Showing papers in "American Sociological Review in 2018"
TL;DR: The authors assesses whether men and women receive equal returns to academic performance in hiring and find that women earn better grades than men across levels of education, but not necessarily at the same level of education.
Abstract: Women earn better grades than men across levels of education—but to what end? This article assesses whether men and women receive equal returns to academic performance in hiring. I conducted an aud...
179 citations
TL;DR: This paper proposed a research agenda for the sociology of recognition and destigmatization, and sketched how social scientists, policymakers, organizations, and citizens can contribute to this research agenda, including institutions, cultural repertoires, knowledge workers, and social movement activists.
Abstract: This Presidential Address offers elements for a systematic and cumulative study of destigmatization, or the process by which low-status groups gain recognition and worth. Contemporary sociologists tend to focus on inequality in the distribution of resources, such as occupations, education, and wealth. Complementing this research, this address draws attention to “recognition gaps,” defined as disparities in worth and cultural membership between groups in a society. I first describe how neoliberalism promotes growing recognition gaps. Then, drawing on research on stigmatized groups across several societies, I analyze how experiences of stigma and destigmatization are enabled and constrained by various contextual factors and actors, including institutions, cultural repertoires, knowledge workers, and social movement activists. I conclude by proposing a research agenda for the sociology of recognition and destigmatization, and by sketching how social scientists, policymakers, organizations, and citizens can c...
175 citations
TL;DR: This paper developed and tested a theory to address a puzzling pattern that has been discussed widely since the 2016 U.S. presidential election and reproduced here in a post-election survey: how can a constitu...
Abstract: We develop and test a theory to address a puzzling pattern that has been discussed widely since the 2016 U.S. presidential election and reproduced here in a post-election survey: how can a constitu...
153 citations
TL;DR: This paper found evidence of wider class gaps in parental financial investments in children when state-level income inequality is higher, and explored mechanisms that may drive the relationship between rising income inequality and widening class gaps.
Abstract: Historic increases in income inequality have coincided with widening class divides in parental investments of money and time in children. These widening class gaps are significant because parental investment is one pathway by which advantage is transmitted across generations. Using over three decades of micro-data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the American Heritage Time Use Survey linked to state-year measures of income inequality, we test the relationship between income inequality and class gaps in parental investment. We find robust evidence of wider class gaps in parental financial investments in children—but not parental time investments in children—when state-level income inequality is higher. We explore mechanisms that may drive the relationship between rising income inequality and widening class gaps in parental financial investments in children. This relationship is partially explained by the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution in state-years with hi...
131 citations
TL;DR: The authors examine how racial stereotypes permeate the distinct but serially linked stages of the housing exchange process and the conditions under which stereotypes are deployed in each stage; and how such dynamics accumulate to affect ultimate processes of exclusion and inclusion.
Abstract: Despite numerous legal interventions intended to mitigate racial discrimination in the United States, racial inequality persists in virtually every domain that matters for human well-being. To better understand the processes enabling this durable inequality, I undertake a case study of the housing market—a domain centrally linked to persistent, systemic disparity. I examine how racial stereotypes permeate the distinct but serially linked stages of the housing exchange process; the conditions under which stereotypes are deployed in each stage; and how such dynamics accumulate to affect ultimate processes of exclusion and inclusion. Drawing on one year of ethnographic fieldwork and more than 100 in-depth interviews in the Houston housing market, my findings demonstrate that widely shared, hierarchical stereotypes about race, supported by conditions such as network-necessitated rapport-building and discretion, compound discrimination across discrete stages of housing exchange. I argue that as this accumulati...
120 citations
115 citations
TL;DR: It was found that providing support to alters, but not receiving support from those alters, was a major source of difficulty in these relationships, suggesting that normative and institutional constraints may force people to retain difficult and demanding alters in their networks.
Abstract: Why do people maintain ties with individuals whom they find difficult? Standard network theories imply that such alters are avoided or dropped. Drawing on a survey of over 1,100 diverse respondents who described over 12,000 relationships, we examined which among those ties respondents nominated as a person whom they "sometimes find demanding or difficult." Those so listed composed about 15 percent of all alters in the network. After holding ego and alter traits constant, close kin, especially women relatives and aging parents, were especially likely to be named as difficult alters. Non-kin described as friends were less, and those described as co-workers more, likely to be listed only as difficult alters. These results suggest that normative and institutional constraints may force people to retain difficult and demanding alters in their networks. We also found that providing support to alters, but not receiving support from those alters, was a major source of difficulty in these relationships. Furthermore, the felt burden of providing support was not attenuated by receiving assistance, suggesting that alters involved in reciprocated exchanges were not less often labeled difficult than were those in unreciprocated ones. This study underlines the importance of constraints in personal networks.
