A “middle” is, according to Oxford Languages, “the point or position at an equal distance from the sides, edges, or ends of something.” By definition, then, a middle class consists of those people who are, in socio-economic terms, equally distant from a “lower” class and an “upper” class. That means that at any given time, precisely one-third of Americans should comprise the middle class.

Survey after survey, however, shows that a much higher percentage of Americans believe they are middle class. In fact, in a 2015 Pew survey, only 10 percent of Americans said they considered themselves “lower class” and just 1 percent thought they were “upper class.” It’s clear from such studies that the middle class draws in Americans from both ends of the financial spectrum, with both the rich and the poor consciously or unconsciously underestimating or overestimating their position on the bell curve. Some billionaires see themselves as middle class, as do most of those who live paycheck to paycheck, despite having very different lifestyles.

Why is this so? Based on such findings, it appears that claiming membership in the American middle class provides a powerful and affirmative sense of personal........

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