How does social class shape identity in modern society?
Social class and identity: how class is defined and measured, how class shapes identity and life chances, and the debate over whether class identity is declining in modern society.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on social class and identity. Covers how class is defined and measured, how class shapes identity, culture and life chances, the evidence that class still matters, and the debate over whether class identity is declining as postmodernists argue.
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What this dot point is asking
The SQA wants you to explain how social class shapes identity: how class is defined and measured, how it influences identity, culture and life chances, and the debate over whether class identity is declining. This applies the idea of socially constructed identity to class, one of the major social divisions.
The answer
What social class is and how it is measured
How class shapes identity
Class and life chances
Is class identity declining?
Why this matters
Class is a key test of whether identity is socially constructed and whether the older social divisions still hold. It also links directly to the Social Issues area, where class inequality and its effects are examined in depth.
Examples in context
Education shows how class shapes identity and life chances. Children socialised in different class backgrounds often grow up with different expectations about school and the future: in some families higher education is taken for granted, in others it is seen as not "for people like us", and these expectations become part of how young people see themselves. The life chances then diverge, with the poverty-related attainment gap meaning children from poorer backgrounds tend, on average, to achieve less, which can reinforce a class identity. A postmodernist would argue young people today define themselves more by the music, brands and lifestyles they choose than by class, while others point to the persistent attainment and health gaps as evidence class still bites. Weighing the weakening of class consciousness against the persistence of class differences in life chances is exactly the judgement this question rewards.
Try this
Q1. Explain what sociologists mean by life chances. [4 marks]
- Cue. The opportunities and outcomes a person is likely to have in health, education, income and housing, which differ by class.
Q2. Explain how social class can be passed on through socialisation. [4 marks]
- Cue. The family, neighbourhood and school pass on the norms, values, tastes and expectations linked to a class position, shaping how people see themselves.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher specimen8 marksExplain how social class can shape a person's identity.Show worked answer →
An -mark "explain" question. Markers want developed explanation linked to socialisation and life chances.
Class shapes identity through socialisation: the family, neighbourhood and school pass on the norms, values, tastes and expectations associated with a class position, so people often come to see themselves as working class or middle class.
Develop it by linking class to life chances, the opportunities and outcomes (in health, education and income) that differ by class, and to culture and taste. An example such as differences in educational expectations between classes earns the developed marks.
SQA Higher 201912 marksAnalyse the view that social class identity is declining in modern society.Show worked answer →
A -mark "analyse" question. Markers reward developed argument on both sides and a judgement.
One side, especially postmodernists, argues class identity is declining: people now define themselves more by lifestyle, consumption and choice than by class, and old class loyalties have weakened.
The other side argues class still matters: clear class differences remain in income, wealth, health and education, and these life chances shape identity. Analysis marks come from weighing the evidence; a judgement, for example that class still shapes life chances even if class consciousness has weakened, is the discriminator.
Related dot points
- Culture, norms, values, roles and status, the idea of cultural diversity, and the nature versus nurture debate about how far human behaviour is innate or learned.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on culture and the nature versus nurture debate. Covers the meaning of culture, norms, values, roles and status, cultural diversity including subcultures, and the debate over how far human behaviour is innate (nature) or learned through socialisation (nurture).
- Socialisation: how people learn the norms and values of their society, the difference between primary and secondary socialisation, and the main agents of socialisation including the family, education, peers, the media and religion.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on socialisation. Covers how people learn the norms and values of their society, the difference between primary and secondary socialisation, the main agents (family, education, peer group, media and religion), and how socialisation reproduces culture and shapes identity.
- Identity and the social construction of identity: personal and social identity, how identities are formed through socialisation and interaction, and the idea that identity is increasingly chosen rather than fixed.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on identity and its social construction. Covers personal and social identity, how identities such as class, gender and ethnic identity are formed through socialisation and interaction, the idea that identity is socially constructed rather than natural, and the view that identity is increasingly a matter of choice.
- Gender and identity: the difference between sex and gender, how gender identity is formed through gender-role socialisation, the agents involved, and the debate over how far gender is socially constructed.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on gender and identity. Covers the difference between sex and gender, how gender identity is formed through gender-role socialisation by the family, school, peers and media, the feminist view that gender is socially constructed, and the debate with biological explanations.
- Social inequality: what it means, the forms it takes (wealth, income, health, education and employment), the evidence for it, and the groups most affected including by class, gender and ethnicity.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on social inequality. Covers what social inequality means, the forms it takes in wealth, income, health, education and employment, the evidence for it, and the groups most affected, including by social class, gender and ethnicity.
Sources & how we know this
- SQA Higher Sociology Course Specification (C868 76) — SQA (2019)