110 citations
TL;DR: In today's labor market, the majority of individuals experience a lapse in employment at some point in their careers, most commonly due to unemployment from job loss or leaving work to care for family members as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In today’s labor market, the majority of individuals experience a lapse in employment at some point in their careers, most commonly due to unemployment from job loss or leaving work to care for fam...
97 citations
TL;DR: The new consensus is that immigration laws produce "illegality" But can "Illeg" but can also be used to "legally" as mentioned in this paper. But can “illeg”
Abstract: Immigration scholars have increasingly questioned the idea that “illegality” is a fixed, inherent condition Instead, the new consensus is that immigration laws produce “illegality” But can “illeg
95 citations
TL;DR: This paper used cultural theories of meaning-making to explore how smells are invested with meaning and how those meanings structure interactions and group relations, and found that most participants can correctly decode perfume manufacturers' intended message, target users, and usage sites.
Abstract: How are smells invested with meaning and how do those meanings structure interactions and group relations? I use cultural theories of meaning-making to explore these questions, situating my inquiry in the world of commercially marketed perfumes. Using blind smell tests in focus groups, I examine how individuals make sense of certain fragrances absent direction from manufacturers or marketing materials. I find that most participants can correctly decode perfume manufacturers’ intended message, target users, and usage sites. I unpack the role of culture in these initial classifications of smells, and later, in how participants apply those evaluations to reify social boundaries and reproduce social relations—especially with reference to race and class. I also identify two cognitive mechanisms—embodied simulation and iterative reprocessing—illustrating how these mechanisms facilitate a dynamic interaction between practical and discursive modes of consciousness in deciphering smells. Finally, I elaborate the r...
73 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that married men earn more money than unmarried men, a key result of the research on marriage benefits, and they found that such a "male marital welfare" is a "female marital welfare".
Abstract: This study reconsiders the phenomenon that married men earn more money than unmarried men, a key result of the research on marriage benefits. Many earlier studies have found such a “male marital wa...
TL;DR: In this paper, a theory of "societalization" was developed, demonstrating its plausibility through empirical analyses of church pedophilia, media phone-hacking, and the financial crisis.
Abstract: This article develops a theory of “societalization,” demonstrating its plausibility through empirical analyses of church pedophilia, media phone-hacking, and the financial crisis. Although these st...
TL;DR: This paper investigated the complex roles of the social environment and genes in multigenerational transmission of educational attainment, drawing on genome-wide data and educational attainment data, and found that genes play an important role in the transmission of knowledge.
Abstract: This study investigates the complex roles of the social environment and genes in the multigenerational transmission of educational attainment. Drawing on genome-wide data and educational attainment...
TL;DR: This paper study the flow of material and social support as generalized exchange systems and find that these systems are associated with an array of benefits to groups and communities, but their externs are not associated with a wide range of benefits.
Abstract: Social scientists often study the flow of material and social support as generalized exchange systems. These systems are associated with an array of benefits to groups and communities, but their ex...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined women's use of egg freezing as a tool to renegotiate the relationship between romantic and reproductive trajectories and temporalities and interviewed 52 participants who were c
Abstract: This study examines women’s use of egg freezing as a tool to renegotiate the relationship between romantic and reproductive trajectories and temporalities We interviewed 52 participants who were c
TL;DR: Higher-education expansion erodes the value of a college degree, and college-educated workers are at greater risk for underemployment in less cognitively demanding occupations, which raises questions about the sources of rising income inequality, skill utilization across the working life course, occupational sex segregation, and how returns to education have changed across different life domains.
Abstract: What is the worth of a college degree when higher education expands? The relative education hypothesis posits that when college degrees are rare, individuals with more education have less competition to enter highly-skilled occupations. When college degrees are more common, there may not be enough highly-skilled jobs to go around; some college-educated workers lose out to others and are pushed into less-skilled jobs. Using new measurements of occupation-level verbal, quantitative, and analytic skills, this study tests the changing effect of education on skill utilization across 70 years of birth cohorts from 1971 to 2010, net of all other age, period, and cohort trends. Higher-education expansion erodes the value of a college degree, and college-educated workers are at greater risk for underemployment in less cognitively demanding occupations. This raises questions about the sources of rising income inequality, skill utilization across the working life course, occupational sex segregation, and how returns to education have changed across different life domains.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose an alternative explanation for cultural variation as a product of social contagion, which they call as "culture does not spread like a virus" in network models of diffusion.
Abstract: Network models of diffusion predominantly think about cultural variation as a product of social contagion. But culture does not spread like a virus. We propose an alternative explanation we call as...
TL;DR: The "elitist approach" to democratization contends that "democratic regimes that last have seldom, if ever, been instituted by mass popular actors" (Huntington 1984:212) as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The “elitist approach” to democratization contends that “democratic regimes that last have seldom, if ever, been instituted by mass popular actors” (Huntington 1984:212). This article subjects this...
