Psychology and the Social Class Worldview: A Narrative-Based Introduction

This unique textbook explores the complex topic of social class, explaining the many psychological nuances of class and classism in people’s lives as subjective and phenomenological experiences.

Social class can be a deeply personal, complicated topic that is often frustrating and uncomfortable to discuss, and as such has often been a blind spot in teaching and academic literature. For the first time, Noonan and Liu look to address this in one comprehensive text, using a combination of first-person narratives, academic approaches to class, and psychology’s contributions to the subject. Across seven chapters, the book introduces a highly accessible theoretical model of the psychology of social class, Liu’s own Social Class Worldview Model. Using vivid autobiographical texts to bring the theoretical model to life, the authors show how our worldviews develop through interactions with our social class and economic environment and provide a unique array of methods and skill sets to help incorporate the model into teaching. Each section of the book guides the reader through core concepts in the area, from socioeconomic factors, social structures, poverty, race, racism, White privilege, and White supremacy.

Featuring activity suggestions, discussion questions, and writing prompts to help apply theory to real-life narratives, this is the ideal resource for students and instructors across psychology, sociology, health economics, and social work, as well as anyone taking courses on examining social class.

Anne E. Noonan is Professor of Psychology at Salem State University, Massachusetts, USA where she regularly teaches courses in the writing-intensive curriculum as well as in the diversity, power dynamics and social justice curriculum. She is also a published author of creative nonfiction. Her research interests include the psychology of interpersonal relationships, the psychological and subjective aspects of social class and other social constructs, and narrative psychology.

William Ming Liu is Professor of Counseling Psychology and Department Chair at the University of Maryland, USA. He is the author or editor of several books on social class in the helping professions, Asian American men and masculinities, and multicultural competencies in counseling. His research interests are in social class and classisms, men and masculinity, and white supremacy and white privileges.