A new study suggests that the 2008 Great Recession did more than damage the economy; it also altered how Americans perceive their own social standing. The findings, published in Psychological Science, indicate that this period of economic turmoil caused a lasting drop in class identity across the United States.
Psychologists have traditionally viewed class identity as a stable trait. Most Americans tend to identify as working class or middle class, and these self-conceptions usually persist throughout their lives.
Historical data going back to the 1940s supports the idea that these identities do not fluctuate easily. Consequently, there has been little empirical work examining whether class identity can change over the long term.
The researchers behind the new study sought to challenge the assumption of stability. Theoretical models suggest that class identity should be malleable when people experience drastic changes in their circumstances. The 2008 Great Recession provided a unique historical context to test these theories on a large scale.
“While class identity is known to predict critical outcomes like health and voting behavior, it has historically been treated as a static trait that remains stable throughout adulthood,” said study author Stephen Antonoplis, an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside and director of the Self and Society Laboratory.
“We wanted to test this assumption by investigating whether a massive, nationwide economic shock, specifically the 2008 Great Recession, shifted how people see themselves in the social hierarchy.”
During the financial crisis, many Americans faced tangible losses in the form of unemployment and foreclosures. At the same time, the cultural narrative shifted. The rise of movements like Occupy Wall Street popularized language about the “1%” versus the “99%.” This rhetoric emphasized that most Americans occupied a lower position relative to the economic elite.
To investigate this phenomenon, the researchers analyzed data from four large datasets. These included the American National Election Studies, the General Social Survey, and the World Values Survey. These three datasets used repeated cross-sectional designs, meaning they surveyed different groups of people each year.
The team also utilized the Health and Retirement Study. This dataset is longitudinal, meaning it tracks the same individuals over many years. This design allowed the researchers to observe changes within the lives of specific people. In total, the study included data from 164,296 participants.
The datasets covered a broad span of time, ranging from decades before the recession to years after. The sample was largely representative of the United States population in terms of gender, race, and education. This large sample size provided high statistical power to detect population-level shifts.
The researchers employed a statistical method called interrupted time-series modeling. This technique analyzes the trend of a variable leading up to a specific event. It then identifies if there is a sudden change in level at the time of the event. Finally, it looks at the trend in the years following the event.
Class identity was measured using two different approaches. Three of the surveys asked participants to choose a label that best described their social class. Options typically included categories such as lower class, working class, middle class, and upper class.
The Health and Retirement Study used a visual measure known as the MacArthur Ladder. Participants were shown a drawing of a ladder with ten rungs representing society. They were asked to place themselves on the rung that reflected their standing relative to the people who are best and worst off.
The results from the American National Election Studies showed a clear pattern. In the years leading up to 2008, class identity among Americans had been gradually increasing. However, the data revealed a drop in class identity starting in 2008. Following this decline, identity levels began to recover slowly in the subsequent years.
The General Social Survey yielded similar results regarding the immediate impact of the recession. Class identity appeared relatively stable in the decades prior to the crash. In 2008, there was a negative shift in how participants identified themselves. Unlike the previous dataset, this survey indicated that identity levels did not bounce back and remained lower for the next fourteen years.
The longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study provided perhaps the strongest evidence. Because this survey followed the same people, it controlled for differences between generations. These participants reported linear increases in their perceived status leading up to the recession.
Once the recession hit, these same individuals reported a sharp decline in their social standing. This drop was significant compared to what would have been expected based on their previous positive trends. The analysis showed that the recession disrupted the upward trajectory of their lives.
“We were particularly struck by the consistency of the findings across such diverse datasets, including the fact that the drop was visible within the lives of the same individuals over time, as well as the fact that results from most datasets indicated that Americans’ class identity had not increased considerably in the years following the recession,” Antonoplis told PsyPost.
The World Values Survey was the only dataset that produced slightly different results. It showed a decrease in class identity in the decades prior to 2008. While the data did show a decrease in 2008, the drop was not statistically significant in this specific model. However, the overall pattern across the four studies points toward a real effect.
These findings suggest that class identity is not set in stone. It appears to be responsive to the economic and cultural environment.
“The main takeaway is that people’s sense of ‘where they stand’ in society is not set in stone,” Antonoplis explained. “It is dynamic and responsive to the world around them, including both changes in their finances or employment and changes in the broader culture, such as messaging about economic threat and wealth discrepancies. Our results also suggest that major economic events don’t just change our bank accounts—they change our sense of self and our relationship to society.”
“While the numerical shifts might look small at first glance, they represent a significant ‘level drop’ across the entire American population. Because class identity is such a powerful driver of health, well-being, and political leanings, even a modest downward shift can have large aggregate effects on public health and national discourse. It is the difference between a society that feels well off and one that feels collectively demoted.”
As with all research, there are some limitations. The research relied on self-reported data, which can be influenced by various biases. Additionally, while the time-series design helps infer causality, it is difficult to isolate the recession from other events.
For example, the election of Barack Obama occurred around the same time as the financial crisis. However, the authors argue that this event is unlikely to be the cause. The election represented a moment of hope for many and occurred after the recession had already begun.
Future research could explore the mechanisms behind this shift in greater detail. Scientists want to understand if personal financial loss or media exposure played a bigger role. It is also unclear if this drop in identity led to specific changes in people’s attitudes or mental health.
“For example, did changes in class identity following the Great Recession produce changes in people’s political views or social values?” Antonoplis said. “Did the change in class identity affect people’s psychological well-being?”
“This research was made possible by decades of data collection from thousands of Americans who participated in national surveys since the 1950s and by decades of federal government funding for social science research,” the researcher added. “Our study serves as a reminder of how valuable long-term social science infrastructure is for understanding the psychological consequences of history.”
“We hope this study encourages more researchers to look at identity as something that evolves alongside the world we live in and that it inspires lawmakers to continue funding vital research in the social sciences.”
The study, “The 2008 Great Recession Lowered Americans’ Class Identity,” was authored by Stephen Antonoplis, Juan Eduardo Garcia-Cardenas, Eileen K. Graham, and Daniel K. Mroczek.
