Effects of Vertical Mobility and Status Inconsistency: A Body of Negative Evidence

Abstract

This study attempts to determine whether dimensions of social rank combine additively in influencing individual attitudes and behaviors, or whether statistical interactions appear which would support hypotheses of vertical mobility or status inconsistency effects. Samples of male heads of household were interviewed in three Indiana and three Arizona communities, roughly matched in size. Two forms of mobility (career and intergenerational) were employed and six forms of inconsistency (including achieved vs. ascribed forms). Fortythree dependent variables were used, including most of the variables previously suggested as consequences of mobility or inconsistency. Most of the relationships appeared to be additive. The interactions which did appear were not clustered with respect to any particular independent or dependent variables, usually varied in form from city to city, and did not resemble patterns expected on the basis of mobility or inconsistency theory. The findings suggest that multidimensional additive models adequately represent the effects of social stratification on the individual.