Social Mobility

Social Mobility and Social Identity

For members of a group to engage in social mobility, the hierarchically arranged system of groups must be open. That is, the intergroup configuration must have a clearly defined set of characteristics that permits members of one group to gain entrance into another group. In an open system, then, an equity principle of justice prevailsan individual's inputs, as deemed important by society, govern how far up the intergroup hierarchy that person may climb.

By contrast, in a closed system of hierarchically arranged groups, social mobility is impossible. Formal caste structures and slavery are examples of closed systems in which there are no opportunities for upward social mobility. When confronted with a closed system, the only option available for an individual to improve her or his status is social change. That is, only an improvement in the status of the entire group will cause the individual's personal status to change for the better. Social change involves collective action designed to improve the group's status, and this improvement will be at the expense of the highstatus group. Clearly, social change strategies in the face of a closed system involve some level of intergroup conflict. Because the conflict involves groups of unequal power and status, the usual diplomatic and military strategies associated with conflict between equal-status groups will not likely yield the desired results for the low-status group. Thus, collective actions such as terrorism and rioting often emerge as groups lacking power and status search for strategies to successfully confront highstatus groups.

Social identity theorists have been influential in drawing the conceptual distinction between social mobility and social change. They articulated these two social strategies for upward mobility by pointing to the importance of group identity for understanding the self. Their proposition is that people strive to attain a group identity that is distinct and [Page 816]positive. Well-being is reinforced when individuals identify with a group that has high status and is regarded positively.

Presumably, members of a low-status group will be motivated to improve their group-based identity by engaging in upward social mobility. But in real-world intergroup situations, it has proven difficult to predict when, and indeed whether, members of a disadvantaged group will take individual or collective action to improve their group-based identity. Social identity theorists have proposed that if members of a disadvantaged group perceive that mobility is possible and that their disadvantaged status is unfair, then they will engage in behavior designed to improve their status and, by extension, their group identity.

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