Mens & Maatschappij - Volume 100, Issue 2, 2025

Abstract This paper reflects on the impact of the Great British Class Survey, hosted by the BBC from 2011 to 2013. I argue that its intense appeal lay in the ability to crystallize three separate trends in one piece of research. These are (i) the problems of relying on a single variable definition of class, such as one based on employment and occupation; (ii) the growing significance of wealth and property as a central driver of 21st Read More

Abstract In recent years, the debate on social inequality in both academia and politics has focused heavily on differences in income and wealth, the transformation of labor markets, and the nature of meritocracy in advanced capitalist societies. This article looks beyond that, using a framework of four types of resources: economic, cultural, social and person capital (the combination of someone’s health and attractiveness). A de Read More

Abstract Income inequality typically measures dispersion across populations, while analyses of other welfare dimensions focus on group differences. This study applies population-wide dispersion analysis to non-income dimensions of the level of living, comparing their trends with income inequality patterns. Using Sweden’s Level-of-Living survey data from 1968-2010, we analyzed inequalities in health, education, s Read More

Abstract Sociological theorizing has largely equated people’s personality with the social context in which they find themselves, neglecting a large body of work in psychology. This exploratory study examines how personality traits, as measured by the HEXACO model, are related to multidimensional inequality in the Netherlands. Using a large representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 6,773), we analyzed th Read More