Behavioral effects of social class and why they matter to organizations

Social class, which is defined as a dimension of the self that is rooted in objective material resources (via income, education, and occupational prestige) and corresponding subjective perceptions of rank vis-a-vis others (Côté, 2011), is a strong predictor for career success, and affects collaboration in organizations. In the present research, we aim to resolve existing theoretical puzzles in the management literature by investigating how social class dimensions, in interaction with characteristics of the organizational context, influence leader and follower behavior, as well as team and organizational outcomes. Specifically, in the first project, we aim to reconcile empirical inconsistencies regarding the relationship between social class and prosocial behavior, in the second project, we investigate social class effects in leader-follower interactions, and in the third project, we explore individual contributions of social class transitioners to increasing the performance of socially diverse teams.

Johannes Stark is a PhD candidate at the Kühne Logistics University since November 2021 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Christian Tröster and Prof. Dr. Niels Van Quaquebeke. Johannes obtained a M.Sc. in Psychology at the LMU Munich and spent one year at the IDC Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel.