has gone out to psychologists to become more active participants in these endeavors (American Psychological Association, Task Force on Socioeconomic Status, 2007; Day, Rickett, & Woolhouse, 2014; Fiske & Markus, 2012; Kraus & Stephens, 2012; Kraus, Tan, & Tannenbaum, 2013). Whereas a body of correlational research representing a range of social scientific approaches articulates the relationships between social stratification and a variety of factors, including health outcomes (e.g., Adler, Epel, Castellazzo, & Ickovics, 2000), academic achievement (e.g., Johnson, Richeson, & Finkel, 2011), and selfconcept (e.g., Stephens, Markus, & Townsend, 2007), substantially less research has used the experimental manipulation of class-relevant factors. Such experimental techniques serve a crucial role in the social psychologist’s toolkit, and they are necessary for understanding any sort of causal relationship between perceived social stratification and interpersonal judgments and interactions. However, as we detail next, previous operationalizations that used occupations to manipulate social stratification have not always reported careful consideration in these methods. Here we report on a set of occupational titles that have been rated on various dimensions of social stratification in order to facilitate such experimental research efforts. These occupation titles, with their accompanying ratings, will (a) facilitate the preparation of materials for the manipulation of perceptions along social stratification dimensions and (b) grant researchers important insight into general perceptions of occupational status, providing a means for studying factors related to class and status perceptions. While acknowledging the complexities of social class and status, as well as the myriad experimental manipulations for which they might be involved, our goal is to provide a resource for researchers as they consider the effective use of occupations in empirical investigations. We organize the article into two sections. First, we review the development of the data set and provide initial demonstration of its usefulness. Next we demonstrate the importance of considering an occupation’s characteristics using an experimental process and robust social psychological phenomenon (the shifting standards model; Biernat, Manis, & Nelson, 1991).