Social Class and Personality: The Effects of Educational Mobility on Personality Trait Change
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Transitioning into young adulthood often brings about significant changes in personality traits. However, the reasons behind these personality changes remain unclear. This study integrates insights from research on personality development and the psychology of social class to study how the construction and change of one’s social class identity in young adulthood might trigger changes in personality traits (i.e., Big Five, locus of control and risk-taking). We tested our pre-registered hypotheses in the context of educational mobility, using data from the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP) study (N = 4,776). Specifically, we compared personality change of first-generation students during the transition to university to changes in individuals with a similar parental background, who did not enter university during the study period. Overall, the results indicated that upward educational mobility does not lead to substantial personality trait change. Theoretical implications for the psychology of class mobility (selection vs. socialization effects) are discussed.
Source: OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
Authors: Anatolia Batruch, M.A. van Scheppingen
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7160591437