How Social Class Shapes Identity |
As strong an influence social class can be, people often grow up unaware of it.
If psychologically unexplored, switching social classes can cause anxiety, shame, low self-esteem.
Understanding the influence of class can alleviate its related anxiety and social strife.
We usually look to our families of origin to understand ourselves and our unconscious motivations, especially if we’ve been in therapy. Having had two psychoanalyses myself, I’ve been exploring that connection my whole adult life.
But as I age and think more retrospectively, I’m aware of how anxiety about social class played a role, too. Maybe that’s true for most people in this socially mobile culture of ours. After all, families are embedded in social class, which influences how parents raise children and model attitudes for them. Yet, social class rarely gets talked about in relation to our psychology and identity. We may more readily acknowledge our backgrounds nowadays, but do we think enough about their emotional impact?
Like most kids, I took my place in society for granted. I grew up in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Queens, an outer borough of New York City, where people worked as shopkeepers, bookkeepers, receptionists, and salesmen. My father sold corrugated boxes to factories throughout New England, and my mother sold clothing in Manhattan’s garment district. The few wealthier kids in our schools were headed for careers instead of jobs, like the........