Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the research tradition and organizational context of social stratification studies in Poland. It reviews the three major research topics: inequality among occupational groups; social mobility; and psychological aspects of social stratification. The book investigates subjective aspect of social inequality. Two problems are empirically approached: people's perception of social mobility and their evaluation of it in terms of their sense of social justice. The book shows significant correlation between socioeconomic status and class self-identification. It analyzes four values: happy family life, educational achievement, high income, and altruistic social action. Educational achievement and altruistic social action appear to be most frequently preferred by non-manual workers; manual workers tend to value income more highly and, in turn, give lower ranking to educational achievement and altruistic social action.