The ability to move upward in social class or economic position (i.e., social mobility) is a defining feature of the American Dream, yet recent public-opinion polls indicate that many Americans are losing confidence in the essential fairness of the system and their opportunities for financial advancement. In two studies, we examined Americans’ perceptions of both current levels of mobility in the United States and temporal trends in mobility, and we compared these perceptions with objective indicators to determine perceptual accuracy. Overall, participants underestimated current mobility and erroneously concluded that mobility has declined over the past four decades. These misperceptions were more pronounced among politically liberal participants than among politically moderate or conservative ones. These perception differences were accounted for by liberals’ relative dissatisfaction with the current social system, social hierarchies, and economic inequality. These findings have important implications for theories of political ideology.

References

Bartels, L. M. ( 2002 ). Beyond the running tally: Partisan bias in political perceptions . Political Behavior, 24, 117 – 150 . doi:10.1023/A:1021226224601

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Buhrmeister, M., Kwang, T., Gosling, S. D. ( 2011 ). Amazon’s Mechanical Turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3 – 5 . doi:10.1177/1745691610393980

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Chambers, J. R., Schlenker, B. R., Collisson, B. ( 2013 ). Ideology and prejudice: The role of value conflicts . Psychological Science, 24, 140 – 149 . doi:10.1177/0956797612447820

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Chambers, J. R., Swan, L. K., Heesacker, M. ( 2014 ). Better off than we know: Distorted perceptions of income and income inequality in America . Psychological Science, 25, 613 – 618 . doi:10.1177/0956797613504965

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Chetty, R., Hendren, N., Kline, P., Saez, E., Turner, N. ( 2014a ). The Equality of Opportunity Project—Online Data Table 1: National 100 by 100 transition matrix. Retrieved from http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/index.php/data

Google Scholar

Chetty, R., Hendren, N., Kline, P., Saez, E., Turner, N. ( 2014b ). Is the United States still a land of opportunity? Recent trends in intergenerational mobility (NBER Working Paper No. 19844). Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w19844

Google Scholar

Corak, M. ( 2006 ). Do poor children become poor adults? Lessons from a cross country comparison of generational earnings mobility . Research on Economic Inequality, 13, 143 – 188 . doi:10.1016/S1049-2585(06)14006-9

Google Scholar Crossref

Duch, R. M., Palmer, H. D., Anderson, C. J. ( 2000 ). Heterogeneity in perceptions of economic conditions . American Journal of Political Science, 44, 635 – 652 . doi:10.2307/2669272

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Dugan, A., Newport, F. ( 2013 , October ). In U.S., fewer believe “plenty of opportunity” to get ahead. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/165584/fewer-believe-plenty-opportunity-ahead.aspx

Google Scholar

Eriksson, K., Simpson, B. ( 2012 ). What do Americans know about inequality? It depends on how you ask them . Judgment and Decision Making, 7, 741 – 745 .

Google Scholar ISI

Feather, N. T. ( 1984 ). Protestant ethic, conservatism, and values . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 1132 – 1141 . doi:10.1037/0022-3514.46.5.1132

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Feygina, I., Goldsmith, R. E., Jost, J. T. ( 2010 ). System justification, the denial of global warming, and the possibility of “system-sanctioned change.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 326 – 338 . doi:10.1177/0146167209351435

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Frenda, S. J., Knowles, E. D., Saletan, W., Loftus, E. F. ( 2013 ). False memories of fabricated political events . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 280 – 286 . doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.10.013

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Frimer, J. A., Gaucher, D., Schaefer, N. K. ( 2014 ). Political conservatives’ affinity for obedience to authority is loyal, not blind . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 1205 – 1214 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Graham, J., Haidt, J., Nosek, B. A. ( 2009 ). Liberals and conservatives rely on different moral foundations . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 1029 – 1046 . doi:10.1037/a0015141

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Graham, J., Nosek, B. A., Haidt, J. ( 2012 ). The moral stereotypes of liberals and conservatives: Exaggeration of differences across the ideological spectrum . PLoS ONE, 7(12), e50092 . Retrieved from http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0050092

Google Scholar

Granberg, D., Brent, E. ( 1983 ). When prophecy bends: The preference-expectation link in presidential elections, 1952–1980 . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 477 – 491 . doi:10.1037/0022-3514.45.3.477

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Greer, T., Dunlap, W. P. ( 1997 ). Analysis of variance with ipsative measures . Psychological Methods, 2, 200 – 207 . doi:10.1037/1082-989X.2.2.200

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Hart, W., Abarracin, D., Eagly, A. H., Brechan, I., Lindberg, M. J., Merrill, L. ( 2009 ). Feeling validated versus being correct: A meta-analysis of selective exposure to information . Psychological Bulletin, 135, 555 – 588 . doi:10.1037/a0015701

