The Role of SES in Preadolescence: Understandings and Group Evaluations based on Income, Education, and Occupation

Socioeconomic status (SES) predicts many facets of preadolescents’ life opportunities, yet little is known about how children perceive SES and whether it plays a role in their group evaluations. This study examined preadolescents’ socioeconomic understandings and biases (investigated presenting fictitious peers varying in SES), while separating the three SES-indicators income, education and occupation. Five classes (Grade 4–6) with 89 students (Mage = 10.44, SD = 0.93; 40