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Making it in America
How many do you think will succeed?
Try this:
- How easy is it to get ahead?
- Let's see what you think.
What's going on?
Most people think it’s much easier to move up than it actually is. People who call themselves upper class are especially likely to get it wrong. Does knowing the facts change how you think about people and opportunity in our society?
Further Reading
Michael W. Kraus and Jacinth J.X. Tan (2015). “Americans Overestimate Social Class Mobility.” Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58: 101–111. (article)
The Opportunity Atlas. (interactive dataset).
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1713638. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
