ABSTRACT

This chapter presents a multiple-indicator model of the subjective evaluation of social status. The model was constructed on the basis of answers to a battery of questions in which respondents were asked to evaluate their social position in terms of education, occupational skills, nature of work participation in management, social prestige, income, and consumption of cultural goods. The application of a confirmatory factor analysis led to the distinguishing of three dimensions of social status evaluation: knowledge, occupation, and rewards. Self-appraisal of education and occupational skills represent a priori selected indicators of the knowledge dimension. Self-appraisal of the nature of work, participation in management, and social prestige define the occupational dimension. The rewards dimension was inferred from self-appraisal of income and consumption of cultural goods. The synthetic measure does not offer interpretations that identify the dimensions of the stratification system embedded in social consciousness.