Self Perception

In his book Sketch for a Self-Analysis (2005), the French sociologist Bourdieu wrote that "to understand means first to understand the field in which and against which a person is formed." Society has a strong influence on the way we think, feel, and behave. The way we see ourselves, others, and the world around us is shaped by society’s attitudes toward us, including our social and economic status. People internalize these views and attitudes, and they appear in the social roles we take and in our self-perception (Mead, 1936). Sociological studies that examine self-perception in different social classes describe how belonging to a certain class affects our emotions, thoughts, and behavior.

Studies on self-perception in schools of different social classes show that students in elite schools develop a self-view characterized by a sense of entitlement. This sense of entitlement is based on understanding the social rules of the game and the ability to use them for personal benefit (Lareau, 2002). In contrast, the self-perception of people from low socio-economic backgrounds is described as being marked by restraint and self-control and is linked to dealing with survival conditions, known as a sense of constraint.

Studies have described different ways in which the sense of entitlement is formed and maintained. This feeling gives people positive emotions of belonging, involves social distance from those who do not belong, and includes a perceived right to elite education and to influence the lives of others (Gaztambide-Fernandez et al., 2014). The sense of entitlement is developed through messages and discussions that emphasize students’ belonging to a unique and special group. Teachers in elite schools in Israel described their students’ self-perception as highly intelligent and especially talented. Students in elite schools do not only have positive views about themselves, they are also confident that important adults such as teachers and parents see them in the same way. They described their right to elite education as being based on their special or exceptional abilities (Pinto Dror & Shoshana, 2024). In an American study, teachers in high socio-economic schools described their students using what was called soft individualism. This included the use of positive psychology, metaphors of growth and development, and encouragement to achieve goals. This type of individualism was linked to success and happiness. In contrast, teachers in low socio-economic schools used hard individualism and described their students as standing alone against the world, which is seen as a difficult and dangerous place. The meaning of this self-view is that strict boundaries, obedience, and close supervision are more common in low-status schools (Kusserow, 1999).

The sense of entitlement also develops through informal knowledge about the rules of the system, how institutions work, and a communication style that includes confidence in speaking to authority figures in order to achieve personal goals. A study on help-seeking strategies in the classroom found that children from higher social classes ask for help more often and in more areas. Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds wait for the teacher’s approval, ask for less help, and lose out because they receive less attention and their emotional needs are met less often (Calarco, 2011). This is also connected to the parenting style common in higher social classes. This style, known as helicopter parenting, means that parents try to remove all obstacles from their children’s path in order to prevent frustration, disappointment, and difficult emotions. Schools in higher socio-economic settings were also found to promote a future-oriented self-concept. The school helps the student build a life story that creates meaning and understanding, which later shapes their development. These students develop the ability to imagine themselves in the future and to feel in control of future possibilities. This is a psychological resource that children from higher classes can later turn into economic and cultural capital (Silva & Corse, 2018).

In contrast to the individualistic discourse that characterizes self-perception in higher socio-economic classes, life in lower socio-economic classes is described as a sense of restraint and limitation. This life experience is marked by a collective discourse that promotes a family and community-based self, along with social and political contextual traits. For example, in a study by Shoshana (2017), which examined how students from different social classes interpret a text about racism called "Brown Morning" by Franck Pavloff, students from low socio-economic schools gave interpretations based on real events in which they experienced racism, such as not being allowed into a club because of skin color. Students in elite schools gave interpretations related to a film they watched or a book they read, works that were distant in time and place. In another study by Shoshana (2019), students from higher classes described happiness as personal control over reality, and as something that requires constant self-management, autonomy, and individualism. In contrast, students from lower classes described happiness as unstable and dependent on conditions outside the individual, including social and political conditions. Seeing the social environment as contextual is also explained by the constant need of people from lower classes to deal with external limits and threats. This is the result of living in a reality of high objective risks such as job security, housing, personal safety, and health, along with fewer opportunities for choice, influence, and control. Such a reality also develops higher alertness to danger. Because of a low sense of personal control, there is a tendency to explain many situations through external causes. This is different from people from higher socio-economic classes, who have both material and psychological resources that allow them to develop a strong belief in their ability to shape and control their future.

The sense of entitlement and the sense of restraint show the very different life experiences of individuals from different social classes. These feelings are maintained through social discourse, educational practices, emotions, and daily interactions, and they deepen inequality between different groups. Beyond increasing inequality, the maintenance of class-based identities keeps people from developing awareness of their self-perception, whether it is awareness of privilege or awareness of the effects of social oppression on the individual. Such awareness can expand understanding of the complex links between behavior, thought, emotions, and social class. 

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious."

Carl Jung