TL;DR: Based on Weber's definition of status as rooted in ei... as mentioned in this paper, current theories of occupational status conceptualize it as either a function of cultural esteem or the symbolic aspect of the class structure.
Abstract: Current theories of occupational status conceptualize it as either a function of cultural esteem or the symbolic aspect of the class structure. Based on Weber’s definition of status as rooted in ei...
TL;DR: Since the 1970s, market restructuring has shifted many workers into workplaces heavily reliant on sales to outside corporate buyers as mentioned in this paper, and these outside buyers wield substantial power over working condit...
Abstract: Since the 1970s, market restructuring has shifted many workers into workplaces heavily reliant on sales to outside corporate buyers. These outside buyers wield substantial power over working condit...
TL;DR: The children of high-income parents often become high income adults, while their low-income peers often become low income adults as mentioned in this paper, and education plays a central role in this intergenerational income per...
Abstract: The children of high-income parents often become high-income adults, while their low-income peers often become low-income adults. Education plays a central role in this intergenerational income per...
TL;DR: In this paper, the mechanisms by which corporate prestige produces distorted legal outcomes are explored, drawing on social psychological theories of status, and they suggest that prestige influences audience and influence decision-making.
Abstract: This article explores the mechanisms by which corporate prestige produces distorted legal outcomes. Drawing on social psychological theories of status, we suggest that prestige influences audience ...
TL;DR: A pattern of accelerated assimilation is identified in which more educated immigrants experience much of their earnings growth during the first years after arriving, and there is no evidence of a declining “quality” of immigrant cohorts even after controlling for their ethnoracial composition and human capital.
Abstract: We examine immigrants’ earnings trajectories and measure the extent and speed with which they are able to reduce the earnings gap with natives, using a dataset that links respondents of the Survey ...
TL;DR: The authors showed that temporary work is at least as detrimental as unemployment for spouses' subjective well-being, although there are differences between spouses' experiences of temporary employment and those experienced by husbands.
Abstract: The negative impact of unemployment on individuals and its spillover to spouses is widely documented. However, we have a gap in our knowledge when it comes to the similar consequences of temporary employment. This is problematic, because although temporary jobs are often considered better alternatives to unemployment for endowing individuals with income and opportunities to connect to employers, they are also associated with stressors such as high levels of job insecurity and poor quality work, the effects of which might spill over to spouses. Using matched data from the British Household Panel Study, I show that temporary work is at least as detrimental as unemployment for spouses’ subjective well-being, although there are differences. When experienced by husbands, temporary work, like unemployment, has a negative effect on wives’ psychological well-being and life satisfaction. Yet, as opposed to unemployment, wives’ temporary employment also spills over and negatively affects husbands’ psychological wel...
TL;DR: It is suggested that the toll of an increasingly tenuous and uncertain transition to adulthood extends beyond young people to their parents, and increased public investments during this transition may not only reduce inequality and improve life chances for young people themselves, but may also enhance healthy aging by relieving the heavy burden on parents to help their children navigate this transition.
Abstract: For many African American youth, the joint influences of economic and racial marginalization render the transition to stable adult roles challenging. We have gained much insight into how these chal...
TL;DR: It is proposed that the social environment can also transform the genetic link between two traits, and genetic correlation-by-environment interaction [(rG)xE] is introduced as a sociologically-informed model that will become especially useful as data for more well-powered analyses become available.
Abstract: Sociologists interested in the effects of genes on complex social outcomes claim environmental conditions structure when and how genes matter, but they have only studied environmental moderation of...
TL;DR: Racial segregation between U.S. workplaces is greater today than it was a generation ago as mentioned in this paper, and this increase happened alongside declines in within-establishment occupational segregation, on which most p...
Abstract: Racial segregation between U.S. workplaces is greater today than it was a generation ago. This increase happened alongside declines in within-establishment occupational segregation, on which most p...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study how investors enter and navigate markets where there is a general lack of access to information and where the law is open to interpretation, drawing on interview data with 100 research subjects.
Abstract: How do investors enter and navigate markets where there is a general lack of access to information and where the law is open to interpretation? Drawing on interview data with 100 research subjects ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that parallel cultural developments between 800 and 200 BCE in what is today China, Greece, India, Iran, and Israel-Palestine constitute the global historical tu...
Abstract: Proponents of the Axial Age contend that parallel cultural developments between 800 and 200 BCE in what is today China, Greece, India, Iran, and Israel-Palestine constitute the global historical tu...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify interlocking mechanisms that help explain how disadvantaged neighborhoods influence their residents' political capacity, by combining ethnographic and statistical methods, and propose a method to identify the interlocking mechanism.
Abstract: Combining ethnographic and statistical methods, this study identifies interlocking mechanisms that help explain how disadvantaged neighborhoods influence their residents’ political capacity. Suppor...