Socioeconomic Status Differences, Inequality, and Social Mobility

     There is a growing understanding of the negative impact of socioeconomic inequalities in various aspects of human development and well-being. This research theme investigates these specific impacts on psychological processes and outcomes in the Philippine context, including academic motivations and achievement of students, sense of agency, political and economic behaviors, among others. The research program tries to understand the social psychological and personality dimensions of these outcomes and has focused on personality and social cognitive constructs such as social dominance orientation, system justifying ideologies, and subjective social status. But it also seeks to establish linkages with societal level processes (e.g., dispersion of political power/control, provincial level inequality, access to ICT and social media, etc.)  Part of the program also seeks to study poverty-related or class-related prejudice among Filipinos, Filipino’s perceptions of socioeconomic inequality, constructions of the causes of socioeconomic mobility, and attitudes towards policies and programs that seek to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in the Philippines. 

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Publications: 

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Bernardo, A. B. I., Levy, S. R., & Lytle, A. (2018). Culturally relevant meanings of the Protestant work ethic and attitudes towards poor persons. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 21, e40, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2018.48 

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Daganzo, M.A. A., & Bernardo, A. B. I. (2018). Socioeconomic status and problem attributions: The mediating role of sense of control. Cogent Psychology, 5, 1525149. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2018.1525149 

 

Clemente, J. A. R., Daganzo, M. A. A., Bernardo, A. B. I., & Pangan, C. A. C. (2017). Filipino adolescents’ conceptions of socioeconomic mobility: A consensual qualitative research. Child Indicators Research, 10, 117-140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-016-9370-6 

 

Wang, T. Y., & Bernardo, A. B. I. (2017). Through the back door: Personality factors predict acceptance of illegal zou hou menamong Chinese people. Personality and Individual Differences, 119, 114-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.07.021

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Bernardo, A. B. I. (2015). Broadening psychology discourses on poverty and connecting with conversations on social change. Silliman Journal, 56(3), 227-236. 

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Bernardo, A. B. I. (2015). Poverty, privilege, and prejudice: Social psychological dimensions of socioeconomic inequalities in the Philippines. Silliman Journal, 56(3), 179-203.  

 

Bernardo, A. B. I. (2013). Social dominance orientation and attitudes towards the poor: Contrasting lower and higher socioeconomic groups in the Philippines. Philippine Journal of Psychology, 46, 39-69.  

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