Re-Establishing the Social-Class Order: Restorative Reactions against High-Achieving, Low-SES Pupils

This research investigates a barrier faced by low-SES pupils who are on an upward social mobility trajectory: resistance to their high-achiever status. We hypothesize that, as they disconfirm the usual social-class academic disparities (i.e., high-SES on average outperform low-SES pupils), they threaten the status quo and induce restorative reactions that may hinder their chances of success. Experiment 1 showed that participants remembered less accurately information about pupils when low-SES pupils were presented as outperforming high-SES pupils than when the reverse was true. The errors appeared to be congruent with existing social hierarchies. In Experiment 2, preservice teachers assessed a test supposedly produced by a low- versus high-SES pupil who was presented as being either high or low achieving. The evaluation was harshest when the test was produced by a high-achieving low-SES pupil. These results suggest that people attempt to recreate the social-class academic hierarchy when it is challenged.