This study explores the concept of visual argument as it applies to the archetypal evolution of the hillbilly stereotype. Building on David Birdsell and Leo Groarke's theory of the archetype as a common element of visual argument, this study focuses on the visual archetypal construction of the rural hillbilly in twentieth-century mass media and in twenty first century internet memes, and it makes a case for the argumentative components of the archetype. Beginning with an analysis of early twentieth-century postcards, this study establishes the foundational elements of the hillbilly archetype as a symptom of class-based prejudice and explores how these key elements are visible in online memes, with particular attention to the genre of 'Trump Voter' memes that emerged as a response to the 2016 United States presidential campaign. These key archetypal elements compose a visual argument in favor of the idea of a degenerate and inferior rural America and represent a particularly dangerous rhetorical tool that can be mobilized to discount the concerns of rural people. / Master of Arts / This study explores the concept of visual argument as it applies to the archetypal evolution of the hillbilly stereotype. Literature reviewed in this paper includes foundational texts on the concept of visual argument, as well as theories related to visual rhetoric more generally. Beginning with an analysis of early twentieth-century postcards, this study establishes the foundational elements of the hillbilly archetype and explores their re-emergency in twenty-first century online memes, with particular attention to the genre of “Trump Voter” memes that emerged in response to the 2016 United States presidential campaign. This study contributes to a growing field of visual rhetorical studies and highlights the damaging consequences of engaging class-based stereotypes.

This paper discusses the development of the Perceived Classism Scales. Three separate studies were conducted to create and validate scales designed to measure Liu, Soleck, Hopps, Dunston, and Pickett's (2004) upward, downward, and lateral classism constructs in their Modern Classism Theory. An initial pool of 51-items was created to assess each of the three classism domains. Three hundred and three individuals participated in the first study, which consisted of an exploratory factor analysis of the 51 items. Results from the first study provided preliminary support for the measurement of two factors. The 51 items were pared down to two, 8-item scales reflecting upward and downward classism. The second study consisted of a confirmatory factor analysis to ensure each scale represented a good model fit to the data from 237 participants. Findings from the confirmatory factor analysis suggested some overlap between items and the downward classism scale was further reduced to 5-items and the upward classism scale was reduced to 6-items. The revised scales represented a good fit to the data and the scales were named Upward and Downward Classism. The third study served to establish construct validity and test-retest reliability of the Upward and Downward scales. One hundred sixty-nine people participated in the third and final study. Results provided initial support for the validity of the scales and the scales also showed good stability over a two-week period. In addition, implications of the current study for both researchers and clinicians are presented. Lastly, recommendations for improving the validity of the PCS scales and suggestions for future research are discussed.

In Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own the narrator clearly expresses her rage and resentment exposing the absence and exclusion of women through history and she also focuses on the unfair position of women in her contemporary society. The narrator encourages women to emancipate themselves and to be aware of the idiosyncratic nature of society that restricts them to the private sphere. The aim of this paper is to offer a different interpretation of A Room of One’s Own and demonstrate how Woolf excludes contemporary working-class women from partaking in her feminist message. In order to demonstrate the exclusion of working-class women three major perspectives have been integrated throughout the text: readings of A Room of One’s Own, a historical aspect including classism, and the significance of Woolf’s biographical background. My analysis highlights Woolf’s unintentional class bias, her ladylike manner, and the centrality of financial independence in A Room of One’s Own and displays how these features entail the exclusion of working-class women. The conclusion demonstrates that the amalgamation of the three perspectives mentioned above provides a nuanced and critical reading of A Room of One’s Own.

The “Black-White” achievement gap, in which some African American students show lower academic achievement than their White American counterparts, has received increased empirical attention. Classism has rarely been explored in psychological research as a significant contextual factor for understanding African American college students’ academic performance. Previous research shows that academic self-concept (ASC) is an attitudinal construct which consistently predicts African American college students’ grade point averages (GPA). A wealth of previous research also suggests that college student’s social class background and experiences with classism significantly influence students’ academic attitudes and performance. With this empirical and theoretical backing, a hierarchal regression analysis was run to test experiences with classism (EWC) as a moderator of the effects of academic self-concept on GPA for a sample of 124 cisgender, heterosexual African American students at SIUC, a predominantly white institution (PWI). Thus, the present study was conducted to test the hypothesis that African American college students’ levels of experience with classism would significantly moderate the effects of students’ ASC on their GPA. Results of the regression analysis showed that EWC did not significantly moderate the effects of ASC on GPA. An alternative mediation model was also tested, and showed that EWC did not mediate the relationship between ASC and GPA. Potential explanations for the results are provided, as well as limitations, and implications. Although the findings were not significant, the results of the present study call for future research to explicitly explore the influence of social class on psychological experiences, especially as it intersects with marginalized identities in the U.S. Overall, as African Americans’ and college students’ academic experiences are both greatly influenced by social class and classism, the academic achievement of African American and White American students should be discussed in the context of systems of oppression in which their achievements occur.

The Western beauty standard revolves around three main attributes: thinness, youth, and whiteness. Combined, this ideal corresponds with privilege. Past studies have explored how racism and ageism are embedded in the beauty standard, but little work has explored how classism is included in the Western beauty standard. Utilizing the classical theoretical work of Bourdieu and Simmel, I explore the ways in which the Western beauty standard is dependent upon privilege and cultural capital. Using the methodology of a content analysis, the current study examines four women’s fashion and beauty magazines. I find that the both the language and the imagery used in the magazines allows for classism to be explicitly and implicitly displayed. I also explore the intersectionality of classism, racism, and ageism to develop a clearer understanding of how the three types of privilege are sustained within the beauty standard.

Peter Francisco is an oft-forgotten hero of the American Revolution. A dark-skinned, foreign orphan and former servant, he distinguished himself nationally as a soldier of legendary renown. However, Francisco remains largely absent from the popular modern-day memory of the Revolution. This analysis determines how and why this occurred as well as how and why Francisco remains remembered today by a small minority of American supporters. Methodologically, the analysis examines Francisco's life through a cultural studies lens. It challenges previous analyses of Francisco's life based on romance and myth not akin to historical reality. And although this interpretation gives credence to Francisco's romantic legend, it primarily addresses how Francisco, as a historical agent, tested the various elitist limits of early American republicanism. Furthermore, it contends that Francisco's greatest historical legacy may ultimately have less to do with what he did on the battlefield and more with how he set a precedent for universal inclusion and access to the "American dream" as it is understood today.

Social class remains a largely unexplored domain of psychological research. While steps have been taken to develop interventions for racism and sexism, no such model exists in regard to class bias. College is one particular context in which it is likely for lower-income students to experience heightened class identity saliency and encounter class-related friction. Prior literature has shown that classism is associated with negative psychosocial and academic outcomes for college students. The proposed intervention is designed to reduce class bias on elite college campuses, where a majority of students come from privileged backgrounds and class tensions are often neglected. Participants will enroll in a for-credit course that will shed light on issues of classism and encourage students to think critically about class-related issues. Effectiveness of the course will be assessed in two ways. Reduction in class bias will be measured using an implicit measure of social class bias. Participants will also complete a self-report measure of awareness of social class issues. Participation in the course is expected to result in decreased class bias and greater awareness of social class issues. Furthermore, it is predicted that awareness of social class issues will mediate the relationship between course participation and reduced class bias. Research findings will have valuable implications for the success and wellbeing of students affected by classism. The proposed study has the potential to bridge class divides within college communities and promote educational equity.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: David Livingstone.

The Social Class Worldview Model (SCWM; Liu, 2011) is a recent phenomenological framework, in which social class is understood based on experiences of acculturation, identity, and stress, as opposed to a narrow view of access to resources. Based on this model, people's experiences of social class discrimination (i.e., classism) are an integral part of how they make meaning of their social class. The current study addresses the development and initial validation of the Perceived Classism Questionnaire (PCQ), a scale of distress due to classist experiences. Items were initially created and refined based on a review of the available literature, expert analysis, and a pilot study. In Study 1, an Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted on a sample of 309 participants, reveling three distinct factors: Downward Classism, Upward Classism, and Lateral Classism. In study 2, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a distinct sample of 274 participants provided further support for the three-factor structure of the PCQ. The three subscales were correlated in the expected directions with convergent and discriminant measures (i.e., subjective social status, self-rated health, stress, state and trait anxiety, life satisfaction, and well-being), supporting validity evidence of the PCQ. The Perceived Classism Questionnaire advances on previous scales of classism, as it is a theory-driven scale, and it is not restricted to academic environments. Research and practical implications of the PCQ are discussed.

Neoliberalism’s free market ideology has not only achieved hegemonic status as the dominant organizing principle of markets and economies the world over, its values and doctrines have also come to shape many other areas of contemporary life. The consequences of this takeover include rising inequality, a social policy shift away from welfare and toward personal responsibility, and the triumph of the economic rationale of profitability in the public sector as well as the private sphere. A growing body of research has studied the ramifications of individual facets of the neoliberal order, especially the expanding gap between the rich and poor, but to date, a more comprehensive understanding of how the underlying ideology molds societies is largely absent from the social psychological literature. This doctoral thesis seeks to take a first step toward closing this gap by identifying and investigating three key areas of interest in the context of neoliberalism’s influence on individual and collective life. Based on previous research and theorizing, it puts forward the idea that the neoliberal reorganization of societies along the principles of individualism, competition, materialism, and privatization has a profound impact on intergroup relations, social connection, and individual well-being. The studies presented here provide evidence that neoliberal ideology and policies erode social cohesion (Manuscript 2) and make people feel lonely and isolated (Manuscript 3). Confirming the importance of social factors in determining health outcomes, these developments are then shown to increase feelings of threat, hopelessness, and unhappiness (Manuscript 2) as well as reduce mental and physical well-being (Manuscript 3). Beyond the individual level, intergroup attitudes, especially with regard to socio-economic status groups, are of particular interest to this research. Its findings demonstrate that despite neoliberalism’s propagation of wealth and success as ultimate aspirations, the perceived breakdown of the social fabric and resulting discontent with neoliberal societies lead to negative perceptions of the elite who are seen as corrupt and immoral (Manuscript 2). They also provide support for the assumption that the belief in merit-based inequality, which is central to the neoliberal doctrine, is reflected in representations of individuals with lower socio-economic status who are assigned personal responsibility for their disadvantaged position and, unlike other underprivileged groups, are seen as lacking in moral deservingness by both conservatives and progressives (Manuscript 1). As a whole, the studies that constitute this thesis project bring together several different lines of research and make headway in developing an integrated perspective on the influence of neoliberal ideology on societies and the experiences and attitudes of the individuals within them.