What is the relationship between socioeconomic status and political participation?

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Highlights

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Social class is hypothesized to be one factor informing political attitudes and actions.

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Research suggests that social class informs political attitudes toward economic policies.

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However, economic policy attitudes may not correlate with complementary political behavior.

Socioeconomic status is hypothesized to be one factor informing political attitudes and actions. Presumably, this relationship is rooted in economic self-interest, with individuals preferring policies that would benefit them financially. In addition, these economic policy preferences are assumed to translate into political action. However, the relationships between socioeconomic status and political attitudes and behavior, as well as the psychological mechanisms associated with those relationships, are not straightforward. Here, we briefly review the current state of knowledge on the relationships between socioeconomic status and political attitudes and behavior. Overall, the research suggests that while socioeconomic status informs political attitudes toward economic policies, these attitudes may not correlate with complementary political behavior.

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