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hertz, T. ( 2007 ). Trends in the intergenerational elasticity of family income in the United States . Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 46, 22 – 50 . doi:10.1111/j.1468-232X.2007.00456.x

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Isaacs, J. B. ( 2008 ). International comparisons of economic mobility . In Haskins, R., Isaacs, J. B., Sawhill, I. V. (Eds.), Getting ahead or losing ground: Economic mobility in America. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Reports/2008/2/economic%20mobility%20sawhill/02_economic_mobility_sawhill_ch3.PDF

Google Scholar

Jost, J. T., Banaji, M. R., Nosek, B. A. ( 2004 ). A decade of system justification theory: Accumulated evidence of conscious and unconscious bolstering of the status quo . Political Psychology, 25, 881 – 919 . doi:10.1111/j.1467-9221.2004.00402.x

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Jost, J. T., Glaser, J., Sulloway, F., Kruglanski, A. W. ( 2003 ). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition . Psychological Bulletin, 129, 339 – 375 . doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.339

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Jussim, L., Cain, T. R., Crawford, J. T., Harber, K., Cohen, F. ( 2009 ). The unbearable accuracy of stereotypes . In Nelson, T. D. (Ed.), Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination (pp. 199 – 227 ). New York, NY : Psychology Press .

Google Scholar

Kahan, D. M. ( 2013 ). Ideology, motivated reasoning, and cognitive reflection . Judgment and Decision Making, 8, 407 – 424 .

Google Scholar ISI

Kay, A. C., Jost, J. T. ( 2003 ). Complementary justice: Effects of “poor but happy” and “poor but honest” stereotype exemplars on system justification and implicit activation of the justice motive . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 823 – 837 . doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.823

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Lee, C., Solon, G. ( 2009 ). Trends in intergenerational income mobility . The Review of Economics and Statistics, 91, 766 – 772 . doi:10.1162/rest.91.4.766

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Lord, C., Ross, L., Lepper, M. ( 1979 ). Biased assimilation and attitude polarization: The effects of prior theories on subsequently considered evidence . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 2098 – 2109 . doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.11.2098

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Morgan, G. S., Mullen, E., Skitka, L. J. ( 2010 ). When values and attributions collide: Liberals’ and conservatives’ values motivate attributions for alleged misdeeds . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 1241 – 1254 . doi:10.1177/0146167210380605

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Napier, J. L., Jost, J. T. ( 2008 ). Why are conservatives happier than liberals? Psychological Science, 19, 565 – 572 . doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02124.x

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Norton, M. I., Ariely, D. ( 2011 ). Building a better America—One wealth quintile at a time . Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 9 – 12 . doi:10.1177/1745691610393524

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Obama, B. H. ( 2014 , January 28 ). State of the Union address. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/28/president-barack-obamas-state-union-address

Google Scholar

Paolacci, G., Chandler, J. ( 2014 ). Inside the Turk: Understanding Mechanical Turk as a participant pool . Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23, 184 – 188 . doi:10.1177/0963721414531598

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Pew Research Center . ( 2012 ). The lost decade of the middle class: Fewer, poorer, gloomier. Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/08/22/the-lost-decade-of-the-middle-class/

Google Scholar

Pew Research Center . ( 2013 ). Moving on up: Why do some Americans leave the bottom of the economic ladder, but not others? Retrieved from http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/0001/01/01/moving-on-up

Google Scholar

Pratto, F., Sidanius, J., Stallworth, L. M., Malle, B. F. ( 1994 ). Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 741 – 763 . doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.4.741

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Sawhill, I. V. ( 2008 ). Trends in intergenerational mobility . In Haskins, R., Isaacs, J. B., Sawhill, I. V. (Eds.), Getting ahead or losing ground: Economic mobility in America. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Reports/2008/2/economic%20mobility%20sawhill/02_economic_mobility_sawhill_ch2.PDF

Google Scholar

Schlenker, B. R., Chambers, J. R., Le, B. M. ( 2012 ). Conservatives are happier than liberals, but why? Political ideology, personality, and life satisfaction . Journal of Research in Personality, 46, 127 – 146 . doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2011.12.009

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Sidanius, J., Pratto, F. ( 2001 ). Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press .

Google Scholar

Taber, C. S., Lodge, M. ( 2006 ). Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs . American Journal of Political Science, 50, 755 – 769 . doi:10.1111/j.1540-5907.2006.00214.x

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Tetlock, P. E., Mitchell, G. ( 1993 ). Liberal and conservative approaches to justice: Conflicting psychological portraits . In Mellers, B., Baron, J. (Eds.), Psychological perspectives on justice (pp. 234 – 258 ). Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press .

Google Scholar Crossref

Toner, K., Leary, M. R., Asher, M. W., Jongman-Sereno, K. ( 2013 ). Feeling superior is a bipartisan issue: Extremity (not direction) of political views predicts perceived belief superiority . Psychological Science, 24, 2454 – 2462 . doi:10.1177/0956797613494848

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI