Social class and morality.
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Access changed 3/18/13.
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In light of recent economic events in the United States, there has been widespread discussion about the morally questionable actions of financial elites; this raises the question of whether or not there is a link between social class and moral attitudes. This study addresses this issue using data from the 2006 General Social Survey, while also taking into consideration the effects of religion on moral attitudes. For the purpose of simplicity, morality is taken to mean behavior and beliefs that conform to moral law or socially accepted moral standards; I look at general attitudes, not specific types of behavior. Likewise, the U.S. class structure is identified as a multidimensional construct that relies equally upon economic and social identity; the class structure is less a group of distinct categories, but rather more of a continuum that, generally speaking, contains upper, middle, and lower levels.